Italy

Major League Soccer is looking to raise its profile with fans by holding a referendum on the design of an MLS official ball via the internet.

Italian sport swear company, Lotto Sport Italia, has signed up AC Milan and Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko on a three-year deal..

UK satellite and digital broadcaster BSkyB is to show this fall?s England soccer internationals against France and Italy exclusively live on its Sky Sports service.

Shares in Serie A soccer club Lazio were suspended on the Milan bourse on Monday for rising to exceed the 10 percent trading limit.

Soccer's world governing body FIFA are preparing for another showdown with the European Union over a transfer case that could threaten the foundations of the professional club game.

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has announced the agreement of a $400 million 10-year TV and sponsorship deal..

Italian Serie A soccer club Udinese Calcio?s net profit for the 1999/2000 financial year ending on June 30 was 50.04 billion lire ($23.7 million) against a previous 4.10 billion lire.

The new Barcelona president Joan Gaspart has admitted to ?a little bit of madness? in presenting Rivaldo with a contract that will see him earn anywhere from 850 million pesetas ($4.69 million) to 1,100 million pesetas ($6.07 million) a year.

ESPN Atlantic is to cover a summer soccer series involving teams from the Italian Spanish and Swedish leagues.

FIBA, the international governing body for basketball, has created a pre-Olympic competition, the FIBA Diamond Ball, which will take place every four years to promote basketball globally.

Milan's Arena, the oldest surviving Italian stadium to have staged first-class soccer, is to be home to a football club for the first time since World War Two.

Sports.com, the mobile and fixed internet provider of European sports content, community and commerce, has been designated as the Official Internet Sports Partner of The Open Championship (opengolf.com) by the Championship Committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

The Extreme Sports Channel has signed a deal with Eurosport for the broadcast of the Tissot / UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2000.

Italian publisher and internet portal operator Seat Pagine Gialle has bought 50.1 percent of ticket agency TicketOne, a company that sells tickets for sports and cultural events by phone, internet and 350 retail outlets.

Euro 2000 proved a major hit with TV audiences across the continent, according to the latest figures released by Mediametrie.

The World Cup short-course swimming series has been cut from 12 meetings to 10 and will offer more prize money.

European basketball is set to be split into two opposing camps in Thessaloniki today when newcomers ULEB will challenge the sport's governing body FIBA by announcing its own rival to the recently launched Suproleague.

Italian soccer champions Lazio has agreed to a world record 110 billion lire ($54.16 million) deal to sign Argentine striker Hernan Crespo from Parma.