Football legend PELÉ has "lent his support to the re-election bid" of FIFA President SEPP BLATTER. Pelé said, "I'm going to be clear. I support Sepp Blatter because he has more experience. He has been there for a long time. Obviously you sometimes need to have changes in life but I am going to support Blatter. I think he can still do a good job" (XINHUA, 3/20). ... USAIN BOLT will compete in a 100m sprint event in Rio de Janeiro in April as he "steps up preparations for next year's Olympic Games," local officials said on Thursday. The 28-year-old Jamaican "will face two international rivals and a local sprinter," according to the Mano a Mano event organizer DUDA MAGALHAES (XINHUA, 3/19). ... Respects were paid to F1 driver ARYTON SENNA on Saturday, which would have been his 55th birthday. Senna’s nephew, driver BRUNO SENNA, as well as the McLaren team "reminisced" about the driver who passed away at the San Marino Grand Prix in '94. McLaren posted on its official site, "It's impossible to imagine the Brazilian pushing into his second half-century, a quiet figure in the modern F1 paddock with flecks of grey in his hair and creases lined into his face. Impossible because like all those who die young, his legacy and image remain so immovably tied to his time that there's just no escaping that permanence of youth" (DIÁRIO DE SÃO PAULO, 3/21). ... Sydney Olympics marathon champion NAOKO TAKAHASHI "called for more transparency in the selection process for Japan's athletics team" after TOMOMI TANAKA was left out of the squad for this year's world championships. Tanaka won the Yokohama Int’l Marathon in two hours, 26 minutes and 57 seconds last November, "the only Japanese winner of any of the three races that formed the qualifying process for the world championships." The 27-year-old "was controversially omitted from the three-women marathon team for the Aug. 22-30 championships in Beijing" (REUTERS, 3/21). ... French European Tour professional ROMAIN WATTEL signed with IMG for worldwide management and marketing representation. In ‘14, he enjoyed his best year to date with eight top-10 finishes, resulting in a career-high 28th place in The Race to Dubai. Wattel led the European Tour in overall scoring last year, finishing the year at 157 under par (IMG). … Int’l Cricket Council President MUSTAFA KAMAL dismissed "rumors" that he was resigning his post. Kamal termed the umpiring in Bangladesh's quarterfinal match against India as "poor" and threatened to step down after the match on March 19 (IANS, 3/22). … Bulgarian 2004 Olympic weightlifting champion MILEN DOBREV “died at the age of 35.” An interior ministry spokesperson said, “His body was found at his home in (the southern town) Plovdiv. There are no signs of violence on the body, the cause of death is still not clear." Dobrev “won the Olympic title in the 94kg category at the 2004 Games in Athens” (REUTERS, 3/21).
ALONSO CLEARED: F1 driver FERNANDO ALONSO has been cleared to travel to Malaysia for the second race of the F1 season after "passing medical tests in England," Spanish media reported on Sunday. Marca and AS newspapers, quoting sources close to the driver, said the double world champion "had short and long-term memory and reflex checks in Cambridge." The driver "must still pass FIA tests at the Sepang circuit on Thursday before being able to race" (REUTERS, 3/22).
