NHL Washington Capitals captain ALEX OVECHKIN "intends to be at the 2018 Olympics, with or without the NHL's blessing." Ovechkin said, "I didn't change my mind, and I won't. It's my country. You know, I think everybody wants to play there, and it's the biggest opportunity in your life to play in the Olympic Games. So I don't know. Somebody going to tell me don't go, I don't care. I just go" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/5). ... South Korean footballer SON HEUNG-MIN "set a new single season scoring record for an Asian player in the English Premier League." Son "bagged" his ninth league goal in Tottenham Hotspur's 3-1 win over Swansea City on Wednesday. Son's South Korean compatriot, KI SUNG-YUENG, was the previous record holder (YONHAP, 4/6). ... The former head of the Brazilian aquatics confederation was arrested on Thursday "in a fraud probe that allegedly involved sports officials embezzling public funds." Brazil's federal police said that COARACY NUNES, who led the confederation from '88 until last month and has been serving as a member of the FINA ruling bureau, was arrested in Rio de Janeiro. The confederation financial officer and the coordinator of the water polo division "were also jailed." Police said that "another arrest warrant is to be carried out" in the operation named "Clear Waters" (AP, 4/6). ... Australian national football team coach ANGE POSTECOGLOU said in a public forum "what he has been saying in private for some time now -- that he will quit his job as coach of the national team at the end of the current World Cup cycle" (THE AGE, 4/6). ... Australian cricketer ELLYSE PERRY's "stellar" '16 has seen her recognized as the "world's leading woman cricketer by Wisden." The Southern Stars player was the "only Australian" honored in the awards by Wisden, which produces the yearly Cricketers' Almanack (AAP, 4/6).
