League Championship side Sheffield Wednesday appointed KATRIEN MEIRE as its CEO. The 33-year-old Belgian held the same position at League One club Charlton Athletic for four years before leaving at the end of '17. One of her first jobs will be "to help find a replacement" for head coach CARLOS CARVALHAL, who "parted company" with the club on Dec. 24 and is now in charge at EPL side Swansea City (BBC, 1/1). ... Tech entrepreneur MARCUS RULE was named chair at rugby brand Rhino, succeeding ANDREW MOSS. Rule founded Rule Financial in ’97 and grew the IT group to a turnover of £60M with 800 staff in six countries before selling it last year to German business GFT (RUNNING RUGBY, 12/27). ... ANDY BURNHAM was appointed president of the Rugby Football League, succeeding DEAN ANDREW. He will assume the position in July (RUNNING RUGBY, 12/27).
COACHES/MANAGERS: Liga Iberdrola side Real Madrid named VÍCTOR MIGUEL FERNÁNDEZ its coach, replacing JESÚS NÚÑEZ, who was sacked on Dec. 12. His first game will be on Saturday, when Real Madrid will face Rayo Vallecano (EFE, 1/2). ... MLADEN KRSTAJIĆ was named coach of the Serbian national football team on a permanent basis after a two-month period as its caretaker, FA of Serbia Sports Dir GORAN BUNJEVČEVIĆ said on Friday. Former Yugoslavia defender Krstajić took over in October from SLAVOLJUB MUSLIN after the latter "steered" Serbia to the 2018 World Cup, its first major tournament as an independent nation in eight years (REUTERS, 12/29). ... League Championship side Nottingham Forest sacked Manager MARK WARBURTON "after nine months at the City Ground." Nottingham Forest also sacked assistant DAVID WEIR, while Dir of Football FRANK MCPARLAND "left the club." Academy Manager GARY BRAZIL will take over as caretaker manager (BBC, 12/31). ... STEVE MCCORMACK resigned as head coach of Scotland’s rugby league side. McCormack, 44, leaves after 13 years in the role, having led (BBC, 12/28).
