The Australian Football League "has lopped a week off this year’s trade period, as part of a move to create a snappier post-season." In other changes, the restricted and unrestricted free agency period "will be reduced by four days this year, to 11, while the pre-season and rookie drafts will be held just four days after the national draft" (THE AGE, 3/10). ... Hong Kong's cricketers "have been warned not to leave the team hotel alone, or even in small groups, as organisers have thrown a massive security blanket" around the major cities hosting the Int'l Cricket Council World Twenty20. Hong Kong head coach Charlie Burke said, "No one is allowed to leave the hotel unless team management is informed earlier so that security can be arranged. These are restrictions the International Cricket Council has placed on all teams due to the security worries" (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 3/10). ... Awards for the top three Arab professional and amateur golfers on the MENA (European, Asian and North American territories) Golf Tour "have been introduced in order to encourage regional talent." The Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation Awards "will be worth" $51,500 in total (GULF NEWS, 3/10). ... South Korean prosecutors on Monday "raided the head office of the nation's volleyball governing body as part of their ongoing investigation into allegations that executives embezzled its funds." Prosecutors said that the two vice-chiefs of the Korea Volleyball Association, whose identities have been withheld, "are under suspicion of siphoning off the government funds by cooking the books" (YONHAP, 3/10). ... A "decisive discussion" is to take place on Tuesday with regard to the annual contracts of Sri Lankan cricketers. Players want 20% of the Int'l Cricket Council payment "for each match they play" (SRI LANKA MIRROR, 3/10).
