South Africa
Stadia

Rugby World Cup chiefs are unlikely to answer calls to shut the retractable roof on Cardiff's new Millennium Stadium for Saturday's World Cup final and stage the first indoor test unless the players' safety is threatened.
Business

Sportal, the Internet sports company, has agreed a five-year deal with the South Africa Rugby Football Union (SARFU) and South African investment company SAIL Media to develop www.sarfu.org.za, the official South Africa rugby site.
Media

The Rugby World Cup third-place playoff between South Africa and New Zealand will be shown live on terrestial television in Wales, but nowhere else in Britain.
Business

Guinness announced a 15 per cent sales increase in the UK for the September/October period during which they sponsored the Rugby World Cup.
Events

The beleaguered organisers of the Rugby World Cup have criticised ITV's coverage of the event as a "disgrace" according to a report in the UK?s Guardian newspaper.
Events

South Africa's 2006 World Cup bid committee will concentrate on the "nuts and bolts" of staging the event in its campaign rather than an emotional appeal for Africa.
Business

Sports ministers from 24 nations have called for a two-year ban across all sports for first-time doping offences and for year-round random drug testing.
Events

Soccer legend Pele has confirmed his support for South Africa's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup, saying he thought Brazil could be ready to stage the finals four years later.
Business

Critics of South Africa's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup are making too much fuss over the country's crime statistics, campaign officials have said.
Events

Morocco's 2006 World Cup campaign boss said during a lobbying visit to Nigeria that Africa should make only a single bid to host the tournament.Morocco and South Africa are among five nations bidding to host the 2006 finals along with Brazil, England and Germany."FIFA may find it easier to reject Africa's bid if both Morocco and South Africa insist on presenting their bids, citing lack of unity," Driss Benhima, head of the Morocco 2006 bid committee, told reporters.Benhima said the Confederation of African Football had to evolve a fair method of choosing either Morocco or South Africa. CAF are due to discuss the issue at their next Congress in Accra, Ghana in February.
Business

Libya is supporting Morocco in its efforts to stage the 2006 World Cup finals, according to reports from a local news agency.
Events

Germany's campaign to host the 2006 Soccer World Cup moved to Central Africa this week when German soccer legend and bid leader Franz Beckenbauer arrived in Cameroon to drum up support.

Criticisms levelled at South Africa's 2006 World Cup bid by Sir Bobby Charlton have been rebuffed by South African officials.
Events

Former World Cup hero, Sir Bobby Charlton, championing England's campaign to host the 2006 World Cup, has appealed to Africans to support England if two bids from their own continent are unsuccessful.
Events

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has repeated that he felt the the World Cup finals in 2006 should go to Africa.
Events

South African cricket president Raymond White is facing a motion to oust him as a campaign to appoint a non-white chief executive gathers momentum.
Business

Ali Bacher is stepping down as managing director of South Africa's cricket board to concentrate on staging the 2003 World Cup.

South Africa's Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour has said his department would begin investigating the possibility of giving women the right to box.