Events

South African soccer officials, confident of the quality of their bid, have revealed why they think they should host the 2006 World Cup.

England's 1966 soccer World Cup final hero Geoff Hurst is to be the key speaker at an international conference to be held in the UK next month.

Texas Motor Speedway officials plan to build a $2.5 million clay-surfaced track and host prestigious Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint car races in 2000.

President Fidel Castro has thrown his weight behind Cuba's ambitious bid to host the 2008 Olympics, saying it was merited both because of the island's athletic record and as a right for the Third World in general.

USA Broadcasting, the eighth largest television broadcast group in the US, has signed a broad, multi-year alliance with the Dallas Mavericks, the first local sports partnership for USAB Dallas Channel 49, set to launch this November.

Morocco have staked their claim to be Africa's first choice for the 2006 World Cup.

Westwood One, America's largest radio network, and SportsLine USA, the leading global Internet sports media company and publisher of CBS SportsLine, have signed a three-year, $9 million promotional and programming agreement.

DIRECTV, the leading US digital pay-TV entertainment service, has reached an affiliate agreement with FOX Sports World to offer the network on the DIRECTV programming line-up beginning September 1, 1999.

Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB has opened negotiations with Aston Villa about buying a 9.9% stake in the Premier League football club, according to a report in the Mail On Sunday.

Talk Radio plan to invest #6m to start up the UK's first 24-hour all-sports radio station.

CBS and the NCAA are in talks to extend their broadcast rights agreement to the Division I basketball tournament.

SportsLine USA, the global Internet sports media company, has announced that its combined reach among Internet users at home and at work exceeded all other sports Web sites for the month of July.

Rivals.com, Inc. (www.rivals.com) will officially launch more than 350 team sports and specialty channel Web sites on Aug. 23, creating the world's largest online sports network.

International television rights company CSI Ltd has recently acquired the exclusive television rights for home matches of the English football clubs in the UEFA Cup and the European Pro Beach Soccer League.

Pay-TV group BSkyB has received favourable UK press reviews of their interactive soccer service, which was made available on Sunday when Arsenal played champions Manchester United. Most reports focussed on the simplicity of use of the new service.

UFA Sport has made a 12-year equity investment in Italian Serie B club, Sampdoria. The deal is believed to be worth between $50m-$60m over 12 years

ISL Television is to exclusively represent the international broadcast rights to the five key domestic Brazilian football competitions under an agreement with the domestic rights-holders for Brazilian football: Clube dos Treze and Rede Globo.

The Nationwide Building Society has added to its UK soccer sponsorship portfolio by signing a three-year #500,000 sponsorship deal with the FA of Wales (FAW).