Bangladesh fielding coach COREY RICHARDS "resigned from his post" and "became the third member from the national cricket team support staff to tender his resignation in the space of the last 11 days" (DHAKA TRIBUNE, 5/7). ... BBC Trust Chair CHRIS PATTEN has announced that "he will be standing down with immediate effect on health grounds following major heart surgery." Patten said that he "had been admitted to hospital with chest pains" on April 27 and "had successful heart surgery the following day." Doctors have advised him he "cannot continue to work at the same pace" (BBC, 5/6). ... National Rugby League New Zealand Warriors player KONRAD HURRELL "has been censured and fined" A$5,000 ($4,666) by the club "over his use of social media to share a sex video that was leaked on to the Internet." The Warriors launched an investigation on Monday, a day after the clip, "reportedly depicting the 22-year-old engaged in a sex act while driving a car, surfaced on the Internet." Warriors CEO WAYNE SCURRAH said, "Konrad is full of remorse over what has happened" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 5/7).
MESSI CONTRACT EXTENSION: A Barcelona source said that LIONEL MESSI "will sign an improvement to his contract with Barcelona next week that will see him earn" €20M-€22M ($28M-$31M) annually in gross salary. With this "substantial contract improvement," Messi will become "the best-paid footballer in the world." In addition to his gross salary, "the contract will also have incentive bonuses" which could increase his pay to €30M ($42M) per year. The "contract improvement will keep Messi in Barcelona through June '18, and Messi has also agreed to share part of his image rights with the club" (EFE, 5/7). ... Former EPL side Fulham Owner MOHAMED AL-FAYED has accused successor SHAHID KHAN "of failing to invest in the team to stave off relegation" from the Premier League. Al-Fayed: "Now he has [Khan] had his lesson. To bring the club up, he has to pay a lot of money to bring in top players and top managers. The guy is very rich. Financially, he can do that. I hope he’s waking up and I’m waiting for him to maybe give me a call and I’ll try to give him some advice" (LONDON TIMES, 5/7).
