Film star JACKIE CHAN said that his team’s LMP2 victory and overall runner-up spot in the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend felt "exactly like when I got an Oscar." The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca "led the race overall with just 70 minutes to go, when the recovering works Porsche 919 Hybrid finally overhauled it" for the win. Chan's car -- crewed by HO-PIN TUNG, OLIVER JARVIS and THOMAS LAURENT -- "still claimed class honours, and second place outright" (MOTORSPORT, 6/18). ... Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt reinforced its scouting department with the addition of HELENA COSTA. Costa becomes the first female scout in the Bundesliga. She is known as "Jose Mourinho in a skirt" (Bundesliga). ... The NBA and its players' association announced the Dallas Mavericks' DIRK NOWITZKI, Charlotte Hornets' KEMBA WALKER, Atlanta Hawks' THABO SEFOLOSHA and L.A. Lakers' LUOL DENG will serve as team captains for the NBA Africa Game 2017 (NBA). ... CRISTIANO RONALDO has been honored with a large mural with his image in Kazan, Russia, "but it was painted on the facade of a private building that is only visible to hotel guests where Portugal's team is staying for the Confederations Cup." The image used is "one of Ronaldo winking to his teammates" when former ManU teammate WAYNE ROONEY was sent off in a game between Portugal and England at he 2006 World Cup (AP, 6/19). ... Serie A side Crotone Manager DAVIDE NICOLA completed a 1,300km bike ride "up the length of Italy, after telling his players he would do so if they avoided relegation." He made the deal in April, when the club "looked certain to go down." Crotone won six of its final nine matches to "avoid the drop" (BBC, 6/18). ... Former France int'l rugby player ÉRIC MELVILLE died, aged 55, after suffering a heart attack. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Melville arrived in France at 19 and became the first South African to become a French int'l, winning six caps and playing the Five Nations tournament in '90 (SPORT24, 6/19). ... Real Madrid player LUKA MODRIĆ is under investigation for "suspected perjury" after giving evidence in the trial of ZDRAVKO MAMIĆ, the Croatia State Attorney Office revealed. Modrić faces, according to the Croatian penal system, a prison sentence "ranging anywhere from six months to five years if he is found guilty." He is "one of the key witnesses" in the trial of Mamić, a former CEO at Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, where Modrić played before joining Tottenham in '08 (London INDEPENDENT, 6/19).
