New Zealand

Some of cricket's leading figures were anxiously awaiting news of their fate after the International Cricket Council (ICC) began its executive board meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday.

Cricketing legend Sir Donald Bradman has welcomed an unprecedented legal move by cricket-mad Australian Prime Minister John Howard to protect the Bradman name from commercial exploitation.

Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) has approved the transfer of cash-strapped Auckland Warriors to new owners.

Auckland Warriors, the cash-strapped New Zealand rugby league team, is to be snapped up by Auckland-based entrepreneur Eric Watson.

New Zealand pay-television operator, Sky Network Television Ltd., has won rights to broadcast six of New Zealand's national rugby team?s tour matches in Europe and Japan later this year.

To coincide with the launch of the Extreme Sports Channel in the UK this month, a series of new programmes have been added to the channel's schedule on a pan-European basis.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) and a group representing professional rugby players will enter talks next week to negotiate a collective employment contract agreement, the NZRFU said on Friday.

The Oceania Football Confederation's extraordinary congress called to elect a new president ended in disarray on Thursday without the vote being taken.

The Oceania Football Confederation is expected to elect Australian Basil Scarsella as its new president on Thursday in place of New Zealand's Charlie Dempsey who controversially quit the post in July.

Strong interest in the Olympics is driving up the audience of New Zealand websites, according to research company AC Nielsen.

VTV, recently-acquired by UK-based The Television Corporation and now part of Sunset+Vine, has won a new four year contract to produce and distribute coverage of English badminton until 2005.

Australia, New Zealand and South Africa plan to turn their season upside down in 2002 by having domestic championships at the start of the season and the Tri-Nations at the end.

The head of Sydney's Olympic Village has said a lone attacker rather than an organised terrorist group posed the biggest security threat to next month's Games.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch remains confident about the safety of next month's Olympics despite the security scare over a possible plot to blow up a nuclear research reactor in Sydney.

Australia's first interactive TV software has been launched in Sydney via Open TV.

The naming rights to Sydney?s Olympic stadium have been sold to the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ).