Former Real Madrid player and Honorary President ALFREDO DI STÉFANO will have a street in the Madrid neighborhood of Valdefuentes named after him. The street is near the club's training facility. The Madrid City Council on Thursday agreed to "assign his name to a street between Félix Candela and Julio Alonso Cano roads." Di Stéfano died in '14 at the age of 88 (LIBERTAD DIGITAL, 10/13). ... Chinese property magnate WANG JIANLIN has "defended his crown as the country's richest man," according to the annual Hurun rich list, "fending off Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Founder JACK MA and new players on the block like Baoneng's YAO ZHENHUA." Dalian Wanda Group Chair Wang took the spot with a personal fortune of $32.1B, the report said, despite Ma, the founder of e-commerce firm Alibaba, "seeing his wealth surge" 41% from '15 (FORTUNE, 10/13). ... DIEGO MARADONA had to be "restrained after he clashed" with former ManU player JUAN SEBASTIAN VERON in a charity football match promoted by POPE FRANCIS in Rome. The 55-year-old Argentine was "involved in a minor clash with compatriot Veron and Maradona had to be held back by a security guard as they walked off the field at halftime." The proceeds from the game at the Olympic stadium "go to children in Argentina and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as victims of the earthquake that rocked central Italy in August" (AAP, 10/13). ... Australian driver MARK WEBBER has "called time on his racing career, which will end at the completion of the World Endurance Championship season." Webber, 40, switched over from racing with Red Bull in F1 to "driving for Porsche in the world endurance championship." Together with teammates TIMO BERNHARD and BRENDON HARTLEY, "Webber was crowned FIA World Endurance champion last year" (NEWS CORP, 10/13). ... LEWIS HAMILTON has pulled out of the Pirelli tire test at Barcelona "to rest a sore foot" ahead of next week's U.S. Grand Prix. Hamilton had been "due to drive in his first mid-season test" since '14 at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday, but teammate and title rival NICO ROSBERG, who had been scheduled to be in the car on Thursday, drove instead. Mercedes reserve and Manor race driver PASCAL WEHRLEIN has been "drafted in to complete the two-day test on Thursday" (SKY SPORTS, 10/13).
BLANPAIN DEAD AT 83: At the age of 83, ROGER BLANPAIN, one of FIFPro’s "founding fathers and its first president," passed away in Leuven, Belgium. Blanplain was one of the "principal forces behind the foundation and development of a global union for players." FIFPro was established on Dec. 15, 1965. On that day the representatives of the players’ unions of England, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Scotland chose him as the first FIFPro president. The Belgian was a professor of social law at the University of Leuven. He also defended the rights of football players, early on targeting the transfer system. Blanplain: "Buying and selling people to make profit is pure human trafficking" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 10/13).
JOHAUG TESTS POSITIVE: Cross-country skier THERESE JOHAUG has tested positive for doping. According to the Norwegian Ski Federation, the explanation for the presence of the substance is that she was "prescribed a cream of type Trofodermin by the Norwegian Ski Team's doctor," FREDRIK BENDIKSEN, to treat sunburnt lips "that she had gotten during high-altitude training in Italy in August." Before applying the cream, the doctor reportedly assured Johaug that it "did not contain any substances forbidden by WADA." Bendiksen has "taken full responsibility for the mistake" (BUSINESS INSIDER, 10/13).
OVERREACTING: Football agent SCOTT MCGARVEY believes SAM ALLARDYCE losing his job as England manager over the Daily Telegraph sting "was an overreaction" by the FA. Allardyce’s reign "lasted just 67 days after undercover journalists posing as businessmen filmed him arranging to earn extra money by doing motivational speeches for a bogus far east firm." Allardyce attended the meeting at a hotel in London "after it was arranged by McGarvey, who admits that Allardyce should hold him responsible for how events unfolded." Asked how "he feels about Allardyce losing his job," McGarvey said, "Very surprised. I'm devastated for him. I can't think of anything worse that could have happened" (PA, 10/13).
