KENTO MOMOTA, the former world No. 2 serving an indefinite ban from badminton for "betting at casinos in Japan, is expected to take part in a charity event." The 22-year-old is "scheduled to attend an event in Kumamoto Prefecture sponsored by his employer NTT East, to benefit the victims of the earthquake there in April" (KYODO, 11/7). ... ALASTAIR COOK "played down speculation about his future as England test captain" on Tuesday and said that he was "doing the job on a series by series basis." Cook "appeared to hint that he may step down as from the role after the five-match series in India, which begins on Wednesday, in a recent interview." He said, "Deep down I don't know how much longer I am going to carry on. It could be two months, it could be a year." But he "clarified his comments on the eve of the opening test against India at Rajkot." Cook: "It was just an honest answer to a question that is quite hard to answer. When someone asks how long do you see yourself captaining forward, we don't really know, do you?" (REUTERS, 11/8). ... A Barcelona court heard former Barcelona defender ADRIANO “deny evading tax in a testimony given on Tuesday.” Adriano, who is accused of defrauding the Spanish taxpayer of €646,085 ($712,000), insisted that he “paid the correct amount on image rights income” received in ‘11 and ‘12. He admitted to using a Madeira-based company to manage that income, “but insisted that he was open about being the holder of the company” (EFE, 11/8).
FALSE SPECULATION: MICHAEL SCHUMACHER is making "encouraging signs" in his recovery from a serious skiing accident, his former Ferrari technical head has said. ROSS BRAWN said that there had been "a lot of false speculation about the condition of the seven-time world champion" and that the Schumacher family had made the decision "long ago that the best strategy was to keep private about his condition." Brawn: "There are encouraging signs and we are all praying every day that we see more of them. So it is difficult for me to say very much and respect the family's privacy. All I would say is there is a lot of speculation about Michael's condition. Most of it's wrong and we just pray and hope every day that we continue to see some progress and that one day we can see Michael out and about and recovered from his terrible injuries" (London TELEGRAPH, 11/4).
