ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC’s agent said that he will "sue a Swedish athletics coach who made doping allegations." The trainer, ULF KARLSSON -- who has worked with Sweden’s athletics team but never with Ibrahimovic -- "made the widely reported claims at a seminar, suggesting the forward had been involved in doping while playing for Juventus." Reacting to the allegations, Ibrahimovic’s agent, MINO RAIOLA, said that Karlsson had "made a big mistake." Raiola: "There are always people who hate. Maybe he is a former athlete who failed, or maybe he’s just jealous. But this man has made a big mistake" (London GUARDIAN, 4/7). ... Former Grand Slam doubles champion BOB HEWITT has been expelled from the Int'l Tennis Hall of Fame due to his '15 conviction for rape and sexual assault in South Africa. The Australian-born Hewitt, 76, was sentenced to six years in prison last May "after being found guilty of assaulting three underage girls" he was coaching in South Africa during the '80s and '90s. Hewitt was inducted in '92 and was "indefinitely suspended from the Newport, Rhode Island-based Hall of Fame" in '12 (REUTERS, 4/7). ... The South Korean Olympic committee blocked former Olympic swimming champion PARK TAE-HWAN from competing at this year's Games in Rio de Janeiro "even though he finished serving a doping suspension in March." The Olympic committee said Thursday it reached a decision "to uphold its rules that ban athletes suspended for doping from competing with the national team for an additional three years" after the end of their suspensions. The committee said in a statement, "We reached a conclusion that revising national team selection rules for a particular individual is inappropriate" (AP, 4/7).
HSA STANDING BY KISS: The Hungarian Swimming Association said that "it is standing by" national swimming team coach LASZLO KISS, 75, who is "facing calls to resign" over his part in the '61 gang-rape of a young swimmer. The Communist-era case "was picked up again this week in an article on the crime news site privatkopo.hu, leading to a public outcry and calls for Kiss to resign." The Hungarian Swimming Association and Committee of Coaches "both voiced support for him on Wednesday." The Committee of Coaches said in a statement, "Everyone must be given a chance to clear his name through performance, resilience. The coach managed to do that in our eyes" (REUTERS, 4/7).
EGELSTAFF DEFENDS SHARAPOVA: British Olympian SUSAN EGELSTAFF said that MARIA SHARAPOVA "should not be judged by sport's 'morality police' for taking meldonium for 10 years before it was banned." Egelstaff, a badminton player, said that the former world No. 1 has been "unfairly accused of acting against the spirit of sport." She said, "When Maria Sharapova tested positive for meldonium the backlash was immediate and fierce. ... The morality police were out in force. ... This condemnation amazed and frankly stupefied me. There was a remarkable number of people who believed themselves qualified to judge what is morally acceptable in sport" (REUTERS, 4/7).
