Indonesian badminton player GREYSIA POLII "might haven fallen from grace when a scandal disqualified her from the London Olympic Games," but is hoping to represent professional shuttlers by becoming a member of the Badminton World Federation Athletes Commission. Polii is "vying for one out of three spots" (THE JAKARTA GLOBE, 2/26). ... FIFA executive committee member WORAWI MAKUDI "is a candidate to replace disgraced" MOHAMED BIN HAMMAM as Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president. Makudi, "a longtime bin Hammam ally," could face four rivals: Interim AFC President ZHANG JILONG of China, Bahrain's Sheikh SALMAN BIN IBRAHIM AL KHALIFA, United Arab Emirates FA Chief YOUSUF AL SERKAL, and Saudi Professional League Chair HAFEZ EL MEDLEJ (CHINA DAILY, 2/26).
COACHES/MANAGERS: Former New Zealand defender RICKI HERBERT has resigned as coach of A-League club Wellington Phoenix "to focus on steering New Zealand to a second consecutive World Cup finals appearance." Herbert will be replaced by assistant coach CHRIS GREENACRE "for the final games of the season but remain as a technical advisor" (REUTERS 2/26). ... Former England Manager STEVE MCCLAREN has left his role as coach of FC Twente the day after holding talks with Chair JOOP MUNSTERMAN. The Enschede side has not won a league match since Dec. 21 and is fifth in the Dutch league, six points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven (BBC, 2/26).
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