Following the announcement that French Sports Minister LAURA FLESSEL quit the position "for personal reasons," former Olympic swimmer ROXANA MARACINEANU was named her replacement (L'ÉQUIPE, 9/4). ... Former WACA Chair LACHLAN HENDERSON will join the nine-member Cricket Australia board, replacing BOB EVERY. CA board member TONY HARRISON is also stepping down. NSW Cricket appointed player agent NEIL MAXWELL to its board (THE AGE, 9/4). ... ManU's "long wait" for a new director of communications since PHIL TOWNSEND handed in his resignation last December is over, with the appointment of Nike VP of Communications CHARLIE BROOKS (London DAILY MAIL, 9/4). ... Former McLaren Formula 1 Chief Engineer PAT FRY returned to the team as it seeks to "build a better car for next season after years of under-performing." Fry worked at Woking from '93-10 before joining Ferrari F1 as deputy technical director. He left Maranello in '14 and worked most recently as a consultant to now-defunct Manor (REUTERS, 9/4). ... EHSAN MANI was elected unopposed as chair of the Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday. Pakistan PM IMRAN KHAN, "who is also patron of the PCB, nominated Mani as the member of the Board of Governors last month" after NAJAM SETHI resigned as PCB chair (AP, 9/4).
COACHES/MANAGERS: JUAN CARLOS OSORIO, who guided Mexico to the last 16 of this year's World Cup in Russia, was appointed as coach of Paraguay's national football team. Paraguay has not qualified for the World Cup since reaching the quarterfinals in South Africa in '10 (REUTERS, 9/3). ... DAVID HOPKIN became League One side Bradford City's fourth new head coach of '18 after signing a two-year deal. He succeeded MICHAEL COLLINS, who was sacked on Monday after six games in charge, with the club 17th in the league (BBC, 9/4). ... Premiership Rugby side Leicester Tigers is "in a state of turmoil" just one game into the season after sacking MATT O'CONNOR as head coach on Monday. GEORDAN MURPHY "will step up from assistant coach to take temporary charge" (LONDON TIMES, 9/4).
