EPL side Queens Park Rangers said on Sunday that it has "been advised" not to select Brazil midfielder SANDRO for its match with Man City due to issues with his U.K. residency visa (REUTERS, 5/10). ... After undergoing prostate surgery on Thursday, PELÉ "was discharged" from a hospital in São Paulo on Saturday (FOLHA DE SÃO PAULO, 5/9). ... Former England interim coach PETER TAYLOR will manage Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters. The Kerala team is co-owned by former Indian cricketer SACHIN TENDULKAR (REUTERS, 5/8).
A HELPING HAND: CRISTIANO RONALDO has reportedly donated £5M ($7.7M) to "help the aid effort in Nepal." French sports magazine So Foot claimed the 30-year-old has "given the money to Save the Children, a charity which is helping survivors of the earthquake that struck last month." Ronaldo has also "called upon his Facebook following of over 10 million people to donate to the children's charity" (London TELEGRAPH, 5/9).
CALL TO ACTION: ROBBIE ROGERS, the "first professional footballer in England to come out as gay" since former footballer JUSTIN FASHANU, has "called for a zero tolerance approach to homophobia in sport in light of a major survey that reveals disturbing levels of abuse and bullying." The Out on the Fields int'l study, the "biggest of its kind," revealed 85% of U.K. participants "believe an openly gay, lesbian or bisexual person would not be safe in the stands at a sporting event and almost two thirds believe homophobia is more common in sport than the rest of society." Rogers said that the survey, conducted by the organizers of rugby union’s Bingham Cup, "said the situation in stadiums was 'very disappointing' and called for immediate bans for fans and 'stiff penalties' for players using discriminatory language" (London GUARDIAN, 5/9).
