HANNAH MOUNCEY's coach at the Ainslie Football Club in Canberra, CHRIS ROURKE, "dismissed concerns that transgender players are stronger than other women on the field." Rourke said that he "initially questioned how fair it was for her to play on a women's team." He said, "I thought, 'Oh you know it's unfair' -- but really it's not. ... In our case, Hannah is a really big person, but she doesn't play a brutal game of footy, she moves quite slowly" (ABC, 2/13). ... Cricketer BEN STOKES will join his England teammates in New Zealand later this week after he "appeared at a magistrates court to indicate a plea of not guilty to a charge of affray." The England & Wales Cricket Board said that Stokes "would arrive in New Zealand on Friday to train with his teammates in Hamilton" (THE AGE, 2/14).
MATCH-FIXING: ManU's ANDER HERRERA is "among 30 players who Spanish prosecutors want jailed and banned for their connections to match-fixing in La Liga seven years ago." Prosecutors are asking for a two-year prison sentence and a six-year ban "for the case involving clubs Levante and Real Zaragoza." Among the players accused are Herrera, Leicester City's VICENTE IBORRA, Atlético Madrid captain GABI and River Plate captain LEONARDO PONZIO. Former Mexico coach JAVIER AGUIRRE is "facing the same sentence if found guilty in the case" (AP, 2/14).
