Japan

Osaka is not ready to throw in the towel in the race to stage the 2008 summer Olympic Games, bid officials have said.

UEFA president Lennart Johansson has called on FIFA chief Sepp Blatter to explain the collapse of FIFA's marketing agent ISL and the cancellation of the World Club championship or face the consequences, which could lead to his removal as president of the game's ruling body.

A US government official has stated that President George Bush will not block Bejing?s bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, despite the current political unrest between the US and China.

FIFA, soccer?s world governing body, has denied any of the eleven main sponsors of next year?s soccer World Cup will pull out of the event, following a special meeting on Tuesday.

US-based Fox Cable Networks Group, a division of Rupert Murdoch?s News Corporation, has agreed a transfer of programming interests with rival cable firm Comcast. The deal will see Fox sell its stakes in the Golf Channel and the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) to Comcast in exchange for ownership of motor racing network Speedvision in which Fox currently holds a minority stake.

The postponement of this year's FIFA World Club Championship in Spain could damage soccer?s credibility in Japan, according to the president of J. League club Jubilo Iwata.

Commercial UK broadcaster Channel 5 has won the rights to show exclusive live coverage of the FIFA Confederations Cup.

European media rivals Vivendi Universal and Bertelsmann have unveiled a long-awaited deal to merge their sports rights interests into a European giant worth more than 1bn euros ($876.4m).

The National Hockey League (NHL) may be participating in the Winter Olympic Games for the last time in Salt Lake City next February.

South Korea's national police said on Monday they would form special squads to quell possible disruptions by violent soccer fans during next year's World Cup.

A favourable review of Beijing's 2008 Games bid by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) showed human rights protestors and US critics were out of step with world opinion, a Beijing official said on Sunday.

Following Swiss marketing firm ISMM's bankruptcy, soccer's world governing body released the following press release:

The International Olympic Committee said today that Beijing has assembled a high quality bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Tibetan exiles demonstrated against Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games outside the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today before the release of a key evaluation report on the Chinese capital's plans.

More than a dozen countries have declared an interest in hosting either of the next two editions of the World Club Championship, FIFA said on Thursday.

Nine of Japan's 10 stadia for the 2002 World Cup finals will be staging soccer matches before the end of July. But organisers are still concerned about the way fans will get to and from the grounds in rural areas, and are considering banning private transport to some stadia to ease traffic congestion.