NEYMAR, EDEN HAZARD, ALEXIS SÁNCHEZ and CRISTIANO RONALDO were in attendance at an event hosted by Nike in London on Wednesday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Mercurial boot (ESPN.com, 2/8). ... Premiership Rugby side Worcester Warriors announced RORY DUNCAN will join the club as head coach this summer. The 40-year-old is currently the head coach of Pro14 side Cheetahs (Worcester Warriors). ... Professional Honor of Kings player ZHANG "LAO SHUAI" YUCHEN transferred from AG Super Play to GK Gaming in a deal valued at 8M yuan ($1.3M), according to Chinese publication Lanxiong Sports. The agreement "would set a new transfer deal record not only for the Tencent-produced MOBA title, but mobile esports overall" (THE ESPORTS OBSERVER, 2/7). ... TV and radio presenter EMMA FREEDMAN agreed to join Fox Sports as part of Fox League's lineup of weekly entertainment. She has spent the past 12 months working alongside MATTY JOHNS on the Triple M Grill Team (Fox Sports). ... Italian police arrested amateur cycling team Altopack-Eppela Owner LUCA FRANCESCHI and several associates "suspected of giving cyclists performance-enhancing drugs." The sudden death of young Lithuanian cyclist LINAS RUMSAS raised suspicions. Altopack Sports Dir ELSO FREDIANI and pharmacist ANDREA BIANCHI are the other suspects under house arrest (BBC, 2/8). ... SERENA WILLIAMS will be "ready to go" when she returns to action this week in the U.S.'s Fed Cup first round match against the Netherlands, captain KATHY RINALDI said. Rinaldi added that she expects Williams to "make a smooth transition in her return to competitive tennis" (THE AGE, 2/8). ... After EuroLeague club Panathinaikos "announced that it would have its fans vote on whether the club would stay in the league," EuroLeague CEO JORDI BARTOMEU said, "I want to say that the EuroLeague needs Panathinaikos and Panathinaikos needs the EuroLeague. We cannot accept behavior as disrespectful as that of (Panathinaikos Owner DIMITRIS GIANNAKOPOULOS)." Giannakopoulos asked his team's fans to vote on whether the club should stay in the EuroLeague after he was banned from all EuroLeague games for 12 months for threatening Fenerbahçe fans (MARCA, 2/8).
BIG DECISION: La Liga President JAVIER TEBAS said that he is "considering an offer to become CEO of Serie A." Tebas: "I have received an offer and I find the project very interesting. Now it's about talking with my family. In the coming days, we will make a decision together" (AS, 2/8).
ANTI-AUSTRALIAN?: The case for NBA Philadelphia 76ers player BEN SIMMONS to be included in the NBA All-Star team has "gone all the way to the Australian federal parliament." MP TIM WATTS made an "impassioned plea" on Thursday for Simmons to become the first Australian to make the lineup. Watts: "I rise today to express my outrage at the exclusion of Australian Ben Simmons from the NBA All-Star game" (London GUARDIAN, 2/8).
