Juventus and Italy midfielder ANDREA PIRLO will "take his distinctive brand of elegance and élan" to Major League Soccer side N.Y. City after the Italian champions confirmed Pirlo was moving on after four seasons with the club. Shortly afterward, N.Y. City confirmed that Pirlo would be joining as the club's third designated player (London GUARDIAN, 7/6). ... Liverpool has named England U19 Manager SEAN O'DRISCOLL as its new assistant manager. O'Driscoll, who will "leave his England post," has managed League Championship sides Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth and League One sides Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town and Bristol City. Reds academy coach PEP LIJNDERS "joins the first-team staff, with talks continuing over a third new coach" (BBC, 7/6). ... Shares in U.S.-U.K. gas-to-liquid fuel company Velocys, backed by Russian oil tycoon and Chelsea Owner ROMAN ABRAMOVICH, fell 19% on Monday after it "revealed that it had suspended" its CEO ROY LIPSKI. The company said that Lipski, Velocys' Houston-based CEO since '06, has been "suspended amid allegations of serious misconduct" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 7/6). ... The MLB Arizona Diamondbacks announced that a contingent of execs, headed by President & CEO DERRICK HALL, Chief Baseball Officer TONY LA RUSSA and Special Assistants to the President & CEO RANDY JOHNSON and LUIS GONZALEZ will make a one-week goodwill trip to Japan from Aug. 14-20. The trip will include meetings with the Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner’s Office, MLB Japan, several NPB teams’ front offices, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and a public appearance at the Major League Baseball Road Show (Arizona Diamondbacks).
