Nordics

A group of Icelandic businessmen and an investment bank are in talks about buying a majority stake in English second division soccer club Stoke City, an Icelandic banker said.

Greenland, which has a population of 55,000 and around 3,000 soccer players, aims to become a member of FIFA and UEFA, national team coach Sepp Piontek has said.

Vyacheslav Koloskov faces a serious challenge from an unlikely source when he stands for re-election as president of the Russian Football Union on December 8.

The race to take over the troubled Russian Football Union (RFS) warmed up on Wednesday when the head of the Russian league, a harsh critic of the RFS boss, joined the list of candidates for the post.

The bitter battle for control of Russian football has heated up with the head of the league questioning the veteran federation boss about allegations that large sums were diverted from soccer into banks abroad.

Vyacheslav Koloskov, president of the Russian Football Union (RFS), has won a bitter struggle to keep control of the country's soccer for another five years.

The Extreme Sports Channel has extended its coverage beyond Europe after it signed a deal with pay-TV platform Showtime in the Middle East and Africa.

India will host a 16-nation soccer tournament from January 10 to 25 next year, the president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has said.

The 11th European Sponsorship Consultants Association (ESCA) Congress will be held this year in Stockholm on November 15-16.

US sports marketing firm, Envision Sports and Entertainment, is expanding into Europe, appointing former ISL chiefs Chris Renner and Mark Devenport in the process.

FIFA, the soccer world’s governing body, has confirmed an afternoon kick-off time for England and Germany's final World Cup qualifying games on October 6.

Denis O’Brien, the millionaire Irish businessman, has raised his offer to buy PGA European Tour Courses PLC, a golf course operator, by three million pounds to £35m ($51m/B

Following the recent opening of their German office in Munich, SportBusiness Group has appointed Sponsorworld to be their official sales agent for Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Sportsetail, the merchandising business owned as a joint venture by the UK’s Hay & Robertson and BSkyB, has reached a European product and distribution agreement with FIFA for the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.

Amer Sports - the B

Lennart Johansson, president of European soccer’s ruling body UEFA said today he has “reason to believe that we will be satisfied” by an audit into the finances of world body FIFA, following the collapse of its marketing partner ISL/ISMM.