Australia
On March 2, Sydney will become the center for the world's best marksmen. The World Cup stages in shotgun and bullet shooting will be held on the Green Continent. Shotgun shooters will leave on March 6, bullet shooters on the 8th.
The first stage of the new Formula 1 World Championship - the Australian Grand Prix - will take place in the Melbourne area on March 7. On the 5th there will be test runs, on the 6th qualifying.
England
The Manchester derby will be the highlight of the 28th round of the football Premier League, which begins on March 13. City will play United. At the same time, Arsenal will travel to Blackburn, and Chelsea will play away to Bolton.
A week later (March 20-21), the Premier League leaders will play on their home grounds. Surely another batch of Russian fans will go to London to watch Chelsea play Fulham, ready to support Roman Abramovich's team live. Chelsea's rivals in the race for the 2004 England champion title - Arsenal (will play at home against Bolton) and Manchester United (will play at home against Tottenham).
March 27 will be a great opportunity to watch excellent English football. In London, Arsenal will host Manchester United. In this round, Chelsea will play at home against Wolverhampton, featuring our Oleh Luzhnyi.
Belgium
The World Cross-Country Championships are scheduled for March 20-21 in the country's capital, Brussels.
Hungary
In the heart of Hungary, Budapest, the World Indoor Athletics Championships will be held from March 5 to 7. The Hungarian city of Gyor will host the World Shooting Championships from March 22 to 28.
Germany
March 6 is the main matchday of the 23rd round of the football Bundesliga. You don't have to look far for the highlights of the round. Two matches immediately stand out. In Dortmund, Borussia will host Stuttgart, and in Leverkusen, Bayer will host Bayern. Werder, featuring our Viktor Skrypnyk, will travel to 1860 Munich, and Cologne, with Andriy Voronin, will travel to Wolfsburg.
The next round could produce a 'Ukrainian derby.' On March 13 in Bremen, Werder's Viktor Skrypnyk will host Cologne's Andriy Voronin. Bayern will play at home against Hansa, and Stuttgart against 1860 Munich.
In Berlin on March 20, a very interesting game of the next round of the German football championship will take place. Hertha will host Bayern. Bayern's rivals in the race for the Silver Salad Bowl, awarded to the national champion, will travel to Wolfsburg (namely Werder) and Cologne (namely Stuttgart).
On March 22, the World Figure Skating Championships will begin in Dortmund. The best athletes of the European continent, who determined the strongest in the Old World in February, will now face competition from the Chinese, Americans, and Canadians. Ukraine can count on two medals - in women's singles and among dance duos.
Two contenders for the 2004 German football champion title - Stuttgart and Werder - will meet on March 27 on the former's home ground, where one of the leading roles is played by 23-year-old Belarusian midfielder Alexander Hleb. Bayern will host Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Bayer will host Hertha.
Spain
In the 27th round of the football Primera Liga championship, the central match is Valencia - Deportivo. The round's games will be played on March 7, and among the other fixtures we will note Barcelona - Mallorca and Racing - Real Madrid.
A week later (March 20-21), there will be no clear central match in the Spanish championship. The most interesting games with even chances could be Valencia's away game in Vigo against Celta, Real Madrid - Zaragoza, Mallorca - Deportivo, and Real Sociedad - Atlético.
On March 21, Real Madrid will come to Bilbao to play a difficult game against local Athletic. In this round, Barcelona will test the national vice-champion Real Sociedad at home, Deportivo will play Murcia, and Valencia will play Mallorca.
The highlight of the 30th round of the Spanish football championship (March 27-28) should be the game in San Sebastián between Real Sociedad and Deportivo. Certain hopes are placed on the games Betis - Barcelona, Real Madrid - Sevilla, and Racing - Valencia.
Italy
In Serie A, the main event of the 24th round will be the meeting on March 7 between Roma and Inter. Andriy Shevchenko's Milan will play at home against Sampdoria, and another contender for the Scudetto, Juventus from Turin, will travel to Brescia.
On March 10, the entire world of alpine skiing will gather in Sestriere. The fact is that the next World Cup stages for both men and women will be held in this Italian town. Both will stay in Sestriere until March 14.
On March 12, cross-country skiing competitions, one of the World Cup stages, will begin in Pragelato. On March 14, the skiers will conclude their performances in Pragelato.
In the 25th round of the national football championship, the focus, without a doubt, will be on the game between Juventus and Milan. The two teams, who met in the Champions League final last season, are the main contenders for first place in the Italian championship this season. The match on March 14 will clarify a lot about their chances for the Scudetto. Inter will play Chievo in Milan, Roma will travel to Reggina, and Lazio will host Udinese in Rome.
The 26th round (March 20-21) will be marked by the Rome derby. Lazio and Roma will meet at the Olympic Stadium. Milan, meanwhile, will play at home against Parma.
After a series of strong matches between the giants, Italian Serie A takes a pause. No such meetings are expected in the 27th round. On March 27 and 28, Milan will play at home against Chievo, Roma against Bologna, Juventus against Modena. Inter will travel to Reggina, and Lazio to Perugia.
Canada
'Real men play hockey.' This famous phrase will not be held in high regard in Halifax starting March 30. The fact is that the World Championship for women's national teams will take place in this Canadian city. It will end on April 4.
Qatar
The World Team Table Tennis Championship will begin in Doha on March 1 and end on March 8.
Korea
Seoul, the capital of the 1988 Summer Olympics, will host the World Speed Skating Championships. The event will take place on March 12-14.
Malaysia
Formula 1 has also appeared in this country. The second round of the Royal Races will take place in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, March 21. Qualifying will be on Saturday, and practice sessions on Friday.
Norway
Alpine skiers will hold the next men's World Cup stage in Kvitfjell, Norway, on March 6 and 7.
Then biathletes will visit Norway to hold their World Cup stage. Holmenkollen has been chosen as the venue, and the world's best biathletes will be in Norway from March 10-14.
Russia
Northern Palmyra - the glorious city of St. Petersburg - will host the World Short Track Speed Skating Team Championship. It will begin on the 13th and end on March 14.
On March 13, the Russian football championship starts. It will be notable because a number of Russian clubs have been headed by foreign specialists in the offseason. The Czech Petržela, who led St. Petersburg's Zenit in 2003, has been joined by his compatriot Gzebik, who has taken charge of Moscow's Dynamo. The head coach of Moscow's Spartak is Italian Scala, at CSKA Moscow the Portuguese Jorge is in charge, and at Vladikavkaz's Alania - Frenchman Courbis. Interestingly, already in the first round Spartak and Dynamo will meet.
On March 20, the "foreign confrontation" will continue. In the second round, Moscow's Dynamo and CSKA will face each other.
The third round of the Russian championship will be split over two days - March 27 and 28.
USA
The town of Fort Kent will host a biathlon competition, which is one of the World Cup stages. The biathletes will begin competing for World Cup points on March 3 and finish on the 6th.
And, of course, one should not forget that in this country (as in Canada) regular season games of the NHL and NBA are held. In March, fans of these leagues will not have a single day off.
Finland
Participants of the next cross-country skiing World Cup stage will gather in Lahti. On March 5, the skiers will begin their competitions, and on the 7th they will finish the program.
On March 31, the final stage of the Biathlon World Cup will begin in Kontiolahti, which will sum up the entire season. The final chords will be heard on April 4.
France
Most matches of the 27th round of the French football championship will take place on March 6. In this round it is hard to single out the most interesting matches, so we will focus on the games of the leaders. Monaco - Guingamp, Lyon - Ajaccio, Paris Saint-Germain - Sochaux.
And in the 28th round, neither traditionally pivotal matchups nor decisive meetings of the leaders are expected. Therefore, on March 13, the games of the leaders will again be of interest in France. Auxerre - Monaco, Le Mans - Paris Saint-Germain, Sochaux - Lyon.
And in the 29th round, which will take place on March 20 and 21, the meeting between Lyon and Nantes should be the most interesting. Monaco will host Sochaux, and Paris Saint-Germain will host Ajaccio.
Sweden
The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships will take place in Gothenburg. The championship will begin on March 19 and end on the 21st.
Switzerland
On March 4, the draw for the 1/8 finals of the UEFA Cup will take place at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. Let us recall that a day earlier, the 1/16 final matches will end, in which two clubs from the former USSR will participate. Dnipropetrovsk's Dnipro will test its strength at home against French Marseille, and Moscow's Spartak will travel to the Balearic Islands, where it will play against Spanish Mallorca. The 1/8 final matches will be held on March 11 and 25.
And the matches of the 1/18 finals of the Champions League, the first games of which took place in the last week of February, will end on March 9 and 10. On the 9th, the following will play: Chelsea - Stuttgart, Juventus - Deportivo, Lyon - Real Sociedad, and Manchester United - Porto. On the 10th, the following pairs will take to the field: Arsenal - Celta, Milan - Sparta, Monaco - Lokomotiv, and Real - Bayern.
The first matches of the Champions League quarterfinals will take place on March 23 and 24, and the return matches on April 6 and 7.