Scandinavia

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.
Business

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.
Sponsorship & Marketing

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

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).
Sponsorship & Marketing

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.
Media

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

Soccer sportswear manufacturer Umbro has added Norway striker Tore Andre Flo - who scored in last night's improbable 2-1 win against world champions Brazil - to its list of sponsored stars.
Business

Sion officials have made the trip to Olympic headquarters, formally submitting their bid to host the 2006 Winter Games.

Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Roekke will lay out almost 500,000 crowns ($66,390) to make sure his hometown soccer team Molde get plenty of support for a match against Oslo's Valerenga this weekend.

Business

A Norwegian firm that controls English premier league soccer club Wimbledon denied a report that it also wanted to buy second division Manchester City.

Events

Athletics chiefs have revamped their fixture list for next season in a bid to make Wednesday nights a focal point for top-class track and field.

A year before the Euro 2000 soccer championships, organisers received a possible taste of things to come as hooligans linked to Rotterdam's Feyenoord fought with police and wrecked the centre of their own city.
Business

Seeking to stabilise opinion on the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, the chairman of the International Olympic Committee's co-ordination commission, Swiss lawyer Marc Hodler, whose allegations of bribery against his colleagues triggered the biggest Olympic scandal in history, has said the hiring of IMG to recruit more 2002 Winter Games sponsors will help the Salt Lake City games to recover.

FIFA has ordered Portugal's Benfica to deliver immediately a bank guarantee to Norway's Rosenborg Trondheim to honour a transfer agreement for striker Sigurd Rushfeldt, the Norwegian Football Association has said.
Business

English Premier League soccer club Charlton Athletic will be the first team to test the Football Association?s new laser system to help assistant referees judge offside decisions more accurately.
Events

ABC and ESPN have bought the exclusive broadcasting rights in the US market for premier IAAF events in a three- year agreement with the IAAF and ISL Worldwide.
Events

Setanta.com, the Irish sports content provider, has signed two contracts worth #1million ($1.45m) with mobile phone companies in Norway.
Sponsorship & Marketing

Newcastle United's St. James' Park will host England's World Cup qualifier against Albania, the FA has said.