Peru national football team captain PAOLO GUERRERO "had his one-year suspension for a positive drug test reduced to six months," which will allow him to play in his team's first World Cup appearance since '92. Guerrero "tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a banned stimulant found in cocaine," shortly after Peru's 0-0 tie with Argentina in its second-to-last match of CONMEBOL qualifying on Oct. 5 (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 12/20). ... Great Britain's first Olympic Gold Medalist in canoeing, TIM BRABANTS, will join the team's sprint program as a technical coach. Brabants, 40, won Gold in the men's sprint kayak 1,000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (BBC, 12/20). ... WAYNE BARNES will "break the record" for the most Rugby Premiership games refereed when he takes charge of Worcester's match against London Irish on Friday. The 38-year-old Englishman will surpass CHRIS WHITE, who officiated 190 league games between '97 and '11, on the all-time list (BBC, 12/19). ... National Rugby League side Parramatta Eels player JARRYD HAYNE was "accused of raping a woman" during his time playing for the NFL San Francisco 49ers, according to civil court documents filed in California. The civil suit, lodged in the Santa Clara County court on Tuesday, alleges Hayne "engaged in non-consensual sexual intercourse with a woman" in Dec. '15 (London GUARDIAN, 12/20). ... Mystery "surrounded crowd-pleasing" West Indies cricketer CHRIS GAYLE after he failed to appear during the second innings of the opening ODI against New Zealand at Cobham Oval on Wednesday. No one within the West Indies' management "seemed to know what was amiss" with Gayle other than that "he was unwell" (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 12/20). ... Prosecutors in Turkey are "seeking up to four years behind bars" for NBA N.Y. Knicks center ENES KANTER for “insulting” President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN on multiple occasions. The indictment from the Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office reportedly quotes Kanter’s “humiliating” and “insulting” statements about the president made on social media. The first hearing will be held at an Istanbul court but Kanter, known for his close ties to FETHULLAH GÜLEN, the main suspect in cases into Turkey’s July '16 military coup attempt, is "not expected to appear before the judge" (HURRIYET DAILY NEWS, 12/20). ... The Queensland and Australian rugby community "is in mourning after the death of one of the game's biggest characters," former Wallabies prop STAN PILECKI. Pilecki, the first player to reach 100 games for Queensland, died on Wednesday after a brief period of poor health (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 12/20).
BACK AT IT: Former Wimbledon champion MARION BARTOLI will "return to the WTA Tour after more than four years in retirement." The Frenchwoman "shocked the tennis world when she quit the sport" in '13, a little over a month after winning her first grand slam title at Wimbledon, saying that "her body could no longer keep up with the demands of the sport." She confirmed her return to the women's tour "in a video posted on her official Twitter account" (HERALD SUN, 12/20).
