Before opening his new hotel in Portugal, CRISTIANO RONALDO was pictured with players from the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team. He then attended the official opening of his new flagship hotel, "Pestana CR7 Lisboa" -- "his next step towards life after football."
It is the second of four hotels in a £54M ($69.3M) investment
(London DAILY MAIL, 10/3). ... The verdict in MARIA SHARAPOVA's appeal against a two-year doping ban "will be announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday." The former world No. 1 "is seeking to have her suspension wiped out or reduced." She had called the Int'l Tennis Federation's ruling "unfairly harsh" as an independent tribunal had found that she had not intentionally violated anti-doping rules (REUTERS, 10/3). ... British world heavyweight champion TYSON FURY "has reversed his decision to retire from boxing."
Earlier on Monday, the 28 year-old made a statement announcing his retirement on Twitter, telling the industry to "go suck a d--k", also claiming the sport is "a pile of s--t." Fury, whose career "has been mired in controversy" since he unexpectedly defeated WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO for the IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles, "dismissed boxing as 'the saddest thing I ever took part in.'" He had been scheduled "to earn the biggest payday of his career in a rematch with Klitschko" at the Manchester Arena on Oct. 29 (London TELEGRAPH, 10/3). ... A family member said that former Cameroon int'l RIGOBERT SONG "is in hospital after suffering a cerebral attack." The family member also said the 40-year-old was "unconscious" when he was taken to Yaounde Central Hospital.
On Monday, the hospital's Emergency Centre director said that Song "will be flown to France for further treatment" (BBC, 10/3).
LENDING A HAND: National Rugby League player JARRYD HAYNE "will promote the game's chief rival in rugby union at a junior clinic in Fiji this week, just two months after signing a multimillion-dollar deal to return to the 13-man code."
The Gold Coast fullback will join former Wallaby GEORGE GREGAN and several Fiji Rugby Sevens Olympic champions "at a clinic as part of the Fiji International golf tournament." Hayne is there as an ambassador for Fiji Airways, "having signed with the company when he quit the NFL" (BRISBANE TIMES, 10/3). ... STEFAN RADU "was reportedly benched by Lazio after being stung by an insect, to avoid violating doping rules." LaLazioSiamo Noi explained that he 29-year-old Romanian "suffered an insect bite before the match and the cortisone cream used to treat it would have violated anti-doping rules." With "insufficient time before kick-off in order for the substance used to wear off," it was decided that LUKAKU "should take his place, as Radu could have risked a two-year ban had he been selected for drug testing" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 10/3).
