DIRK KUYT announced his retirement from football "just days after winning the Eredivisie with boyhood club Feyenoord." The former Liverpool striker "capped off his career by securing the title" ahead of Ajax, scoring a hat-trick as his side confirmed its first championship in 18 years (London DAILY MAIL, 5/17). ... National Rugby League player GREG INGLIS is "battling depression and the injured South Sydney captain has checked himself into a mental health clinic." The Queensland Origin and Australian Test ace -- who is sidelined with a season-ending knee injury -- "is receiving support from his NRL club" (THE AGE, 5/17). ... TYSON FURY's boxing license "will not be reinstated" until after his UK Anti-Doping hearing -- which promoter FRANK WARREN "fears could be in October." Fury, 28, hoped to box in July but the British Boxing Board of Control said that he is suspended "until the matter is dealt with by Ukad." UKAD, which has not given a timeframe, "does not comment on individual cases" (BBC, 5/17). ... Japan Tennis Association exec members said that the lifetime ban on JUNN MITSUHASHI "came out of the blue." JTA Managing Dir TSUYOSHI FUKUI said, "We had not had any previous contact (with the Tennis Integrity Unit)." JTA spokesperson NOBUTAKA HATTA said that he received an email from the TIU at 3:50pm on Tuesday to "notify the nation's tennis governing body that the 27-year-old player had been banned" and fined $50,000 for match fixing (JAPAN TIMES, 5/17). ... World record-setting sailor ARMEL LE CLÉAC’H was named Team Europe's first ambassador for the 2018 Ryder Cup. The 42nd Ryder Cup will be held at Le Golf National in Paris from Sept. 25-30, 2018 (Ryder Cup). ... Asian Football Confederation President and FIFA VP Sheikh SALMAN BIN EBRAHIM AL KHALIFA presented himself as a candidate for the VIP sport personnel post at the Bahrain Olympic Committee (NEWS OF BAHRAIN, 5/17). ... MITCH NICHOLS, who will leave A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers at the end of the month, was "charged after allegedly being caught with cocaine at a Sydney nightclub" (London GUARDIAN, 5/16). ... Former MotoGP champion and current Honda World Superbike factory rider NICKY HAYDEN is in "serious condition, having sustained injuries in a road accident while cycling in Italy." Hayden, 35, was riding with friends on a road close to Rimini on Wednesday "when a road car collided with his bicycle, the American ending up on the hood of the car and impacting against its windshield" (AUTOSPORT, 5/17).
ERASING THE EVIDENCE: Attorneys for EUGENIE BOUCHARD on Tuesday "accused the United States Tennis Association of erasing security camera footage of her fall in the trainer's room" at the 2015 U.S. Open, which resulted in a concussion and a lawsuit against the USTA. Her attorney, BENEDICT MORELLI, said that the USTA "erased the footage even after being told to preserve it" and asked a federal court judge in Brooklyn to instruct the jury that the tape would have "reflected badly" on the USTA (REUTERS, 5/17).
LAI PROBE: Newly-appointed independent Head of Integrity MOHAMMAD ALI AL KAMALI asked the Asian Football Confederation to "probe circumstances surrounding the prosecution" of suspended official RICHARD LAI. Lai, a member of FIFA's audit and compliance committee, was "handed a provisional 90-day ban last month" after the former Guam FA president pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to taking bribes in exchange for using his influence within FIFA (REUTERS, 5/17).
