Test events -- there are another 41 left after last week's yachting regatta -- are not restricted by rules banning advertising. ``They're not conducted under Olympic sponsorship rules,'' Knight added.

The cost of staging the Games has increased by USD 76 million in the past year - USD 595 million more than budgeted in 1996. The New South Wales state government has ordered the organising committee to put aside any savings in the next two years to help pay for the swelling costs. Knight has promised NSW taxpayers would not be left with any Games debt, saying SOCOG would not spend any money it had not raised. Meanwhile, BBC, one of the largest broadcasters covering the Sydney 2000 Olympics, attacked the Games'infrastructure today, saying there were serious accommodation shortages and poor transport facilities.

A spokesperson for BBC said the media village, 20 kms from Sydney, would only act as a `back-spot' for broadcasters. Some of the Corporation's 350-strong Olympic reporting team would have to find accommodation elsewhere.Some of the 180 international broadcasters holding the rights to film and distribute images from the 2000 Olympics are meeting in Sydney to discuss logistics.