HEATHER RABBATTS announced she will step down as a non-exec director of the FA and revealed she "remains frustrated" at the lack of black coaches in the sport. Rabbatts became the FA’s first female non-exec director in '12, "sat on the FA board and was part of numerous committees." A former exec deputy chair of League Championship side Millwall, Rabbatts "also chaired the FA inclusion advisory board and was a long-term advocate of increasing the number of black and minority ethnic (BAME) numbers involved in football" (PA, 6/14). ... Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment Chief Sales Officer DOUG SMOYER resigned. He joined VWSE in the fall to lead sales for the company's naming-rights project with La Liga club Barcelona. Smoyer is exploring new opportunities and will continue to work as an adjunct professor in NYU's graduate sports business program (THE DAILY).
COACHES/MANAGERS: Basketball Bundesliga side Alba Berlin named AÍTO GARCÍA RENESES its new coach. García Reneses, 70, has 45 years of coaching experience. This "will be his first adventure outside Spain" (EL PAÍS, 6/14). ... Spanish second division football side Osasuna named DIEGO MARTÍNEZ its coach. Martínez was previously the coach of Sevilla Atlético (MARCA, 6/14). ... Qatar national football team coach JORGE FOSSATI resigned "just a few hours" after leading his team to a 3-2 win over South Korea on Tuesday which "kept the nation's slim hopes of reaching next year's World Cup finals alive." The Uruguayan's decision to quit after less than a year in charge took the Qatar FA "by surprise." QFA President HAMAD BIN KHALIFA BIN AHMED AL-THANI said that Spanish U23 team coach FELIX SANCHEZ would take over "if Fossati could not be persuaded to stay on" (REUTERS, 6/14). ... Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv appointed former Barcelona and ManU midfielder JORDI CRUYFF as its new manager. The 43-year-old has "worked as the club's sports director" since '12. Cruyff, the son of former Netherlands int'l JOHAN, left Barcelona in '96 to join ManU (PA, 6/14). ... EUSEBIO DI FRANCESCO, who won the Italian title with AS Roma as a midfielder, has been "made head coach of the club on a two-year contract." The 47-year-old replaces LUCIANO SPALLETTI, who "resigned at the end of the season" and has since been appointed Inter Milan manager (BBC, 6/14). ... Spanish second division football side Real Oviedo parted company with coach FERNANDO HIERRO after the club "missed out on a promotion playoff spot." The 49-year-old was handed a one-year deal last summer with the "option to extend that by a further season should both parties wish to" (FOOTBALL ESPANA, 6/14).
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