Stadia

Germany and South Africa emerged as clear joint favourites to stage the 2006 World Cup on Friday after the leaking of a confidential FIFA report ranking them as technically the best bids.

FIFA, world soccer?s governing body, appears to be back-tracking over a confidential report which ranked England's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup below that of rivals Germany and South Africa.

Sportel, the international meeting place for the television distribution and programming market, is expanding its outreach to new media and advertising companies for SPORTEL's 11th International Sports Television Convention, to be held in Monte Carlo November 5-8, 2000.

English Premier League club Newcastle United has won a legal battle against supporters who objected to losing their regular seats at the St James's Park stadium.

The Extreme Group and United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC), the joint venture partners in the Extreme Sports Channel, have signed a distribution agreement with Germany's third-largest independent cable network operator PrimaCom AG.

Sydney passed its final inspection before this year's Summer Olympics with flying colours, winning rave reviews from the International Olympic Committee for its preparations.

XOR, a full-service provider that assembles and manages customised solutions for eBusinesses, has signed a two-year hosting agreement with The Sporting News Online

Support is growing for a proposed new #7million indoor training track to be built in Swansea, Wales.

Spanish Cup winners Espanyol have admitted they would not be able to sign any more players in the immediate future because of their debts.

Euro 2000 organisers have warned soccer supporters that realistic fake tickets for Sunday's are in circulation.

UEFA have named 43-year-old Mike Lee to the new post of director of communications and public affairs.

European soccer's governing body UEFA issued an official apology on Wednesday after a report on its media information website attacking England's Euro 2000 performances caused a major stir in Britain.

Australian media tycoons Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer are reported to be involved in a bidding war for the digital and internet rights to English cricket.

The NFL?s Cincinnati Bengals has struck a deal with Hamilton County commissioners to amend the lease for the new Paul Brown Stadium.

England?s Euro 2000 campaign may have been marked by disappointment on the field and shame off it, but this hasn?t stopped sales of replica England shirts from adding to the quarterly profits of the nation?s largest sports retailer.

Taxpayer-financed sports stadiums lower per per-capita incomes in their areas ? according to a study carried out by two US academics.

San Diego's City Council has given the green light for $10 million in interim financing to keep construction of a new downtown ballpark on schedule.

Worldzap, the joint venture between Prisma iVentures and The Fantastic Corporation has added three key executives to its management team.