Oceania

Sydney has embraced the Paralympics like no other, snapping up 800,000 tickets for the Games that open on Wednesday, 17 days after the Olympic closing ceremony.

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

Trinidad and Tobago has abolished the 15 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on all sports equipment in an effort to boost sport in the region.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has confirmed that his government will increase already high funding for sport.

Following a starring role at the Sydney Olympics, Goodyear is parting company with its famous blimp.

eToSports.com, the China-based sports industry online network, has contracted US application services provider MyWeb Inc.com to provide a full range of web solutions.

Athens will host the 2004 Paralympics, despite delays in signing the contract with the International Paralympics Committee (IPC), Greek officials have said.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has placed in doubt the handing over of the Paralympic flag to the next host city, Athens, when the Sydney Paralympic Games close on October 29.

Eurosport, the leading pan-European sports channel, has smashed a series of Olympic records following their continuous coverage of the Sydney Games.

Men and women are to get equal prize money at next year's Australian Open, Tennis Australia has said.

The Sydney Olympic Games represented the largest peacetime communications project in Australia?s history, according to the communications network that handled the traffic.

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

Rising appearance fees and a declining local economy could mean fewer professional golf tournaments in Australia, according to The Australian Golf Union (AGU).

Australia?s Seven Network's Sydney Olympics coverage was marginally eroded by the performance of rival channel Fox8.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the country's president to order a judicial investigation into allegations of Pakistani involvement in match-fixing during last year's World Cup.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Kevan Gosper has withdrawn from the race to replace retiring president Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Sydney?s two major stadia, the Stadium Australia Group's Stadium Australia and the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust's Sydney Football Stadium, have become keen commercial rivals.

Australian Open tennis officials have announced a new scoring system aimed at boosting the television appeal of mixed doubles.