Japan
Business

The 113th Olympic Session concludes on February 23rd bringing the Winter Olympic Games to a close, FIFA Finance Committee meet in Zurich on the 21st followed by a workshop with the thirty two finalists of the 2002 World Cup taking place in Tokyo from February 23 - 26.
Sponsorship & Marketing

This summer's World Cup is equivalent to running two completely separate tournaments, according to Paul Myer, director of communications at Avaya, the technological partner for the competition.
Media

Blockbuster Winter Olympic coverage is paying immediate dividends for advertisers, according to new data, in the form of increased Web traffic to companies like Monster.com.
Stadia

South Korea's sole sports lottery operator gave internet-savvy Koreans their first chance to bet on soccer online today and it expects growing interest as the World Cup finals approach.
Media

German media giant Kirch told delegates in Munich yesterday that the 2006 World Cup will be significantly more lucrative than this summer's event because it will be held in Europe where television rights are worth more money.
Sponsorship & Marketing

Top South Korean copper products maker Poongsan Corp has won a deal to provide blanks to produce World Cup commemorative coins.

Japanese organisers of this summer's FIFA World Cup have slammed claims co-host South Korea is behind schedule in its preparations.

Toshiro Kurusu has been appointed the new executive vice president of Toyota Motorsport.
Business

Swiss watch maker Oris has tied up a sponsorship deal with Britain's newest Formula One driver Allan McNish.
Sponsorship & Marketing

US-based snowboard, wakeboard and skateboard producers ABCI Holdings Inc./American Boardsports Co. has launched 7Distribution - an international network for distributing action sports products and accessories.
Business

South Korea's flagship carrier Korean Air said it planned to increase June flights to and from Europe from 25 to 33 per week to help carry soccer fans to the World Cup.
Business

Dentsu's Institute for Human Studies says the World Cup will mean 1.4 trillion yen ($10.6bn/EUR12.1bn) in Japanese investment and consumer spending, provided that the team reaches the quarter final stage of the competition.
Events

The Professional Snowboarder's Association (PSA) is battling to save the 10-year-old tour it took over in late-2001 from the International Snowboard Federation
Events

South Korea's President Kim Dae-jung has told World Cup organisers that security is the most important issue for the country to consider as it prepares to co-host the World Cup finals later this year.
Stadia

Almost two thirds of tickets for Spain's friendly soccer international against Portugal next month will be on sale for just 6 euros ($5.31), the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has said.
Events

The economic benefits of hosting soccer's World Cup should provide Japan with a timely boost.
Media

Sportinglife.com, Sportal and new website The Betting Zone are to be relaunched as a single sports network in late February, according to reports in the Guardian.
Business

French commercial TV channel TF1 , which has bought exclusive French rights to the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament, said it is seeking four parties to each pay EUR2.3 million ($2.03m) to sponsor live match coverage.