Tennis New Zealand appointed "experienced sports administrator" JULIE PATERSON CEO. She has been at "the helm of the Netball Northern Zone and Mystics franchise for the past five years." In '15, Paterson was selected for the U.S. Department of State and espnW Global Sports Mentoring Program. She "went on to co-found Women in Sport Aotearoa," New Zealand's first national advocacy organization for women and girls in sport, which launched earlier this year (STUFF, 5/23). ... Formula 1 announced the appointment of FRANK ARTHOFER as global head of digital & new business. Arthofer will take up the position on June 12, and report to Managing Dir, Commercial Operations SEAN BRATCHES. He will lead F1's digital strategy to increase engagement with fans globally. He will also be responsible for growing digital revenues (F1). ... JACK BUCKNER has been appointed CEO of British Swimming as "preparations continue" for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Buckner, the CEO of British Triathlon, will succeed DAVID SPARKES when he retires in June after 23 years with British Swimming (BBC, 5/22). ... JOHN GILLIGAN "stepped down from the board" of Scottish side Rangers Int'l Football Club, saying that he was happy to have helped "the right people regain control of our fantastic club." Gilligan was part of the consortium led by DAVE KING that took control of the Ibrox club in March '15 (BBC, 5/22). ... KENNY CAMERON "stepped down" as Inverness Caledonian Thistle chair following the club's relegation from the Scottish Premiership. Inverness CT announced Cameron "retired" after six years in the role, during which the club "lifted the Scottish Cup for the first time." First-team Manager RICHIE FORAN said on Saturday that "he expected to hold talks with the board about his future early this week" (BBC, 5/23). ... La Liga side Leganés named MARTÍN ORTEGA its director general. He worked in the club's legal department the last two years (EFE, 5/23). ... MICHAEL SHAW joined Amazon Tickets as principal of business development for sports. Shaw previously worked for Groupon in two different stints, most recently as head of sports, arts and theatre partnerships in the discount channel’s Things To Do division. Shaw will work with LEIGH CASTERGINE, the former MLB N.Y. Mets and NHL Boston Bruins exec who joined Amazon Tickets last fall as head of business development for sports and entertainment. Amazon operates a U.K. ticketing operation, and is developing a similar offering for other territories (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). ... Twitter hired former Bloomberg, NBA and ESC Games exec TODD SWIDLER as its global head of live business. Swidler, who served as NBA senior director of digital products & business development from ’07-11, will lead day-to-day operations for Twitter’s live video operations in the newly-created position and report directly to COO & CFO ANTHONY NOTO (Fisher). ... Octagon named BRIAN SMITH SVP of people & culture, overseeing all global marketing HR efforts for the Octagon Sports & Entertainment network, which includes FRUKT, Rogers & Cowan and Milkmoney. Smith will report to Octagon Sports & Entertainment Network's global exec committee, and lead talent recruitment and retention, training and other HR functions within the marketing side of the organization (Octagon).
COACHES/MANAGERS: Belgian First Division A side Club Brugge Manager MICHEL PREUD’HOMME announced he quit the club. The 58-year-old has been with Brugge since Sept. ’13. Assistant coach PHILIPPE CLÉMENT also left the organization (Club Brugge). ... Korea Baseball Organization side Hanwha Eagles on Tuesday fired Manager KIM SUNG-KEUN. Kim had been managing the club since the '15 season (YONHAP, 5/23). ... League Two side Crawley Town appointed ex-Leeds United and Liverpool player HARRY KEWELL as head coach, replacing DERMOT DRUMMY. The former Australia int'l scored 45 goals in 185 Premier League games for Leeds, before spending five seasons with Liverpool (BBC, 5/23). ... Primeira Liga side Porto Manager NUNO ESPÍRITO SANTO left the club by mutual consent after one season in charge in which the club finished runner-up. He was “halfway through his contract when he departed one day after his team suffered a shock 3-1 defeat at Moreirense” in the last league game of the season (REUTERS, 5/22).
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