Names In The News

All-Party Tennis Group Chair ANGELA BILLINGHAM said the £640,000 ($1M) salary of Lawn Tennis Association CEO ROGER DRAPER in "unthinkable." On Monday, Sport England cut the LTA's funding, criticizing its plans for increasing participation. Billingham: "It's unthinkable that someone earning four times more than the Prime Minister has not got ideas for the shake-up of the sport" (BBC, 12/19). ... German striker THOMAS MÜLLER "has signed a contract extension with Bundesliga club Bayern Munich." Müller, whose current contract expires on June 30, 2015, "signed a two-year extension until June 30, 2017" (BILD, 12/19). ... Ligue 1 Paris St. Germain Brazilian midfielder NENE has revealed that he intends to leave the club over the winter period (LE PARISIEN, 12/19). ... London Games Gold Medalists ARTHUR ZANETTI and SHEILLA CASTRO were awarded the best athlete of 2012 award by the Brazilian Olympic Committte (COB) at an event held in Rio de Janeiro (IG, 12/18). ... The organizer of the 7th Dubai Int'l Sports Conference, Dubai Sports Council, "has put Argentinian legend and Dubai ambassador DIEGO MARADONA alongside Real Madrid coach JOSÉ MOURINHO in the same discussion next Friday" (GULF NEWS, 12/19). ... Flat jockey EDDIE AHERN, with more than 1,000 wins to his credit, is one of six men charged by the British Horseracing Authority on Wednesday with conspiracy to defraud (LONDON TIMES, 12/20).