The country’s three largest sporting bodies all said that a proposal to ban sponsorship of major sporting events by drinks firms would have a devastating impact on the funding of their respective sports, especially at club and community level.

SECOND-quarter net income rose sharply at Adidas, Europe’s biggest sports-goods maker, as the integration of its Reebok division helped cut costs and increase margins despite nearly flat sales growth.

The Government bid with the Scottish FA to bring the European soccer championship to Dublin in 2008 is firmly on track, according to the Minister for sport John O’Donoghue.