South America

A Moroccan official said he was surprised by the results of a poll of sports editors showing the country was bottom of the list of the five bidding to host the 2006 World Cup finals.

The results of a poll of leading sports editors making England favourites to host the 2006 World Cup finals confirmed support had turned their way, Alec McGivan, director of England's bid, has said.

The International Football Channel (TIFC), the world's first 24 hour soccer network, due to launch its Spanish-language, Latin American signal March 1, has revealed its programming schedule.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will support one of Africa's two bids for the 2006 World Cup finals after FIFA inspection visits to Morocco and South Africa.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has given Brazil a timely boost in the race to host the 2006 World Cup.

South African Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour has said his country would "comfortably earn" the right to stage the 2006 World Cup finals.

Morocco, in a move to reaffirm its bid to stage the 2006 World Cup, says it has no plans to withdraw from the competition to host the finals, an official statement said.

The 2000 NBA All-Star Game, taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area, February 11- 13, will be shown in 205 countries, with a potential audience of 750million households.

South Africa says it is trying to persuade Morocco to quit the race to host the 2006 World Cup finals and allow it to be Africa's sole candidate.

The president and other officials of the International Boxing Federation have been indicted for bribery, charged with selling rankings to boxers over the past 14 years for as much as $100,000.

Fox Sports World and Fox Sports World Espanol will televise delayed coverage of the Football Confederation Gold Cup 2000 tournament to viewers across the United States and Puerto Rico in February 2000.

Romanian national coach Anghel Iordanescu has accused the country's soccer authorities of endangering the country's World Cup chances by denying him funds, facilities and competitive warm-up matches.

England will not be barred from the World Cup finals despite the behaviour of its hooligan fans, FIFA said on Monday.

The English Football Association hopes to collect #12million by selling the rights to sponsor the England football team in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup.

Dominican government leaders have applauded Santo Domingo's selection as host city for the 2003 Pan American games, but some opposition leaders dismissed spending on the sports event as inappropriate during recovery from a vicious hurricane.

Colombia?s soccer team Deportivo Cali will start constructing its new stadium tomorrow.