Japan

Former French Open tennis champion Michael Chang, whose family hails from China, is to act as a Goodwill Ambassador for Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, bid officials have stated.

Despite the UK test case ruling in the House of Lords last week that set a precedent that the soccer World Cup in 2002 must be broadcast on terrestrial television if at all, rights holder Kirch has still not given up hope of interest from a pay-TV operator.

Television distributor Venevision International has been chosen by satellite broadcaster DirecTV to sub-license the rights to the 2002 soccer World Cup in a number of Latin American nations.

The Bush administration will remain neutral on Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics, despite powerful appeals from members of Congress to oppose the proposal on human rights grounds.

Electronics giant Philips has become the fourteenth official partner of the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament in Korea and Japan.

South Korea is planning to ban smoking inside soccer stadia in an effort to make next year's World Cup finals environmentally clean.

Bridgestone/Firestone, the provider of Formula One tyres, is to close its factory in Decatur, Illanois, by the end of the year because of financial difficulties, according to a press report.

Toronto, despite being one of the front-runners to stage the 2008 Summer Olympics, faces an uphill battle, according to International Olympic Committee (IOC) marketing chief Dick Pound.

The Copa America will be held in Colombia but it will be postponed until next year following last week’s kidnap of a soccer official. The event was due to start on July 11.

French President Jacques Chirac, promoting the Paris bid to stage the 2008 Olympic Games, has told Russian Olympic officials that the organisation of the Games would be problem-free if they were held in the French capital.

German media group Kirch has been accused of trying to split UK terrestrial broadcasters BBC and ITV over coverage of next year's soccer World Cup.

German media group Kirch has been accused of trying to split UK terrestrial broadcasters BBC and ITV over coverage of next year's soccer World Cup.

South Korea has agreed that tobacco and related advertising will be banned at 2002 World Cup football matches, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter faces the toughest fight of his career this week when delegates from around 200 national associations meet in Buenos Aires for FIFA's Extraordinary Congress.

As a direct consequence of ISL’s plunge into bankruptcy in May, sportbusiness.com has learned that the copyright ownership of both the emblem and mascot of the 2002 World Cup – registered by ISL rather than FIFA – has fallen into the hands of the marketing group’s liquidators rather than the sport’s worldwide governing body.

About 200 Tibetans marched through the Indian capital on Wednesday in protest at Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games and China's poor human rights record.