Former Football Federation Australia Technical Dir HAN BERGER, still on A-League side Sydney FC's board in a similar role, was appointed to a similar position in the Netherlands FA (KNVB) as the Dutch "face up to a major crisis" in their football. The 67-year-old will "lead attempts to reverse the decline in the strength of the Dutch game," which saw the national team fail to qualify for Euro 2016 (Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH, 9/5). ... Betgenius parent company Genius Sports hired sports lawyer KEVIN CARPENTER as special counsel for sports integrity. Carpenter is "regarded as an expert on the issue of match-fixing and sporting integrity" and will join the company later this month. He has worked with a range of leading int'l, continental and national organizations such as FIFA and the IOC (GAMING INTELLIGENCE, 9/5). ... The 2017 European Club Association board will include: DARIUSZ MIODUSKI (Legia Warsaw), ANDRE AGNELLI (Juventus), JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU (Barcelona), NASSER AL-KHELAIFI (Paris St. Germain), PEDRO LÓPEZ JIMÉNEZ (Real Madrid), MICHAEL GERLINGER (Bayern Munich), IVAN GAZIDIS (Arsenal), JEAN-MICHEL AULAS (Olympique Lyonnais), DOMINGOS OLIVEIRA (Benfica), EDWIN VAN DER SAR (Ajax Amsterdam), MICHAEL VERSCHUEREN (Anderlecht), ANDERS HOERSHOLT (Copenhagen) and AKI RIIHILAHTI (HJK Helsinki) (Scotland DAILY RECORD, 9/5). ... NOEL CURRAN officially took up his position as the director general of the European Broadcasting Union. He replaced INGRID DELTENRE, who stepped down after eight years in charge to “focus her attention on her board responsibilities.” Curran is a former DG of Ireland’s RTÉ (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 9/5).
COACHES/MANAGERS: National Rugby League side South Sydney Rabbitohs Manager MICHAEL MAGUIRE's reign as coach has "ended with immediate effect." Maguire led the club to the premiership, while also collecting the 2015 World Club Challenge and 2015 Auckland Nines "since joining the club" in '12. But the Rabbitohs "stagnated since," finishing the '17 campaign with "just nine wins and well off finals pace" (AAP, 9/5). ... ROELANT OLTMANS was sacked as head coach of the Indian men's field hockey team and "there is no replacement as of now." The search for a new coach is "likely to begin soon," with High Performance Dir DAVID JOHN in charge in the interim (THE HINDU, 9/3). ... Premiership Rugby side Bath head coach TABAI MATSON will leave his role with the club “for family reasons.” The 44-year-old will return to New Zealand after Bath’s game against Northampton Saints on Friday (BBC, 9/5). ... JIMMY FLOYD HASSELBAINK was appointed manager of League One side Northampton Town on a three-year deal. The 45-year-old former Chelsea striker replaces JUSTIN EDINBURGH, who left the club on Aug. 31 (BBC, 9/4). ... Atlético Madrid Manager DIEGO SIMEONE signed a two-year contract extension with the club. The 47-year-old Argentine, whose previous deal was "due to expire at the end of the season, has committed to the club" until June '20. He is the "longest-serving current La Liga manager," having been appointed in '11 (BBC, 9/5).
