Alibaba Exec Vice-Chair JOE TSAI bought the National Lacrosse League’s expansion team in San Diego, Calif., "bringing another billionaire owner to a league with plans to add franchises and expand its digital footprint." Tsai, who has a net worth of $11.4B, paid about $5M "for the yet-to-be-named franchise," according to a person with knowledge of the transaction (BLOOMBERG, 8/29). ... The Olympic Council of Ireland dismissed reports suggesting it is "going to initiate a process" to have former OCI President PAT HICKEY removed from his role with the IOC. Hickey "temporarily stepped down from this position with the IOC after he was charged with ticket touting, ambush marketing, theft, tax evasion and money laundering last year" (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 8/30). ... Retailer Sports Direct Owner MIKE ASHLEY is suing a business associate "over an investment in a French golf course." Papers lodged at the High Court in London allege "breach of contract" over a deal with TONY JIMENEZ made in '08. Ashley, who also owns Premier League side Newcastle United, is "demanding the return" of a £3M ($3.9M) investment or compensation (BBC, 8/30). ... Pakistan cricketer SHARJEEL KHAN "has been banned for five years for his part in a spot-fixing ring." A Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal "handed down the punishment following a hearing on Wednesday," but two-and-a-half years of the ban is suspended (BBC, 8/30). ... Brasileiro side Chapecoense met with POPE FRANCIS at the Vatican on Wednesday. The club was "devastated by an airplane crash in the mountains of Colombia in November," with all but six of the 77 players, officials and journalists on board killed. Three players survived the crash and two of them, JAKSON FOLLMANN and ALAN RUSCHEL, were among those at the Vatican (AP, 8/30).
