Events

The Italian Soccer League has said it will call a "time out" before discussing a project backed by Media Partners and JP Morgan to create a pan-European Super League.

In a surprising move, Spanish telephone company Telefonica has broken off talks with Sogecable to merge the country's two digital platforms, the Telefonica-led Via Digital and Sogecable's CanalSatelite Digital (CSD).

The BBC has won broadcasting rights to United Kingdom athletics from Channel Four, in a move that will consolidate its position as the sports broadcaster with the broadest range of top events.

Sydney has virtually given up any hope of hosting the 1999 Grand Prix track and field finals, organisers for the Sydney Olympics have said.

The European Commission has said the results of a probe into how the Formula One championship and other big motor racing events are run was not expected before the end of the year.

An unidentified group of investors has apparently made the highest initial bid - of around $600 million - for the Washington Redskins, the Washington Post has reported.

The French capital announced it was bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Switzerland has invited inspectors to check Swiss documents related to the country's bids to hold the winter Olympics following a scandal over allegations that votes to win the games could be bought.

TV networks in the States are continuing to count the cost of the cancellation of weeks of NBA games and are now trying to find suitable programmes to fill their depleted schedules.

Finnish former athlete Pirjo Haggman has became the first member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to quit over bribery scandals buffeting the organisation.

A Nagano citizens' group says it has launched a lawsuit against the organisers of the 1998 Winter Olympics for misusing public money in their successful bid to host the Games.

The Japanese government decided on Thursday to cut even symbolic links with cities bidding for Olympic Games until investigations into the bribery scandal over selecting venues are completed and it has had time to study them.

A Boston millionaire with strong ties to Utah was named on Thursday to head the panel organising the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics as part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at putting a bribery scandal to rest.

NBA Entertainment has promoted Heidi Ueberroth to the role of senior vice-president for International Television and Business Development.

South Africa`s 2006 World Cup bid committee said it was vital for the future of soccer as a sport and the World Cup as a multi-billion dollar business that the African continent stage the finals in seven years' time.

SportsLine, the US internet sports information service, which runs web-site such as CBS SportsLine, soccernet and Golfweb, is to develop a $50milion European subsidiary in partnership with Intel, MediaOne and Reuters.