NBA Utah Jazz player RUDY GOBERT will not “participate in the Olympic qualifying tournament with the French national team” this July. Team France Technical Dir PATRICK BEESLEY said, “He made his decision a few days ago. His franchise asked him to wait for the renegotiation of his contract and put pressure on him to not play with team France” (LE MONDE, 4/29). ... The Indian Olympic Association has "written an official letter" approaching former Indian cricketer SACHIN TENDULKAR as brand ambassador for the Rio Olympics. He is "yet to respond to the letter." A senior IOA official said, "I can confirm that we have written to Sachin Tendulkar to represent us as a brand ambassador." Tendulkar is "extremely active in congratulating Indian sportspersons via social media" (SPORTS KEEDA, 4/29). ... British cyclist BRADLEY WIGGINS called the Tour de Yorkshire a "tough day's racing" after pulling out with less than 26km to go, and said that he "needs to focus on the Olympics." He did not give a reason for his withdrawal as such but posted across his social media accounts saying, "I’m gutted not to join you this weekend but Rio needs to take priority" (IRISH EXAMINER, 4/29). ... Belarusian tennis player SERGEY BETOV “has escaped punishment despite testing positive for meldonium, the same substance which has brought a halt to the career” of MARIA SHARAPOVA. Betov, 28, “failed a drugs test at the Australian Open where he had been playing doubles.” But since the amount of meldonium discovered in his sample was “below that” set by WADA earlier this month, “he has been allowed to resume playing after serving a provisional suspension from March 12” (AFP, 4/29).
NOTABLE DEATHS: Bundesliga side Hannover 96 announced the death of NIKLAS FEIERABEND at the age of 19 following a car accident. Feierabend, “who had only been given his first professional contract in February having trained with the first team during the winter break, died in the early hours of Sunday morning.” Two other people lost their lives in the accident, “which did not involve any other vehicles other than the one Feierabend was travelling in when it left the road and collided with a tree, according to the local police” (PA, 5/1). ... Australian football player STEFAN PETROVSKI, who was struck by lightning last month while playing in Malaysia, “died in hospital.” The 18-year-old goalkeeper “lost consciousness after being hit as he left a training session for his club, Melaka United.” Petrovski “had shown signs of recovery but his condition deteriorated recently” (London GUARDIAN, 5/1). ... Camp Nou stadium announcer MANEL NICH died on Friday night, with Barcelona confirming the news on its official Twitter account. He was “in charge of speaking over the PA for the last 60 years at the club.” Vich “had missed the last league game against Sporting Gijon with an illness, per the club -- in the last 60 years he had only missed four games for health or family reasons” (SPORT, 4/30).
