Women's marathon world record holder PAULA RADCLIFFE said that she was "very hurt and frustrated" at plans to erase athletics records set before '05. European Athletics wants historic records "rewritten following the sport's doping scandal." Outgoing UK Athletics CEO ED WARNER said that he would back those plans if they were for "the good of the sport." Radcliffe said that would be "punishing athletes twice" (BBC, 6/24). ... EPL side Crystal Palace is "edging closer" to appointing a successor to SAM ALLARDYCE after former Inter Milan Manager FRANK DE BOER was offered the role at Selhurst Park. The "finer details" of the contract for De Boer, 47, are being discussed, "with the makeup of his backroom staff also to be determined." De Boer has been out of work since leaving Inter after "only three months" in November. The Dutchman would be Palace's "first foreign appointment as manager" (London GUARDIAN, 6/22). ... Former Liverpool, Real Madrid and West Ham defender ÁLVARO ARBELOA announced his retirement. The 34-year-old former Spain int'l made three Premier League appearances for West Ham last season before being released (BBC, 6/24).
JAIL TIME SWAP: Barcelona's LIONEL MESSI "could avoid a 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud by paying a fine." Spain's state prosecutor would swap jail time for a fine of €255,000 ($285,000), which equates to €400 ($447) for each day behind bars. The final decision on the fine "rests in the hands of the Spanish courts" (BBC, 6/23).
MIC DROP: Cricket commentator HENRY BLOFELD will retire in September. This will "sever the link with the days when cricketers always played in whites, the umpire's decision was final and the sun shone all season -- or maybe not." What is "beyond doubt" is that Blofeld was part of a "golden broadcasting era," in which the BBC’s coverage established radio as the "most stylish and enjoyable way to follow the most English of all sports." The program he "graced" for decades, "Test Match Special," will "go on." A "talented new generation, led by the much-admired JONATHAN AGNEW, will see to that." But it "will have lost its most recognisable star." Blofeld said, "The time has come for the last of the old farts to hang up his microphone" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 6/23).
