An offseason of "change" continues at Australian Football League side Hawthorn with CEO STUART FOX leaving to become the Melbourne Cricket Club's new CEO. Fox will replace the retiring STEPHEN GOUGH starting in March. Having lost football department CEO CHRIS FAGAN to Brisbane, and traded veteran premiership players SAM MITCHELL and JORDAN LEWIS, the Hawks are "now on the hunt" for a new CEO. Fox will oversee the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the MCC's 120,000 members and management of the National Sports Museum, Yarra Park and several other sporting facilities (THE AGE, 12/23). ... American BOB BRADLEY was dismissed by Swansea City after a "crushing" Boxing Day defeat to West Ham. Bradley was only in the job for 85 days and the move leaves the club searching for its third manager of the season (London GUARDIAN, 12/27). ... STEPHEN PARK, who has "overseen British sailing's Olympic successes for the past 15 years," has been named as British Cycling's new performance director. Under Park, Britain's sailors have amassed 23 Olympic and Paralympic medals, and finished atop the medal table at this summer's Rio Games. DAVE BRAILSFORD was the last person to fill the role of performance director at British Cycling (BBC, 12/23). ... NASSER GHANIM AL KHELAIFI has been elected unopposed as president of Qatar Tennis, Squash & Badminton Federation. The QTSBF General Assembly, held at the Emiri Lounge at QTSBF building on Sunday, also elected TAREK ZAINAL as secretary general and YOUSEF AL OBAIDELY, KHALID AL KHELAIFI and KARIM ALAMI as members (QNA, 12/26). ... ASHLEY GILES left first-class county cricket club Lancashire "to return to his former club," Warwickshire, as the sport director. In his new role, the former England cricketer will "oversee all the county's professional teams as well as the academy, high performance and development" of excellence programs. Giles served as director of cricket at Edgbaston between '07 and '12. Giles's appointment is part of an overhaul at Edgbaston, with JIM TROUGHTON joining as first-team coach, DARREN FRANKLIN as head of women's cricket and PAUL GREETHAM as elite performance manager (PA, 12/27).
COACHES/MANAGERS: After firing Manager PETER MAES, Belgian Pro League side Genk has found a replacement with ALBERT STUIVENBERG. Stuivenberg was the manager of the Netherlands U17 team from ’06-13 (LE FIGARO, 12/27). ... Congo has confirmed the appointment of BARTHELEMY NGATSONO as its "new national team head coach" ahead of next month's friendly against Senegal. The friendly encounter against Africa's best ranked nation will serve as "a test for the coach, who may take on the position on a long-term basis" (AFKINSIDER, 12/27). ... TORSTEN FRINGS was named manager of Bundesliga side Darmstadt. Frings, who completed his coaching badges in '15, has no head coaching experience, but he was an assistant under former Werder Bremen bench boss VIKTOR SKRIPNIK, until "both were sacked after" the club lost its first three games of the season. Frings is to replace RAMON BERNDROTH, who took over at Darmstadt on a "caretaker basis" after the club parted ways with former head coach NORBERT MEIER and Sporting Dir HOLGER FACH in early December (DEUTSCHE WELLE, 12/27).
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