European soccer leagues add to pressure on FIFA president Gianni Infantino amid 'crisis' meeting
The association of European soccer leagues has called for governance reform of FIFA. This adds to the mounting pressure on president Gianni Infantino following his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup. With Infantino reportedly holding a meeting Wednesday with senior staff in Rabat, Morocco, European Leagues has described the proposal as “dangerous”. It says it points to deeper concerns about how world soccer’s governing body operates. European Leagues says there are “serious questions about FIFA’s governance, internal culture and decision-making.”
Mets to pay $8.1M to Pirates as part of Weaver trade, Cubs to send Toronto nearly $5M with Taillon
The New York Mets are paying more than $8.1 million to the Pirates in a trade that sent pitcher Luke Weaver to Pittsburgh. That covers most of the $13.4 million left on Weaver's contract. Pittsburgh will pay Weaver a small portion of his salary. In other deals, the Chicago Cubs are paying nearly $5 million to Toronto in the transaction that sent pitcher Jameson Taillon to the Blue Jays. The San Francisco Giants are paying San Diego more than $4 million in the trade that sent 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray to the Padres.
LIV Golf has lead investor and planning ahead for another season
LIV Golf says it has a lead investor that will allow the league to plan ahead for 2027 and beyond. The rival league has been in survival mode since March when the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced it would no longer pay for LIV after 2026. Saudi money is what allowed the league to pay nine-figure bonuses to lure top players away from the PGA Tour and created $20 million purses. LIV CEO Scott O'Neil did not identify the lead investor. But he says the new league would have players as majority equity holders.
Preakness date for next year to be revealed, setting the 2027 Triple Crown schedule
The Preakness could be getting a new spot on the calendar following years of speculation about the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown moving further away from the Kentucky Derby. A staple on the third Saturday in May for nearly every year since 1950, the date for the 152nd rendition of the Preakness is set to be unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland Jockey Club at a news conference in the state capital of Annapolis.
Party in Spain's government questions co-hosting 2030 World Cup with Morocco after migration crisis
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The junior partner of Spain’s government wants Spain to reconsider hosting the next World Cup with Morocco after the migration crisis in Ceuta. Tens of thousands of people surged across the Moroccan border last week and into the European enclave. The small left-wing party presented a motion in the country’s Parliament on Wednesday asking Spain’s sports authorities to revisit its plan to co-host the 2030 soccer tournament with Morocco and Portugal. The motion would be non-binding.
Scottish police looking into reports of missing athletes at the Commonwealth Games
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Police in Scotland say they have received reports that “several” athletes were unaccounted for following the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Ugandan sporting news website NBS Sport said four members of the nation’s boxing team had reportedly gone missing in Scotland and did not rejoin the rest of the delegation before the team’s scheduled return to Uganda on Tuesday. The Pakistan Today newspaper also reported a missing boxer from the Pakistan national team. "Enquiries are ongoing to assess the circumstances, and early engagement is taking place with the Home Office,” Police Scotland says.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was inspired by Barry Sanders serving his teammates
Saquon Barkley saw a clip of Barry Sanders on NFL Films when he was a kid that left a lasting impression. It wasn’t Sanders juking half the defense on one of his dynamic touchdown runs. Instead, the Hall of Fame running back who inspired a generation of running backs with his sensational, elusive, shifty style was walking up and down the sideline handing out refreshments to his teammates. Barkley joined Sanders as one of nine players to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in 2024 when he was the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year and helped the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl.
Liverpool icon Mohamed Salah arrives in Istanbul ahead of Trabzonspor move
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Mohamed Salah has been greeted by cheering Trabzonspor fans in Istanbul as he closes in on a move to the Turkish club. The Liverpool icon wore the team’s blue and burgundy striped shirt after flying in on a private jet to complete the deal. Earlier he was filmed aboard the jet pulling on his new jersey. Salah is a free agent after leaving Liverpool at the end of last season. There was speculation the 34-year-old Egypt international would end his career in Saudi Arabia, but it emerged this week that Trabzonspor was leading the race to sign him.
A league filled with new bosses: 10 head coaches in new places reshape NFL sidelines
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Robert Saleh's second chance as an NFL head coach came in Tennessee with the Titans. He has lots of company being a head coach with a new franchise. The NFL tied its record with 10 head coaches hired by new teams this offseason, matching the previous high last reached in 2022. John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski also are with their second teams. Mike McCarthy joined the list of men to coach three different franchises after going home in Pittsburgh. The other six all are in their first NFL training camps as head coaches.
Drew Brees' prolific Hall of Fame career was a triumph of intangibles over measurables
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is among the former NFL greats being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, this weekend. His induction will celebrate a 20-year NFL career in which the 6-foot Brees overcame a relative lack of height and came back from a career-threatening shoulder injury to set records and win a Super Bowl. Brees' 80,358 yards and 571 touchdown passes rank second all-time. He's also remembered as an uplifting force during New Orleans' recovery from Hurricane Katrina. He arrived less than a year after the storm and led the Saints to the playoffs nine times and the only championship in the club's six-decade history.
