Events

The UK's third biggest cable operator, NTL, has bought a 6.3% stake in the Premier League soccer club Newcastle United with an option to take control of the company in a deal which would value it at #160m.

A report on the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics bribery scandal has recommended disciplinary action including expulsion for up to 16 International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, according to the Wall Street Journal.

News Corp Europe, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire, is set to make a formal offer for Italian television soccer rights by the end of February, chairman Letizia Moratti has announced.

French terrestrial television station TF1 and pay television group Canal Plus have declined to comment on a report they were talking about sharing European football broadcasting rights.

The man who ran the ill-fated 1996 Atlanta Games offered some advice to Sydney 2000 Games organisers on Friday: ignore an Olympic corruption scandal and trust that everything will come out right.

A season-long experiment of using two referees to control matches is likely to be approved at the annual meeting of soccer's law-making International Board on Saturday.

Ireland's state-owned Telecom Eireann is set to pay IR#11 million for the naming rights to a planned 45,000-seat soccer stadium in southwest Dublin.

South African soccer officials have reacted with delight to Nigeria's decision to withdraw their bid to host the World Cup finals in 2006 and instead support the South African bid.

The world's largest professional surfing competitions are set to anchor the $400,000 Panasonic ShockWave Beach Games from July 19 to August 1 in Huntington Beach.

The CONCACAF Championship of Heroes, scheduled to take place in Trinidad next month has been postponed.

UK broadcaster Sky Sports has won the exclusive live rights to the next two Ryder Cups between Europe and the United States.

The bidding war between broadcasters for the rights to French soccer action is set to benefit French cinema, according to a French government minister.

FIFA has said Manchester United's decision to take part in its World Team Championship will not make any difference to England's bid to host the 2006 World Cup.

Italian pay-TV broadcaster Stream has launched its plans for coverage of the next soccer season saying it would offer a better and cheaper product than its sole rival Telepiu.

Racing Champions, the producer and marketer of collectibles and best known for its extensive lines of officially licensed NASCAR racing replicas, Press Pass trading cards, NASCAR souvenirs and apparel, has received the Licensee of the Year (Hard Goods) award from The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA).

Plans for a new basketball and ice hockey arena in Dallas, due for completion in autumn 2001, have been unveiled by city officials.

Guinness announced a 15 per cent sales increase in the UK for the September/October period during which they sponsored the Rugby World Cup.

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.