Kuwait's supreme court on Monday upheld the acquittal of SHEIKH AHMAD FAHAD AL-SABAH -- "one of the most powerful men in world sport -- on charges of insulting the judiciary." The ruling, which cannot be appealed, cleared Sheikh Ahmad -- a member of the FIFA exec committee, a top IOC member and head of Asia's Olympic body -- of "insulting the public prosecutor and inciting public unrest." He "was sentenced in December to six months in jail by a lower court for casting doubt on the integrity of the judiciary" (AFP, 7/25). ... WOLFGANG NIERSBACH, a member of FIFA’s governing council, "will appeal his one-year ban over Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid." Niersbach said that "after consulting with my lawyers I am going to appeal." FIFA’s ethics committee found Niersbach guilty of "failing to report findings about possible unethical conduct and conflicts of interest during the bidding process" (AP, 7/27).
ICC HALL OF FAME: ARTHUR MORRIS and KAREN ROLTON were announced as '16 inductees into the Int'l Cricket Council Hall of Fame. The pair join Sri Lanka’s MUTTIAH MURALIDARAN and England’s GEORGE LOHMANN as this year’s inductees, with Rolton the sixth female to be inducted. Morris played for 46 Tests for Australia, amassing 3,533 runs at an average of 46.48 between '46 and '55, part of DONALD BRADMAN’s "Invincibles" in '48. Rolton became the third Australian woman behind BELINDA CLARK and BETTY WILSON to have the honor bestowed upon them (Cricket Australia).