Sterling.VC appointed BEN NICHOL as its head of events & business development. Nichol has worked in the esports division for Red Bull Media House since Jan. '14, with his most recent position being the company's senior program manager for events. Sterling.VC is the sports, media, and real estate venture capital fund of Sterling Equities, a company group co-founded by FRED WILPON -- the principal owner of the MLB N.Y. Mets and Overwatch League team N.Y. Excelsior (THE ESPORTS OBSERVER, 3/12). ... ONE Championship announced investment firm Mission Holdings Founder & Chair SAURABH MITTAL joined the MMA promotion as vice-chair and will be responsible for some of ONE's most important strategic initiatives. Mittal previously served as a partner at Farallon Capital Partners and also co-founded Indian conglomerate Indiabulls Group (ONE Championship). ... NBA VP Global Marketing Partnerships & Emerging Markets MARC ARMSTRONG will join Paris St. Germain in April as its director of sponsoring. Armstrong will be tasked with finding new sponsors for PSG (L’ÉQUIPE, 3/9). ... La Liga side Sevilla named MICHAEL HIGHAM its director of sponsorships. He joins Sevilla after working for Arsenal since '14 as partner services manager. Prior to that, Higham worked for ManU for two years (LA JUGADA FINANCIERA, 3/12).
COACHES/MANAGERS: League One side Walsall sacked Manager JON WHITNEY "after two years in charge." Whitney, who arrived at Walsall as physiotherapist in '03, "ends a 15-year association with the club" (BBC, 3/12). ... League Two side Swindon Town appointed PHIL BROWN as manager "until the end of the season." The 58-year-old has been without a job since leaving League One club Southend United in January (BBC, 3/12). ... The German FA named former Germany int'l HORST HRUBESCH interim coach for the women's national team after the sacking of STEFFI JONES. Hrubesch, a European champion and World Cup runner-up as a player with Germany, "has been a successful youth coach," leading the men's U21 team to the European title in '09. This is his first appointment in women's football (REUTERS, 3/13).
