Hong Kong’s men’s 15-a-side rugby team is "going professional under a new initiative from the Hong Kong Rugby Union." The multi-million-dollar Elite Rugby Programme, the first fully professional 15-a-side rugby platform in Hong Kong history, will be "housed at a state-of-the-art centre at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) in Kowloon Tong." Leigh Jones, Eddie Jones’ assistant with Japan at last year’s World Cup, will lead the team as head coach. The program will see players paid on a full-time basis, subject to annual reviews to benchmark their progress and potential. Thirty-five to 40 senior and junior players will be "centrally contracted on multi-year terms, but will be allowed 12 hours per week for outside employment or work experience" (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 3/21).
Sports Direct Founder Mike Ashley said he will not attend a parliamentary select committee to discuss the treatment of his workforce, insisting that he would not "stand idle" while the company is "subjected to public vilification." Ashley has been "summoned to appear" before the Business, Innovation & Skills Committee following criticism of working practices at the company's warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire. Ashley: "I do not pretend to get everything right all of the time, but I am not willing to stand idle while this company is subjected to public vilification which is against the best interests of everybody who works at Sports Direct. My current intention is that I will not attend Westminster on June 7 as I believe the proposal by Iain Wright (whom I have offered to meet in Shirebrook) is an abuse of the parliamentary process" (HERALD SCOTLAND, 3/21).
LEAGUE BRIEFS ...
The Kontinental Hockey League said that it will "abolish its junior draft, which has struggled to become a hit with fans and suffered from talented young players opting to move" to North America. Of the last four No. 1 picks in the KHL draft, "only one has gone on to play in the league," with two others opting for the Canadian junior leagues instead (AP, 3/21).
Bangladesh has appealed to cricket's world governing body to "lift the suspension" on paceman Taskin Ahmed, who was ruled out of the ongoing World Twenty20 in India "due to an illegal action." Taskin and left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny were suspended from bowling in int'l cricket on Saturday after being reported by match officials following Bangladesh's qualifying match against the Netherlands in Dharamsala on March 9 (REUTERS, 3/21).
