The Int'l Tennis Federation has announced the nominations for the elections for the ITF president and board of directors that will be held on Sept. 25 at the ITF's Annual General Meeting in Santiago, Chile. Both the president and 13 other members of the board of directors will be elected for four-year terms from '15-19. Nominations for the ITF president are DAVID HAGGERTY, ANIL KHANNA, JUAN MARGETS LOBATO and RENE STAMMBACH (ITF). ... League One side Preston North End striker JERMAINE BECKFORD will this week "meet the boy who had his match shirt pinched by an adult at Wembley to hand him a fresh one." Beckford "scored a hat-trick" and threw his worn shirt into the crowd, saying that he was "aiming for some kids in the stand." But a mother-of-two, VICKIE TIMBRELL, was identified as having "grabbed the shirt" off eight-year-old TED DOCKRAY (London DAILY MAIL, 5/26). ... Indian cricketer AJINKYA RAHANE was "conferred" with Indian Cricketer of the Year, former Sri Lanka cricketer KUMAR SANGAKKARA was given the Int'l Cricketer of the Year award, while former Indian cricketer KAPIL DEV was "honoured with the International Lifetime Achievement Award" in Mumbai on Monday. Indian batsman ROHIT SHARMA was "given a special award for his outstanding 264 against Sri Lanka" in the One-Day-Int'l in Kolkata (IANS, 5/26). ... While his coaching career "appears over with a record 718 matches to his credit," MICK MALTHOUSE will "enjoy a lucrative career in the media -- should he choose to head down that path." Malthouse almost certainly will "enjoy a slew of offerings from the major media outlets." During what was a coaching sabbatical in '12, Malthouse was a "prominent voice" on Channel Seven's Australian Football League coverage and in the 3AW radio booth, while he also had a weekly newspaper column in Western Australia (THE AGE, 5/26). ... Former Biathlete OLE EINAR BJØRNDALEN, 41, will take a new role, becoming a global brand ambassador for Forex brokerage company InstaForex. The Norwegian has earned eight Olympic Gold Medals and a 19 victories at world championships. Bjørndalen won four Gold Medals four in the 2002 Winter Olympics. This result makes him the only absolute Olympic champion in the history of Biathlon (InstaForex).
