The Sofia City Court on Tuesday found Bulgarian football club CSKA Sofia Majority Owner ALEXANDER TOMOV, the former board chair of Kremikovtsi steelworks, "not guilty on charges of embezzlement." He was charged with misusing a total of €23M, allegedly having transferred €5M "from the bankrupt steel mill to CSKA," alongside ALEXANDER GARIBOV, IVAN IVANOV and BOJKO BONEV. Prosecutors demanded that "all of the defendants' properties be confiscated" (NOVINITE, 2/17). ... Former Channel Nine Managing Dir JEFF BROWNE "emerged as a leading candidate" to join the Australian Football League Commission. The league "is searching for a replacement" for LINDA DESSAU, who has been appointed Victoria's first female governor. AFL Chair MIKE FITZPATRICK has said that "he would like Dessau to remain until July but it seems likely she will leave earlier." Browne has the support of Collingwood President EDDIE MCGUIRE and West Coast Chair ALAN CRANSBERG, "two of the men who would sit on the nominations sub-committee" (THE AGE, 2/17). ... Liverpool winger LAZAR MARKOVIC "has been handed a four-game ban from European football." He "was sent off in the Reds' final Champions League group game" against Basel in December for catching BEHRANG SAFARI in the face with a flick of his hand. Markovic "has been given an extra game on top of the normal three-match ban for violent conduct because he was sent off playing for Benfica in a Europa League match last May" (London TELEGRAPH, 2/17). ... Brazilian striker HULK on Monday "confirmed his intention to stay with Russian FC Zenit St. Petersburg by resigning with the club until the end of the 2018-19 season." According to the official site of Zenit, "the new contract is a two-year extension of Hulk's original five-year Zenit deal" (XINHUA, 2/17).
