Spanish tennis player NURIA LLAGOSTERA on Tuesday announced her retirement following a recent two-year suspension that "was going to prevent her from officially competing again until Nov. 7, 2015." Llagostera, 33, "emotionally stated that her career is ending here" (EFE, 11/19). ... Chilean FC Barcelona player ALEXIS SÁNCHEZ will be featured in an HBO documentary as part of the int'l channel's "Destino Brasil 2014" ("Destination Brazil 2014") series on "players expected to lead teams participating in the 2014 World Cup." The documentary "will include interviews with Sánchez's family and will examine the player's upbringing and background" (SPORT, 11/19). ... Former Germany youth int'l BURAK KARAN, 25, "died during an air raid on the Syrian town of Azaz in October, allegedly after travelling there to assist anti-Assad forces." A video of Karan posted on YouTube "has fuelled speculation that the player became radicalised after retiring from sport." Accompanied by a reading of a "poem to my mother," it shows the young man wearing a turban and, in one picture, carrying a machine gun (London GUARDIAN, 11/19). ... Chinese President XI JINPING met with IOC President THOMAS BACH in Beijing on Tuesday. Xi "congratulated Bach on being elected as ninth IOC president and thanked Bach and IOC's support and guidance of China's sports and Olympic movement." Bach thanked the Chinese government for its support to int'l Olympics and "hailed China's contribution to the world sports" (XINHUA, 11/19). ... Ireland national football team Manager MARTIN O'NEILL "will seek to impose a temporary ban on his Ireland players from using Twitter" after JAMES MCCLEAN’s latest indiscretion on the social networking site, with the manager declaring himself as not "overly pleased" with the Wigan Athletic winger, whom he repeatedly "censured for similar reasons during their spell together at Sunderland" (LONDON TIMES, 11/19).
