JOHNATHAN THURSTON is "on the verge of inking" his final National Rugby League contract -- a A$1M ($757,000) deal to finish his career with the North Queensland Cowboys. The club will "put aside the uncertainty" over the salary cap and collective bargaining agreement talks to "secure Thurston to a 12-month extension" (Brisbane COURIER-MAIL, 4/5). ... India captain VIRAT KOHLI was named the "leading cricketer in the world" in the '17 edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Kohli is the "third Indian winner of the 14-year-old award that covers all formats" of the int'l game in the preceding calendar year, after VIRENDER SEHWAG ('08, '09) and SACHIN TENDULKAR ('10) (FOX SPORTS, 4/5).
HAITI CASE: Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Secretary General ESTHER GASCÓN admitted in court that the organization "does not have any type of control to prevent crimes like what is being investigated in the 'Haiti case.'" In January, the federation returned a sum of €1.2M in public funding that it received in '10 from Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD) because it was "not used for the reasons mentioned in the RFEF's request for funding" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 4/4). The RFEF on Monday sacked Administrator General JOSÉ MARÍA CASTILLÓN and opened an investigation into ISABEL NAVAS, the director of the RFEF Foundation, "for their involvement in the case" (EL PAÍS, 4/4).
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) returned a sum of €1.2M in public funding that it received in '10 from Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD), according to EL MUNDO. The RFEF "returned the money because it was not used for the reasons mentioned in the RFEF's request for funding." It was reported in October that the federation "kept the majority of the money, which was meant to create a children's football school in Haiti that was never built." The RFEF's "failure to justify how it spent the funds" led the CSD to demand that the RFEF return the €1.2M, plus €300,000 ($321,900) in interest
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) returned a sum of €1.2M in public funding that it received in '10 from Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD), according to EL MUNDO. The RFEF "returned the money because it was not used for the reasons mentioned in the RFEF's request for funding." It was reported in October that the federation "kept the majority of the money, which was meant to create a children's football school in Haiti that was never built." The RFEF's "failure to justify how it spent the funds" led the CSD to demand that the RFEF return the €1.2M, plus €300,000 ($321,900) in interest
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) returned a sum of €1.2M in public funding that it received in '10 from Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD), according to EL MUNDO. The RFEF "returned the money because it was not used for the reasons mentioned in the RFEF's request for funding." It was reported in October that the federation "kept the majority of the money, which was meant to create a children's football school in Haiti that was never built." The RFEF's "failure to justify how it spent the funds" led the CSD to demand that the RFEF return the €1.2M, plus €300,000 ($321,900) in interest
