The French Professional Football League (LFP) and its recruitment cabinet have “selected six possible successors” for LFP General Dir JEAN-PIERRE HUGUES. The possible candidates are former Olympique de Marseille President CHRISTOPHE BOUCHET, French Tennis Federation General Dir GILBERT YSERN, former Paris St. Germain President ROBIN LEPROUX and LFP administration council member JEAN-MICHEL ROUSSIER. Two other names “remain secret” (L’ÉQUIPE, 1/25). ... DYLAN HARTLEY has been appointed England captain and will lead the team during the RBS 6 Nations which starts against Scotland at Murrayfield on Feb. 6. Hartley, who has been capped 66 times for England, became the youngest ever Premiership captain in '09 when he took over the role at Northampton Saints (Rugby Football Union). ... Football Federation Australia CEO DAVID GALLOP "has been honoured with Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day honours list."
Recognized for his two years at FFA, a decade as the CEO of the National Rugby League and role as deputy chairman of the Australian Sports Commission, Gallop "has long been seen as one of Australia’s most prominent sports administrators" (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 1/25). ... A French court fined Fijian rugby player ALOWESI NAILIKO over a tackle "which left a rival player quadriplegic."
Limoges player PIERRE TARANCE was left paralyzed "after being tackled by the much larger Nailiko, playing for rivals Vannes, in a third division match" in Oct. '10.
The court "gave the Fijian a suspended fine" of €1,500 ($1,600) while Tarance had already been paid €4.5M ($4.8M) damages by the federation (TEN PLAY, 1/25). ... Formula E Team Aguri announced that NATHANAEL BERTHON is to leave the team. Berthon parts company with Team Aguri ahead of the Buenos Aires ePrix (Formula E). ... BBC cricket commentators JONATHAN AGNEW and MICHAEL VAUGHAN have described how they were forced to "empty their pockets" by a South African traffic policeman because Agnew was unable to produce his driving license. Agnew said the "corrupt" policeman pulled him over on Friday evening as he drove to his Johannesburg hotel. Former England captain Vaughan said that the group paid around £40 ($57) between them after "falling victim to South Africa’s famously mercenary traffic police" (London TELEGRAPH, 1/25). ... Former Warwickshire bowler and cricket commentator JACK BANNISTER "has died aged 85." The former England player and coach DAVID LLOYD, currently a commentator on Sky Sports said, "It's a really sad day. He was a true friend." Bannister played for Warwickshire between '50 and '68, "taking 1,198 wickets during a first-class career comprising 374 matches" (London GUARDIAN, 1/23). ... European 800m Silver Medalist IRINA MARACHEVA "has been banned for two years by the Russian Olympic Committee for doping." Race walker ANNA LUKYANOVA has also been given a two-year ban, "while there are four-year suspensions for runners MARIA NIKOLAEVA and YELENA NIKULINA." The sanctions "were the first handed down by the ROC since Russia was banned from athletics competition in November" (GUARDIAN, 1/25).
MATCH-FIXING: Former professional tennis player and coach NICK LINDAHL "pleaded guilty in an Australian court on Monday to one charge related to match-fixing over a minor tournament game in 2013." Lindahl, who hit a career high ranking of 187 in '10, "pleaded not guilty to a second charge" that he concealed evidence of match-fixing, while two other charges relating to personal financial gain were dropped by prosecutors.
Prosecutor KATE YOUNG told the court that in Sep. '13, when playing at the Toowoomba Futures Tournament, Lindahl "intentionally lost a match to a lower ranked player" (REUTERS, 1/24). ... Former South Africa int'l GULAM BODI "has been banned from all cricket-related activities for 20 years after admitting he attempted to fix matches in the country’s domestic Twenty20 competition this season."
Cricket South Africa "announced the punishment on Monday following an investigation" conducted by the organization’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (REUTERS, 1/25).
