Events

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.

Ben Johnson, the disgraced Canadian sprinter who received a life-time ban from the IAAF in 1993 for registering excessive testosterone levels, may be allowed to race again.

South Africa and Morocco submitted bids to the African Soccer Confederation (CAF) over the weekend to stage the 2006 World Cup, the confederation's chief executive said.

FOX Sports World and FOX Sports World Espanol have signed an exclusive sponsorship agreement with the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), making the Networks the Official Sports Television Networks of the AYSO.

The Special Olympics World Games, to be held form June 26-July 4 in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary, North Carolina, will host a diverse sponsorship programme from the event's platinum sponsors Coca-Cola.

Neil MacDonald, formerly General Manager of Internet Multimedia Services at British Telecom has joined Pangolin, the leading independent provider of European sporting content on-line, as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

South American Football Confederation president Nicolas Leoz has suggested the 2002 World Cup should be taken away from Asia, following the walkout by the Asian delegation at the FIFA Congress in Los Angeles.

SFX Entertainment has acquired Candid Productions, producers of professional figure skating events, formerly owned and operated by Dick Button.

NBC reports that its ad sales for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, are on track despite numerous obstacles.