National Rugby League side Newcastle Knights have confirmed that ALEX MCKINNON has suffered a “devastating spinal injury” following scans on Tuesday afternoon. McKinnon "underwent surgery and was placed in an induced coma" on Tuesday, the morning after he was stretchered off AAMI Park "having fallen awkwardly in a three-man tackle in the NRL match against the Melbourne Storm." Newcastle released a statement "confirming a dislocation of the C4 and C5 veterbrae." The statement read, "McKinnon had emergency surgery early on Tuesday morning to stabilise his neck, which consisted of a disc removal at C4 and C5 and anterior fusion" (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 3/25). In Sydney, Brad Walter noted the statement said McKinnon had movement "in his right arm." McKinnon "was in traction and heavily sedated to prevent movement." News of the injury "sent shockwaves around the league" and there "were also concerns" for the welfare of Storm prop JORDAN MCLEAN, while the match review committee "struggles to decide what charge to hit the 22-year-old rookie with as the offence was not what would be considered a classic spear tackle" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 3/25).
LI NA CHINA'S TOP EARNER: A report from Changsha-based Titan Sports newspaper on Monday revealed that Chinese tennis player LI NA "was the top earner among Chinese athletes" in '13 as she pocketed 124.5M yuan ($20.1M). Li "topped the yearly list for the third time in a row" with a more-than-90M-yuan ($14.5M) gap ahead of shuttler LI DAN, who was second with 30M yuan ($4.8M). Olympic swimming Gold Medalist SUN YANG, "who just resumed training after a ban for driving without a license," was third after earning 22M yuan ($3.5M) in the year (GLOBAL TIMES, 3/25).
F1 CONCERT CANCELED: A CHRISTINA AGUILERA concert to mark Malaysia's Formula One Grand Prix weekend "has been cancelled" following a jet crash. State oil company Petronas, the sponsor of both the concert and the Mercedes F1 team, said that it "called off the show as 'a sign of respect to the families and next-of-kin of the crew and passengers of flight MH370'" (AFP, 3/25).
LAUREUS AWARDS: Sports stars in Kuala Lumpur for the 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards on Wednesday include Olympians SEBASTIAN COE, MICHAEL JOHNSON and MARK SPITZ, "football giants" BOBBY CHARLTON, MARCEL DESAILLY and RUUD GULLIT; former boxer "Marvelous" MARVIN HAGLER, former New Zealand rugby captain SEAN FITZPATRICK and skateboarder TONY HAWK (GULF NEWS, 3/25).
'LITTLE LIONEL' FACING SUIT: LEE SEUNG-WOO, a 16-year-old South Korean football prospect playing for Barcelona's youth team, "has been accused of breach of contract by his former agency." A legal source said on Sunday that S2 Management sued Seung-Woo's father, LEE YOUNG-JAE, for $139,000 for "breaking a management contract." The agency "confirmed the action" (KOREA JOONGANG DAILY, 3/25).
DOPING BAN: Australia Olympic men’s sprint relay team member ANTHONY ALOZIE has been banned for 20 months "for whereabouts breaches and for missing a drug test." Six-time national sprint champion JOSH ROSS "lost his challenge" recently in the Court of Arbitration for Sport to similar charges. A third sprinter, MATT DAVIES, was banned in December for two years for "recording a positive result to a stimulant found in a supplement" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 3/25).
