SEPTEMBER 18 - AUSTRALIA is hoping that its 2018 World Cup bid has been given a boost ahead of England after the county's most senior football official, billionaire Frank Lowy, was given a place on FIFA's World Cup organising committee.

involvement with The Westfield Group, a retail giant that owns dozens of shopping centres in Australia, New

Zealand, the United States and Britain.  

  SEPTEMBER 16 - NEW ZEALAND'S former world number one windsurfer Jon-Paul Tobin (pictured) has taken

years for Tobin to meet eligibility requirements to compete for Britain, having previously represented New

Zealand in an ISAF event, but given his track record the RYA have decided to support him through National

Tobin, who was born in Bay of Plenty in New Zealand but qualifies for a British passport through his

By an insidethegames reporter  September 11 - Roger Federer and Mark Todd (pictured), two iconic names in their sports, have both confirmed that they have set their sights on London 2012.  

Federer, fresh from his fifth consectutive US Open title in New York on Monday where he beat Britain's

He and his mount Gandalf finished 18th in the individual eventing standings and helped New Zealand to

New Zealand Bloodstock Ltd who backed his Beijing campaign said it would continue to support Todd in

"New Zealand Bloodstock has kindly agreed to continue its sponsorship and I am currently looking at horses

Zealand.  

  NEW ZEALAND eventing great Mark Todd (pictured) will base himself in England from next month

nbsp; Todd, who is godfather to one of Sebastian Coe's children, had originally planned to stay in New

Zealand.

  "I plan to be here until June, then will go back to New Zealand for a month.

  "I will return to the UK until the end of the season and be in New Zealand for Christmas."

Zealand to fifth in the team standings.

  THE fifth Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF), due to take place in January 2009, promises to be biggest and best yet, with more sports, more competing countries and more aspiring Olympians than ever before, organisers said at the launch of the event today.

Britain will have 190, New Zealand 229 and Japan 117.  

Entertainment Centre and showcases the best of the 2008 Schools Spectacular performances presented by New

  A REVIEW of Ireland's performance at the Beijing Olympics has concluded that the three-medal haul was good but we are still underperforming compared to other similar countries.

It compared Irelands performances over the last six Olympiads to nations such as New Zealand, Norway,

At the top of the table, New Zealand has won 47 medals in the same period.  

 AUGUST 16 - BRITAIN'S coxless fours won the Olympic title for the third Games in a row as Team GB's rowers claimed three medals on a great day at the Shunyi Rowing Park.

The pair missed out on gold by just 0.23 of a second as the New Zealand crew of identical twins Caroline

  CULT POP DUO the Proclaimers are the latest famous names back the Save Meadowbank campaign.

to bulldoze the existing Meadowbank stadium and velodrome and sell a third of the site to pay for a new

The proposals would see a new 5,000-capacity stadium, new running track and indoor sports complex built

He said: “People all over the world, from the Cayman Islands to New Zealand, have asked the Scottish

 DAVE CURRIE (pictured), Chef de Mission for the New Zealand team at this year’s Beijing Olympics

 Currie, a former leading administrator in triathlon, first took charge of the New Zealand team at

He will also be the Chef de Mission for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.  

New Zealand Olympic Committee secretary general Barry Maister  said the appointment reflected Currie&

New Zealand finished 26th overall in Beijing with nine medals, including three gold, their best performance

 THE International Triathlon Union (ITU) tonight honoured its founding president Les McDonald (pictured), its vice-president Chiharu Igaya, Olympic gold medallist Jan Frodeno and overall World Cup series champion Samantha Warriner at its gala in Madrid.

 The 2008 overall World Cup series champion Warriner made the long trip from New Zealand to accept

  She said: "It's a long way to come from New Zealand but now that I'm here I'm so glad I'm

 ITU also recognised the achievement of triathlon's new Olympic gold medallist Frodeno of Germany

 AUGUST 4 - SIR KEITH MILLS (pictured), the deputy chairman of London 2012, is trying to help settle a legal battle that is threatening to derail the America's Cup, an event he is leading the British challenge in.

After successfully defending the Cup against Team New Zealand in July 2007, Alinghi, owned by Swiss bio-tech

Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), which backs BMW Oracle Racing, issued a challenge and then sued in a New

A New York judge earlier this year agreed with GGYC, making it the Challenger of Record.  

But Alinghi's backing club, Societe Nautique de Geneve, appealed, and last week the New York Supreme

GGYC filed a last-chance appeal last Friday with the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany.  

  THE Peter Snell Institute of Sport in Auckland which has helped youngsters in New Zealand, including

international athlete and the Mayor of Auckland from 1980 to 1983, and Allison Roe, a former winner of the New

The decision to shut it down comes only six months after Vili became New Zealand's first Olympic track

The closure has saddened Snell, arguably New Zealand's greatest athlete having won the 800m at the Tokyo

over-extended itself at the beginning of the downturn of financial support and had been unable to tap into new

He said: "It is a pity because we had just acquired new equipment to carry out the talent identification

  ENGLAND, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are among eight countries announced today as bidding for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The next tournament – in 2011 – will be held in New Zealand.

cycling have each been awarded NZ$12 million (£4.2 million) in the latest round of Sport and Recreation New

Zealand (SPARC) funding to help them prepare for the London 2012 Olympics, it was announced today.

Under the High Performance Strategy 2006-2012 New Zealand is targeting at least 10 medals for the London

In the Beijing Olympics last year New Zealand finished 26th overall with nine medals, including three

Zealand finished fourth behind Bahamas, Jamaica and Slovenia.  

New Zealand spent NZ$65 million (£24.7 million) on high performance sport between Athens and Beijing,

Zealand Academy of Sport athlete and coach support programme (NZ$ 5.7 million [£2 million]).  

has announced further backing for its campaign for netball to become an Olympic sport by unveiling a new

The new logo will be integrated into all activity and be present on court during televised games on Sky

“We’re gaining support from all of the major netball playing nations including Australia and New Zealand