Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato apologized on Friday "for the confusion caused by introducing a new ball this season without notifying players." Kato held a meeting with representatives of the 12 teams and apologized for the mess while saying his management of the situation was insufficient. Japan's 12 teams "agreed to have a third party investigate the issue of why NBP secretly made its baseballs livelier" (KOREA HERALD, 6/14). ... The Thailand Football Association (FAT) on Saturday canceled its meetings for execs and member clubs to vote on its new electoral code to comply with FIFA statutes. The move came after Bangkok's Min Buri court on Friday issued an injunction to prevent the FAT from voting on the matter until the court reaches a verdict in a suit filed by Pattaya United against the FAT and FAT President Worawi Makudi (BANGKOK POST, 6/16). ... UAE Rugby on Friday signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with the Fiji Rugby Union, which will see Fiji Rugby help the country develop the game, with a particular focus on the sevens format (GULF NEWS, 6/14). ... The 12th season of the Eurocup basketball competition will include more teams and more games. The competition will increase from 32 to 48 teams in the regular season phase. The size of the groups will grow from four to six teams, thus the number of guaranteed games for each club will increase from six to 10 (EUROCUP).
