Events

Dutch police are expecting to be overstretched during the 2000 European soccer championship and their union is already calling for the three-week tournament to be shortened by a week.

The European Commission has for the first time issued guidelines saying how competition rules should apply to the broadcasting of sports events.

Dr S. Robert Contiguglia has been elected President of the US Soccer Federation and confirmed that the US will bid for the 2010 World Cup.

St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire's record 62nd home run on Tuesday brought a historic rating high for the Fox network.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would send an envoy to North Korea to initiate friendly sports exchanges between arch enemies North and South Korea.

European Rugby Cup Ltd has signed a new four-year partnership agreement with ISL Worldwide.

Caltex Oil (Thailand) Ltd is stepping up its promotion campaign in the run-up to the Asian Games, for which it is a major sponsor.

FIFA officials are expecting Nigeria on Monday to inspect facilities for next year's world youth cup, a spokesman for the Nigerian tournament organisers said on Sunday.

A court has ordered the organisers of the Nagano Winter Olympics to pay damages for mental anguish to a spectator who missed an event because of heavy traffic.

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from next month's Asian Games in Bangkok because the event clashes with religious and national festivals at home, Thai officials have said.

The Sydney Olympics won a A$200 million tax break from the national government's proposed goods and services tax (GST), a spokesman for state Olympics minister Michael Knight has said.

Chinese sports officials have waded into the Olympic bribery row, saying Beijing may have been a victim of IOC corruption when it lost to Sydney in the contest to host the 2000 Games.

Organisers of the 2002 Winter Olympics were hit by an avalanche of criticism at home following charges that International Olympic Committee members' votes were bought during Salt Lake City's successful bid to host the Games.

One of NASCAR's latest sponsors has launched a multi-million dollar integrated sports marketing campaign.

Plans to cut the number of African countries bidding for the 2006 World Cup from five to just one strong candidate have been delayed, officials said on Tuesday.

Americans want changes in how cities are chosen to host the Olympics, to avoid the kind of cash-for-votes scandal that has befallen Salt Lake City, said a poll released by the U.S. Olympic Committee.