MARIO ALBERTO KEMPES announced on Sunday, "Today it was officially communicated to me that I am no longer an ambassador of Valencia." Kempes, who played for the club from '76-81 and '82-84, "did not stay quiet after Valencia's humiliating loss to Eibar." He said, "Unfortunately we are in the presence of a team that is lost. There is no direction and there is little desire that can be seen" (EL PAÍS, 2/5). ... Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen midfielder HAKAN CALHANOGLU "will serve a four-month ban imposed by FIFA for breach of contract." The 22-year-old Turkey int'l must also pay €100,000 ($107,855) "in compensation to Turkish club Trabzonspor," where he agreed to sign as a teenager, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled (AP, 2/3). ... Barcelona President JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU and RONALDINHO finalized an agreement for the ex-player to represent the club as an ambassador in events around the world. Ronaldinho will also be a new member of the Barcelona Legends, the team of former players helping build the club's brand internationally (Barcelona). ... American snowboarder CHLOE KIM will "visit South Korea next week as a sports envoy for the State Department in a show of U.S. support for the ally's preparations to host the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games." Kim is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday and meet with local university students to "talk about the challenges of being a top-tier athlete competing on the world stage" (YONHAP, 2/4). ... Former Indian cricketer SACHIN TENDULKAR on Saturday said that he is "excited about the ICC Women's World Cup scheduled later this year," and added that "expansion of women's cricket is also a catalyst for gender equality and rights" (PTI, 2/4).
HIGHEST EARNERS: CRISTIANO RONALDO has "beaten his long-standing rival LIONEL MESSI to be named the world’s highest-earning athlete" in '16. The Real Madrid forward "tops Forbes magazine’s list for the first time," having earned $88M last year, up from $80M in '15. Messi, meanwhile, "follows in second-place" with his income totaling $81M. LEBRON JAMES, the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers small forward, is third in the list having earned $77.2M, while tennis’ ROGER FEDERER ($67.8M) and the NBA Golden State Warriors’ KEVIN DURANT ($56.2M) complete the top five (London INDEPENDENT, 2/3).
NOTABLE DEATHS: Rugby side Hull FC player and Championship side Hull KR head coach, Chair, Dir & President COLIN HUTTON died, aged 90. His achievements, such as chairmanship of the Rugby Football League and Great Britain co-coach, saw him admitted to the Rugby League hall of fame in '00 (BBC, 2/3). ... Former Japan FA President SHUNICHIRO OKANO died Thursday of lung cancer, aged 85. The former IOC member won one cap during his playing days, and "helped Japan win the bronze medal" in football at the 1968 Mexico Olympics as an assistant coach (KYODO, 2/3).
