Media

US network ABC scored a 6.9 rating in 40 major markets for its coverage of the World Cup final.

The Football Association has announced a new #25million four-year sponsorship deal for the FA Cup with insurance giants AXA.

Germany's powerful but secretive media conglomorate the Kirch Group may be going public according to an unconfirmed report Friday in Italy's financial daily Sole 24 Ore.

Till Lufft, general secretary of the European Athletic Association has declared the organisation `very pleased? with the level of sponsor support for the European Championships which start tomorrow.

Money spent on facilities for the 16th Commonwealth Games is not a waste especially when they will also be used for future events, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said.

The naming deal for Sydney's Olympic Stadium is expected to be worth more than $A30m.

Japan's Sony Corp has denied a newspaper report that said the electronics giant had offered 220 million pounds to buy English soccer club Newcastle United.

AC Milan, the soccer club controlled by Italian media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, should be listed on the bourse by the end of 2000, the club's vice president Adriano Galliani said on Tuesday.

More people watched ESPN's coverage of the Sept. 28 playoff baseball game in primetime between the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants than any other non-football cablecast in the network's history.

Italy's soccer players have voted not to strike in protest at media speculation that their sport is rife with drug-taking.

An all-party group of 46 members of parliament on Thursday urged the government to ask Britain's monopolies watchdog to examine a bid for soccer club Manchester United Plc by pay television company BSkyB.

The record number of imported horses contesting Tuesday's A$2.5 million (US$1.55 million) Australian Melbourne Cup has triggered a war of words between the Cup's organisers and some of the country's most successful trainers.

Australian sports ministers have rejected a plan to ban children under 14 from competitive boxing, arguing such a ban would be impossible to enforce and was also unnecessary.

The bitter battle for control of Russian football has heated up with the head of the league questioning the veteran federation boss about allegations that large sums were diverted from soccer into banks abroad.

Newcastle United Plc has said it had received a preliminary approach which may lead to a 160 million pound ($270 million) takeover bid for the English premier league soccer club.

China's top sports official has decried corruption in the sporting world, saying bribery threatens the country's athletic development and could have a negative impact on social order, state media said on Tuesday.