Nordics

Facts about the FIFA vote to decide who stages the 2006 World Cup finals, which will take place on Thursday in Zurich.

Police fired tear gas, launched baton charges and arrested dozens of Belgian soccer fans in central Brussels late on Saturday after the opening game of the Euro 2000 championships.

Octagon CSI has acquired the exclusive five-year worldwide television rights (excluding the UK and Sweden) for the European Ladies Golf Tour , named ?The Evian Tour?.

The European Commission has approved Euro 2000's ticket sales policy, just two days before the tournament kicks off in Brussels.

Mobile phone crazy Swedes will be able to follow the fortunes of their national team in the European soccer championships through their handsets, Swedish wireless services innovator Goyada said on Friday.

Extreme Sports Channel, the adventure and adrenaline sports service, has become available on the UPC Sweden network from May 1st. UPCtv has signed an agreement with UPC Sverige to distribute Extreme Sports Channel in the city of Stockholm.

S:COMM, the Stockholm-based market research compnay, has agreed a partnership with Lynne Anderson Consulting Group in Sydney, Australia. The group will add S:Comm?s Spindex monitoring service to its value-added services for brand exposure evaluation during spring 2000.

Belgian authorities acted out their Euro 2000 "disaster plan" earlier this week at Brussels' King Baudouin Stadium, the ground rebuilt and renamed after the 1985 Heysel tragedy.

The Extreme Sports Channel has extended it reach to include the city of Louvain in Belgium.

Extreme Sports Channel, the adventure and adrenaline sports service, is now available on digital cable in Germany.

FIFA has given Azerbaijan a deadline of next Monday to settle its internal disputes or be banned from all international competition, a spokesman for the Azeri Soccer Federation (ASF) has said.

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said on Wednesday it had summoned Amore Vita cycling team director Gianluigi Barsottelli to a hearing on January 7 over doping allegations. CONI said in a statement its anti-doping commission had summoned Barsottelli after studying documents from Bologna magistrates who have been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into alleged doping in cycling. A spokesman for the Italian Professional Cyclists' League said Barsottelli's team was affiliated to the English cycling federation this year.

Canadian Olympic gold medalist Myriam Bedard has announced she is suing Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. for C$725,000 ($500,000).

During 1997, the total turnover for Norweigan Premier League football clubs has grown 52% from 1996 to 500,000,000 Norweigan Krona (USD 64 million).

Over 200,000 fake merchandising items were seized by French authorities before the World Cup and thousands were still on sale around the stadiums during Wednesday's first two matches, a government official said on Thursday.

Canadian broadcaster TSN says first round World Cup matches have produced outstanding ratings.