World Sports

The international body governing water sports has granted the former Soviet republics of Estonia and Latvia official membership, the first world sports organization to do so. The Rome office of FINA said that applications from both countries were accepted at a meeting in Perugia, Italy. FINA covers swimming, water polo, diving and synchronized swimming.

A record 134 national soccer teams have set their sights on the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States. The number registering for the qualifying rounds bettered by 11 the record set in 1990, said Sepp Blatter, head of FIFA, world soccer’s governing body.