Sub-Saharan Africa

Head of IMG, Mark McCormack, has discussed the future of his company in an interview with the UK's Sunday Business newspaper.

The Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Tony Blair and film star Hugh Grant will lead attempts to impress international soccer chiefs who will inspect England's World Cup 2006 facilities this week.

A six-man delegation from soccer's world governing body FIFA rounded off a five-day visit to Germany full of praise for the country's bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair threw open his Downing Street doors to a delegation from world soccer's governing body FIFA yesterday, hoping to convince them to back England's bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

Movie star Hugh Grant and former England star Gary Lineker were among the star names at a special send-off to the FIFA team inspecting England's chances of hosting the 2006 World Cup.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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