By David GoldOctober 5 - The Brazilian Government has announced new criteria for ranking hotels and accommodation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games that Rio de Janeiro hosts in 2016 and the FIFA World Cup taking place in the country in 2014.

Accommodation.The system was first implemented last year in Brazil and follows international models from France, Spain

By David GoldSeptember 30 - United States Paralympics has announced the 26 athletes who will be a part of their 2012-13 Alpine Skiing National team.

numerous podiums at the 2013 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in La Molina, Spain

By Duncan MackaySeptember 30 - Russia will spend a projected $19.2 million (£11.9 billion/€14.9 billion) on getting ready to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018, the country's Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko revealed today. 

tournament in December 2010 ahead of England and joint bids from Belgium and Holland and Portugal and Spain

By David GoldSeptember 27 - The window for applications to be a volunteer at the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup has closed, with a record number putting themselves forward for the opportunity.

Brazil, the country with the largest number of candidates was Colombia, with 908, followed by Argentina, Spain

By Duncan MackaySeptember 23 - Nottwil in Switzerland has been chosen to host the 2015 World Para-Cycling Road Championships, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has announced.

Ponferrada in Spain had originally been lined up to host the event but they are struggling to raise 

By Duncan MackaySeptember 22 - Spain's financial crisis could force the International Cycling Union (UCI) to take away the 2014 World Road Cycling Championships from Ponferrada, which could have serious repercussions for Madrid's bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

The UCI have granted the historic city in north-western Spain 30 days to "meet contractual

host the Championships.Ponferrada's Mayor Carlos Lopez Riesco has warned that the creditability of Spain

situation of uncertainty that is hurting us not only to us, but are even jeopardising the credibility of Spain

 "It would be lethal to the image of our country and the interests of sport in Spain."

bidding for 2020, which also include Istanbul and Tokyo.Ponferrada is one of the most historic cities in Spain

By Duncan MackaySeptember 21 - A new promotion and relegation system has been introduced by the International Rugby Board (IRB) for its HSBC Sevens World Series as the sport continues its preparations for its return to the Olympic programme at Rio in 2016. 

of the nine rounds has increased from 12 to 15, following the qualification of Canada, Portugal and Spain

By Tom DegunSeptember 19 - The new International Rugby Board (IRB) chief executive Brett Gosper has helped make the draw for the prestigious 2012/2013 HSBC Sevens World Series opener, which will take place on October 13 and 14.

Africa, the United States and Canada, while England head Pool C in a group that also features Samoa, Spain

By Andrew WarshawSeptember 17 - FIFA and Brazil 2014 have announced that a yet to-be-named armadillo will be the World Cup mascot.

Goleo.Other World Cup mascots included a boy called Juanito in Mexico in 1970, an orange named Naranjito in Spain

By David GoldSeptember 15 - An awareness campaign for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships has begun in Barcelona.

Barcelona to promote the eventThe Catalan capital is hoping to spur renewed interest in swimming across Spain

By David GoldSeptember 12 - Barcelona should reap the economic rewards of hosting the FINA World Aquatics Championships next year, according to Mercè Vallès, the communications director of the competition's Organising Committee.

World Championships in 2003, which helped to generate interest and greater participation in aquatics in Spain

next year's event will be useful not just for Barcelona to showcase its hosting skills, but also for Spain

Great Britain was second with 41 gold medals and Spain took third place with 39 gold medals.From an organisational

Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain

By David GoldSeptember 10 - Britain looks set to have the opportunity to be represented in basketball at future Olympic Games despite the objections of Wales.

If you want basketball in the UK to be like [it is] in Spain, France, Italy or Greece then it is logical

By Mike Rowbottom on The Mall in LondonSeptember 9 - David Weir provided the perfect patriotic endpiece to the home Paralympics here today as he rounded off his extraordinary Games with a fourth gold medal in the T54 marathon.

Grey-Thompson.Gold in the earlier men's T12 marathon went to Alberto Suárez Laso (pictured above, front) of Spain