Scandinavia

Basketball legend Magic Johnson is to return to Sweden to play more games for MagicM7, a basketball team from the Swedish town of Boras which he bought earlier this year ? say Swedish newspapers.

The U.S. women's World Cup winning soccer team will boycott the Australia Cup next month because of unresolved contract negotiations. Instead, The U.S. Soccer Federation will send young players to the four-nation tournament.

The Belgian government has approved a budget of 30 million Belgian francs ($758,100) to finance a national publicity campaign for this summer's Euro 2000 soccer championship.

From next season, the top-skiers of Sweden will be forced to pay 10% of their prize-money to the Swedish Skiing Association.

Swedish Minister of Sports, Lars Enqvist, has made an energetic start at his new role. Along with Olof Stenhammar, former campaign-leader for Stockholm's 2004 bid for the Summer Olympics, Engqvist has presented a plan to make Sweden an Olympic force.

Terrestrial Swedish television company SVT, are claiming damages of 500 000 Swedish Krona ($66,000) from ISPR.

The Swedish Railway company (SJ) has cancelled all its sport sponsorship in Sweden.

Norway?s bid to stage this year?s ice hockey world championships could be scuppered by a new anti-alcohol sponsorship law.

Canal Plus Scandinavia could go to the European Union to settle a dispute with the Swedish FA.

Norway, in a rare departure from its increasingly stringent restrictions on alcohol advertising, has approved a "limited" exemption for the 1999 World Ice Hockey Championships.

No more international club soccer matches will be held in Stockholm because of the high police costs of manning them, Swedish Football Association president Lars-Ake Lagrell said.

Olympic leaders said on Friday they would be holding immediate talks on whether Salt Lake City broke Olympic rules in its campaign to win the race to stage the 2002 Winter Games.

The Olympic organising committee in Quebec City was courted by "special agents" who offered to "buy" votes on the International Olympic Committee to help the city's bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics to succeed, Le Soleil newspaper has reported.

Swedish league champions AIK Stockholm have recruited UEFA president Lennart Johansson to lead the club in the run-up to a possible stock market listing, AIK chairman Sune Hellstromer has revealed.

European nations might not participate in a biennial World Cup due to pressure from clubs, says UEFA president Lennart Johansson.

The bidding process by cities hoping to host the Olympic games has been open to abuse for years and needs a radical revamp, the mayor of Cape Town, which failed to win the 2004 Games, has said.