Former England Rugby women's captain SUE DAY is the first female to be appointed as the Rugby Football Union's CFO. Day, who was capped 59 times for England and also captained England's Sevens side, joins the governing body from KPMG, where she was a deal advisory partner. She will be "responsible for financial planning, management and reporting, legal and governance and technology and will also have voting membership" of the RFU's board (London TELEGRAPH, 12/15). ... The British Olympic Association appointed VINAI VENKATESHAM as an independent non-exec director. Venkatesham currently serves as CCO at Arsenal, "where he is responsible for marketing operations on a global basis" (INSIDE THE GAMES, 12/16). ... Barstool Sports named Whistle Sports EVP & Global Head of Brand Partnerships DEIRDRE LESTER CRO. Lester previously worked at ESPN, Rivals.com and MLBAM (THE DAILY).
COACHES/MANAGERS: Ligue 1 side Lille "parted company" with head coach MARCELO BIELSA "just seven months after the former Argentina manager was appointed." Bielsa, 62, replaced FRANCK PASSI in May and signed "more than a dozen players in the summer." However, a run of "just three wins in 13 games" left Lille in second-to-last place and he was suspended last month (BBC, 12/15).
