Former Arsenal striker THIERRY HENRY has "continued taking steps towards a career in management" by completing his UEFA A license. The A license means the 38-year-old "can now manage in the professional game below Premier League level or at an academy." To be able to take a job in the top flight or manage in UEFA competitions "he must now go on to complete" the pro license (PA, 3/10). ... Romanian two-time Olympic high jump champion IOLANDA BALAS died Friday "following gastric complications," aged 79. Balas, the first Romanian woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal, "took first at the 1960 Rome Games and the 1964 Tokyo Games." Balas retired in '67 and "served as chairman of the Romanian track federation" from '88-02 (AP, 3/11). ... Former Argentina football captain ROBERTO PERFUMO "died at the age of 73 from head injuries sustained in a fall." Perfumo won the Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup with Racing Club in '67 and played for River Plate and Cruzeiro of Brazil. After "several stints as a coach and a year as the Argentine government's sports secretary" in '03-04, Perfumo "became a football commentator and columnist" (REUTERS, 3/11).
KING OF GOOD TIMES: Drinks baron VIJAY MALLYA, the businessman once known as the "King of Good Times," has been "gallivanting around the globe in pursuit of his cricket and Formula One teams." His most recent flight from India "has ignited a national furore." It came "just as 17 frustrated Indian banks were seeking a court order to prevent the tycoon from travelling overseas until he settled" more than $1.3B of unpaid debts left by the '12 collapse of his Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya has been "vilified in India's national media as the embodiment of the feckless businessman." Amid the "outcry" over how he was able to fly to the U.K., Mallya tweeted: "I am an international businessman. I travel to and from India frequently. I did not flee from India and neither am I an absconder. Rubbish" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 3/11).
