Australian swimmer IAN THORPE's agent JAMES ERSKINE said the swimmer is "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital after "contracting two potentially deadly infections and will never swim again competitively." The 31-year-old five-time Olympic Gold Medalist "contracted the bugs after undergoing a series of surgeries on his shoulder" at a hospital near his home in the Swiss town of Ronco sopra Ascona. He has returned to Sydney and "is receiving treatment at an intensive care ward." Erskine said, "It’s serious but it’s not life-threatening" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 4/8). ... German pay-TV channel Sky Deutschland has hired professional German golfer MAX KIEFFER "as an expert for its European Tour broadcasts" (QUOTENMETER, 4/8). ... Former footballer PELÉ said that he considered "the death of a construction worker at the site of a World Cup stadium in Sao Paulo to be 'normal.'" Pelé said, "This (accident at Corinthians Arena) is normal, they are parts of life. It was an accident, a normal thing, nothing to fear. ... I returned recently to Brazil and the airport is chaos. This is my concern" (EFE, 4/8). ... Barcelona President JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU said that "he is planning to meet" with FIFA President SEPP BLATTER over the sanctions the club is facing, with "all indications that the meeting will take place after Semana Santa" (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 4/8). ... The NBA and its official bank, BBVA, announced the schedule of the upcoming NBA 3X 3-on-3 tournament, which will visit six Spanish cities from April-June. The event will start in Barcelona on April 26 and feature KENNETH FARIED of the Denver Nuggets. Later tournament dates will feature visits from former Boston Celtic ROBERT PARISH and ANDRE DRUMMOND of the Detroit Pistons, among others (AS, 4/8). ... Korea's Kookmin University stripped IOC member MOON DAE-SUNG, a Saeunuri Party lawmaker, of his doctor’s degree in sports psychology last month, weeks "after concluding that his thesis was plagiarized" (KOREA TIMES, 4/8). ... Australian Football League CEO ANDREW DEMETRIOU has "denied suggestions he has booked extended leave from late next month, despite growing speculation the outgoing CEO will be gone from the job by the middle of the season.'' Demetriou: "As things stand, I’ll be taking my normal school holiday leave from later in June'' (THE AGE, 4/8). ... Australian Football League player MITCH CLARK retired on Tuesday "due to clinical depression." Clark, 26, "had been given extended leave in recent weeks but opted to quit" after he and his agent, COLIN YOUNG, "had talks with the Melbourne Football Club" (THE AGE, 4/8).
SUSPICION OF FRAUD: Romanian prosecutors "have detained" former Professional Football League Chair DUMITRU DRAGOMIR and six officials "as part of a criminal investigation into fiscal evasion and money laundering" costing the state €3M ($4M). Dragomir, chairman of the league from '96 to '13, "maintains his innocence." Prosecutors said that top league matches sold from '11-13 to TV stations and officials "used fictitious accounts to hide transactions" (AP, 4/7).
