Brazilian footballer RONALDINHO "has been awarded with honorary citizenship" of La Paz by the Bolivian capital's governor CESAR COCORICO. Ronaldinho is currently in La Paz with Brazil's Atletico Mineiro for Wednesday's Copa Libertadores clash against the Strongest (XINHUA, 3/13). ... British TV pundit JOHN MCCRIRICK was "taken to hospital" Tuesday after collapsing at Cheltenham Festival. McCririck "isn't presenting Channel 4's coverage of the four-day festival for the first time in 30 years." His wife blamed his collapse "on the stress of being sacked by Channel 4." McCririck is "currently suing the channel" for £3M ($4.4M) for "ageism and loss of earnings" (London DAILY MAIL, 3/12). ... The Int'l Cycling Union presented the 2012 UCI WorldTour trophy to the winner of the individual classification JOAQUIN RODRIGUEZ Monday following the first stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (UCI). ... ABDOLLAH CHAMANGOLI "was appointed as coach of Iran’s Greco-Roman." Chamangoli replaced RASOOL JAZINI (TEHRAN TIMES, 3/12). ... Former Toyota Motors Alvark coach KOJU MUNAKATA "will be named the first bench boss in Aomori Wat’s history." An announcement "is expected in the coming days" (JAPAN TIMES, 3/13). ... Vietnamese gymnast NGUYEN HA THANH "has received an invitation to attend the 2013 Challenge Cup in France" which runs Thursday through Monday (XINHUA, 3/12). ... Indonesia badminton player GREYSIA POLII has "become a member of the Badminton World Federation Athletes' Commission." Greysia and two other players -- YUHAN TAN of Belgium and HANS-KRISTIAN VITTINGHUS of Denmark -- "were elected as new representatives in the organization following four days of voting at the German and All-England Opens" (JAKARTA GLOBE, 3/13).
IN THE RING: Boxer DERECK CHISORA "has regained his British boxing licence 12 months after it was stripped" following a brawl with DAVID HAYE at a news conference. Promoter FRANK WARREN said that Chisora "was reissued with a licence ahead of his April 20 comeback fight." His opponent "has not been named" (AAP, 3/13). ... Beijing Olympic Bronze Medalist boxer VIJENDER SINGH "may land in a legal tangle," with Indian police sources saying that they are "likely to move court seeking the boxer's hair and blood samples." Vijender wrote to National Institute of Sports in Patiala" seeking exemption from the training camp" currently in progress citing his getting embroiled in "controversy" in connection with the Rs 130 crore ($23.9M) Mohali drug haul (TNN, 3/13).
