CANOVER WATSON, a former member of FIFA's financial watchdog, "has been sentenced to seven years in prison in the Cayman Islands after being found guilty of fraud, his lawyer said." Watson, who was a member of FIFA's Audit & Compliance Committee, was "found guilty of five charges related to his time in charge of the Caribbean nation's Health Service Authority (HSA)," according to the Cayman Island's Anti-Corruption Commission, which had led the investigation (TIMES OF MALTA, 2/6). ... BETH TWEDDLE "has been airlifted to hospital after crashing during practice for the Channel 4 reality show The Jump." The Olympic gymnast, who won a Bronze Medal at London 2012, "crashed into a barrier after successfully completing a jump on the Winter Olympics inspired programme." The severity of her injuries "are unconfirmed" (London INDEPENDENT, 2/7). ... CAROLINE WOZNIACKI will carry the Danish flag at the entry of the Olympics in Rio. She was named the Danish standard bearer at a press conference at Copenhagen city hall, where H.R.H. CROWN PRINCE FREDERIK handed her the flag (Danish National Olympic Committee). ... The Australian Football League said that it will wait until Essendon's JOBE WATSON "appeals his drug ban before considering a postponement of a ruling on his Brownlow Medal." The AFL Commission "was expected to decide whether to strip his Brownlow Medal" on Feb. 15. But Watson "is understood to be one of the Essendon players who will join the Bomber-funded appeal at the Swiss Federal Court" (HERALD SUN, 2/7). ... Russian cyclist EDUARD VORGANOV has been "provisionally suspended following a positive doping test and his Katusha team will be reviewed by the UCI's disciplinary committee, the sport's governing body said on Friday." Vorganov, the '12 Russian champion, failed an out-of-competition test for Meldonium, "a substance that helps recovery and protects against stress which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list on Jan. 1" (REUTERS, 2/5). ... Movie production company Shochiku Co. announced that Olympic Gold Medal winning figure skater YUZURU HANYU "will star as a samurai warlord in his first film this May." The film, "Tono, Risoku de Gozaru!" (Lord, interests!), directed by YOSHIHIRO NAKAMURA, is set in Miyagi Prefecture, "where Hanyu was born and grew up." Hanyu, 21, won a Gold Medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics (ASAHI, 2/5).
