Oceania

Australia's second-largest city Melbourne is bidding to host the 2005 swimming world championships after failing to win the right to host the athletics championships.

Sydney's Olympic organisers (SOCOG) have rejected a plan to discount unsold tickets to this year's Games, angering Australian community and welfare groups.

The latest major event in the extreme sports calendar is to take place later this year.

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) is pushing on with the "world-first" indoor series against South Africa in Melbourne in August, despite concerns over the venue's playing surface.

A member of the board responsible for organising the Sydney Olympics has slammed the group's lack of internal communication on Tuesday, saying members were often kept in the dark over key decisions.

Skybusiness the UK commercial digital TV service for pub and club subscribers has added British Eurosport to its package.

United Parcel Service may sue the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) following SOCOG?s acceptance of a sponsorship from rival courier TNT.

AMP, which is backing the Olympic torch relay around Australia, is reaping commercial benefits from its 2000 Olympics association.

The Rally of Australia is set to move from its traditional base in Perth to Melbourne next year, reports the West Australian newspaper.

The British Olympic Association has ruled that British swimmers may wear any make of bodysuit at the Sydney Olympics.

One of the world?s best known sports arenas is at the centre of allegations of a ticketing scam that threatens to rob the Australian Football League and home clubs of gate revenue.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced the renewal of McDonalds?s sponsorship of the Olympics until 2004 and that other companies would pledge cash and services in the next few weeks.

Orad Hi-Tec Systems? ?Virtual Swimming World Record Line? was used for the first time during Nine Network?s live coverage of the Sydney Olympic 2000 qualifying swimming trials.

Meddling councils and tourist bodies in Sydney are creating a bureaucratic nightmare for overseas television stations hoping to film in the Olympic city during the run-up to this year's Games, reports the South China Morning Post.

Norman May, the man who stirred a nation with his radio commentary of Australia winning a swimming relay gold at Moscow in 1980, is to be awarded the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee.

More than one million tickets for this summer?s Sydney Olympics are expected to still be available when the opening ceremony gets underway.