Events

The 2004 Olympics in Athens could be a disaster without proper planning, the head of the organising committee said on Thursday.

Australian soccer authorities have made a formal application to host the World Cup in 2006 or 2010.

The Queensland Government has outlaid $A20 million to successfully bid for the 2001 Goodwill Games which will see $A167 million returned in direct economic benefits to the states.

English Channel 5 has become the NFL's terrestrial partner under a new deal signed to broadcast weekly games live.

Walt Disney Co. has offered to pay the National Hockey League about $400 million for five-year exclusive broadcast rights on ABC and ESPN, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The largestever J-League soccer crowd turned out on Sunday night to watch J-West beat J-East 3-1 in the mid-season All-Star game.

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch is reported to be in talks to buy English Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur Plc in a deal said to be worth millions of pounds, according to English newspaper The Guardian.

Drivers have got lost and some buses have simply not turned up, but team officials have said the biggest teething problem of the 16th Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur - transport - is getting better.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has said he hoped an International Olympic Committee initiative to host sports ties between North and South Korea would eventually lead to joint Korean teams for international competitions.

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone and the European Union (EU) competition commissioner have made headway in talks on commercial control of the sport, according to EU officials.

Japan's leading football official has expressed surprise that former FIFA president Joao Havelange should say it was a mistake to award the 2002 World Cup jointly to Japan and South Korea.

South Korea is proceeding well with its preparations for co-hosting the 2002 World Cup finals, the head of a visiting FIFA delegation said on Tuesday.

Olympic leaders said on Friday they would be holding immediate talks on whether Salt Lake City broke Olympic rules in its campaign to win the race to stage the 2002 Winter Games.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has reaffirmed his support for an Africa bid to host the 2006 World Cup finals when he met South African president Nelson.

Former world 5,000 metres record holder David Moorcroft has been confirmed as head of the British governing body UK Athletics.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, underwriter of a planned bond issue for Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One motor racing company, has said reports that other banks would take over the bond were inaccurate.