Italy
Sponsorship & Marketing

UK publishing company, The Future Network, has made a deal to acquire the official magazines of Manchester United and Chelsea from sports publishing and branding agency Zone - and has seen #55 million ($80m) added to its stock market value, according to the soccer industry newsletter, Soccer Investor.
Media

Italy's Societa Diritti Sportivi (SDS) has denied it has pulled out of pay-TV operator Stream allowing new partners to take its place alongside Rupert Murdoch's News Corp .

Italian first division soccer club AS Roma is planning to make its debut on the Milan bourse by next April, according to Italian weekly magazine Il Mondo.

Soccer side Sampdoria face expulsion from the Italian Cup after their second round match against Bologna this week was abandoned following crowd trouble.

ESPN International has developed a new computer-based ranking system for the world?s leading soccer clubs.

Italian second division soccer club Sampdoria has said they would launch a four-year bond with interest rates tied to the team's results.
Business

Bernie Ecclestone has agreed to sell half his Formula One empire to Deutsche Bank's Morgan Grenfell Private Equity in a $1.3 billion deal which puts the company's flotation back on track.

Italian Serie A club AS Roma has said they are seeking a stock market listing by May next year to capitalise on millennium celebrations.
Business

Former European Cup soccer champions Juventus made a profit for the third year running last season and expect to make another during this campaign, depending on their results on the pitch.
Business

Italian Serie A club Parma ended the1998/99 season with profits of 7.1 billion lire ($3.85 million), with turnover up by 33 percent, the club has announced.
Business

The irony of A.C. Milan?s elimination from the Champions League and failure to make the cut for the UEFA Cup will not be lost on the lcub?s owner Silvio Berlusconi.
Business

Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, will present Primo Nebiolo's widow with a major award at a memorial service for the late IAAF president in Rome this week.
Business

Brazil's soccer tour of Australia has became a financial disaster as superstar Ronaldo withdrew and the promoter took the extraordinary step of declaring free admission.
Events

Senegal lawyer Lamine Diack is present his case today to retain control of the world governing athletics body after the death of International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) president Primo Nebiolo this month.

New world athletics chief Lamine Diack has called for a more sympathetic approach to drug offenders after accepting the job of interim International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) president until August 2001.
Stadia

Italy's top soccer clubs may be forced to play behind closed doors if they do not clamp down on racist chants and rid their terraces of anti-semitic banners, its government has said.
Media

Fininvest, the holding company of Italian media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, has taken a minority shareholding in Sportal, the UK-based internet sports content company, according to a Financial Times report.
Media

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has confirmed they have launched an investigation into an influx of school age players from Africa and South America into Italian lower division and amateur clubs.