China's table tennis fans "flooded" Sina Weibo with calls for the return of former coach LIU GUOLIANG after China lost its men's and women's singles crowns at the Japan Open over the weekend. Former Team China head coach Liu led the nation "to a decade of dominance but was forced to step down last year for unspecified reasons" (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 6/11). ... The Wallabies, including ISRAEL FOLAU, "will be invited to celebrate a Sydney team's win in gay rugby's biggest tournament." The Bingham Cup "will be handed over to Rugby Australia at a celebratory event in October and the Convicts hope Folau and Wallabies teammates will join them there" (STUFF, 6/11). ... Italian former tennis world No. 5 SARA ERRANI's ban was "increased from two to 10 months after a cancer drug showed up in a failed test." The 30-year-old tested positive for banned drug letrozole. The Court of Arbitration for Sport "accepted medication taken by her mother found its way into a family meal." But it said that Errani was guilty of a "light degree of fault," which justified a 10-month ban (BBC, 6/11). ... Teenage rider ANDREAS PEREZ died following an accident during Sunday's fourth round of the Moto3 Junior World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain. The 14-year-old, who rode for Reale Avintia Racing, was "involved in a crash involving multiple riders" (BBC, 6/11). ... Zimbabwe Cricket Dir ENOCK IKOPE was provisionally suspended by the Int’l Cricket Council. Ikope has been charged under ICC’s Article 2.4.6 and Article 2.4.7, which include offenses such as refusing to cooperate, "delaying and obstruction of an investigation into possible corruption" by the Anti-Corruption Unit (REUTERS, 6/11). ... Businessman VÍCTOR FONT announced his intention to run as a presidential candidate in Barcelona's next election. The club's current board, led by President JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, will be in place until '21, when an election is expected to take place (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 6/11).
SORRELL RESPONDS: MARTIN SORRELL "strenuously" denied paying for a sex worker using funds from WPP, the company he founded and developed into the world's largest advertising group. The remarks follow a report on Saturday, which claimed one of the matters the investigation into Sorrell examined was whether he "used company money for a sex worker." The findings of the investigation have "never been made public." Sorrell's spokesperson said, "As regards the allegations which have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Sir Martin strenuously denies them. He will be making no further comment at this time." A WPP spokesperson said, "WPP has been advised that it cannot disclose details of the allegations against Sir Martin Sorrell because it is prohibited by data protection law from giving such details" (London GUARDIAN, 6/10).
