Japan

Germany will host the Confederations Cup in 2005 as a dress rehearsal before staging the World Cup finals the following year, the German Football Association (DFB) said yesterday.

Asian soccer promoter ProEvents has signed a number of key deals as it looks to strengthen its position in the region.

German sporting goods manufacturer adidas-Salomon has delivered 15 percent earnings growth and record net sales in 2001.

A suspected North Korean spy ship, sunk by the Japanese coastguard at the end of last year, may have been carrying weapons aimed at disrupting this summer's World Cup in Japan and South Korea, according to Agence France-Presse.

All of the 64 games of this summer's World Cup in Japan and South Korea will be broadcast, even if German media giant Kirch fails to resolve its current debt problems, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has expressed his confidence in security measures for this year's World Cup at a FIFA workshop for the 32 competing nations.

East Asian football associations are poised to form a regional governing body in the next week in a bid to increase their influence within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Asian sources have said.

Co-hosts South Korea and Japan will be allowed to sell beer at World Cup stadia this summer, FIFA has said.

Teams travelling to this summer's World Cup in Japan and South Korea may not be allowed to travel on the same flights to and from the Far East or during the tournament because it would pose too much of a risk to insurance companies.

A four-day FIFA workshop, involving the 32 finalists for the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, began over the weekend in Tokyo with the aim of clarifying World Cup procedures.

First Artist Corporation, the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)-listed soccer representation agency, has announced a £1million ($1.43m/EUR1.64m) operating profit on sales of £3m ($4.29m/EUR4.91m) for the six months to December 31, 2001.

India's state-owned Doordarshan television network has won exclusive rights to broadcast within the country the hockey World Cup starting in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday with a bid exceeding $1m.

Korean electronics giant LG has added the Russian national football team to its list of national team sponsorships geared to the World Cup in Japan and Korea.

Avaya, the provider of technology at this summer's World Cup in Japan and South Korea, has signed an additional sponsorship and technology deal with the US Soccer Federation.

There will be no let-up in preparations for this summer's soccer World Cup as co-hosts Japan and South Korea celebrated the 100-day countdown this week.

Francis Baron, chief executive of the English Rugby Football Union (RFU), has said that a complete overhaul of the international tours schedule is imminent.