Former Olympic swimming champion PARK TAE-HWAN has "resumed his arbitration proceedings against an Olympic ban at the world's top sports tribunal." Team GMP made the announcement "after the Korean Olympic Committee decided at its board meeting that it wouldn't lift its Olympic ban on Park, reaffirming its long-held stance." The KOC bans athletes who have "served doping suspensions from representing the country for three years, starting on the day that their suspensions end" (YONHAP, 6/16). ... German Football League (DFL) CEO CHRISTIAN SEIFERT "was part of a business delegation" that joined German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL "on a two-day trip to China." The delegation also included AXEL SCHWEITZER, who is the supervisory board chair of Basketball Bundesliga club Alba Berlin. Other well-known business leaders included MATTHIAS MÜLLER (Volkswagen), HARALD KRÜGER (BMW), JOSEF KAESER (Siemens) and CARSTEN SPOHR (Lufthansa) (SPONSORs, 6/16).
JOURNEY NOT OVER: Former NFL San Francisco 49er JARRYD HAYNE "may have played his last game" in the National Rugby League, saying, "I realize now with my skill set ... it gives me a lot of options." Speaking from Fiji, where his push to become an Olympian continues, Hayne "hinted at a switch to rugby union from 2017 -- in either France or Japan." While NRL side Parramatta remains his "first choice" for any rugby league return, the 28-year-old "revealed his spiritual world tour could also be set to continue." Hayne: "I definitely like being able to travel, seeing the world. And I realize with my skill set, it enables me to do that. Gives me a lot of options" (SYDNEY DAILY TELEGRAPH, 6/16).
NO KHAN FOR PAKISTAN: Athens 2004 boxing Silver Medalist AMIR KHAN has "decided not to purue the chance to represent Pakistan at the Olympic Games in Rio." Khan had said this month that he would “love” the opportunity to represent the country of his parents’ birth. But he has "now acknowledged he will not be ready to seek a place in Rio via the final qualification tournament in Venezuela early next month." Khan is "still recovering from the brutal sixth round knockout he suffered at the hands of Mexican SAUL ALVÁREZ in their WBC middleweight title fight in Las Vegas in May" (PA, 6/15).
