Sports

ROME (AP) — Benetton and Italy prop Ivan Nemer has been suspended until the end of the season after giving a rotten banana to a Black teammate. The incident happened during a secret Santa exchange of gifts at a Benetton team dinner on Dec. 20. Prop Cherif Traoré was presented with the rotten banana. The

BERLIN (AP) — Union Berlin has signed midfielder Aïssa Laïdouni after he played for Tunisia at the World Cup. The transfer adds midfield depth to a team contending for Champions League qualification. Laïdouni arrived Friday from Hungarian club Ferencvaros after starting all three of Tunisia’s games in the World Cup. He is Union’s third signing

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA has banned Uruguay players Fernando Muslera and José María Giménez for four games each. They aggressively confronted match officials when Uruguay was eliminated from the World Cup last month. Veterans Edinson Cavani and Diego Godín must also serve one-game bans when Uruguay next plays. The players must do community service on

PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier is unsure if he can retain goalkeeper Keylor Navas amid reported interest from Premier League club Nottingham Forest. With the January transfer window closing soon the 36-year-old Navas has been linked with a move after losing his starting position to Gianluigi Donnarumma. Navas only plays in the

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said Friday that offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase will coach the quarterbacks after position coach Joel Gordon left for South Florida. Scheelhaase, who had coached running backs and receivers since he arrived in Ames in 2018, was promoted to OC last month. He replaced Tom Manning, who

TORONTO The Toronto Maple Leafs say center Auston Matthews will miss at least three weeks with a sprained knee. The reigning NHL MVP was injured in Toronto’s victory against the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Matthews is expected to miss at least six games. He’s also out of All-Star weekend. The league announced Matthews will

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul and the man who eliminated Rafael Nadal at Melbourne Park, Mackenzie McDonald, are among the players picked by interim captain David Nainkin for the U.S. Davis Cup team’s matches at Uzbekistan next week. Nainkin’s appointment was announced Friday, three weeks after Mardy Fish’s tenure as

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer It’s reasonable to think Chet Holmgren will be an NBA All-Star one day. He was a highly recruited high school player whose one year at Gonzaga was stellar enough for Oklahoma City to make him the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft. He’s an obvious talent, an enormous

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed produced big first-round finishes at the Dubai Desert Classic in what could lead to an intriguing showdown as the competition heads to a Monday conclusion. LIV Golf series players Richard Bland and Ian Poulter were tied atop the leaderboard at 8-under overall when second-round

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona says that defender Marcos Alonso has agreed to extend his contact until the end of the 2023-24 season. Alonso joined Barcelona as a free agent in September after terminating his contract with Chelsea. His initial contract only tied him to Barcelona until the end of this season. The 32-year-old Alonso

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany will host Belgium for a friendly match in March as both teams look to move on from disappointing group-stage exits at the World Cup. Germany is hosting Peru in Mainz on March 25 for its first game since the World Cup. It then welcomes Belgium in Cologne three days later.

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami fired offensive coordinator Josh Gattis on Friday, ending the former Broyles Award winner’s time with the Hurricanes after only one season. The Hurricanes went 5-7 in Gattis’ lone season. He was brought in by Miami only a few weeks after winning the 2021

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tennis Australia says Novak Djokovic’s father decided to stay away from the 21-time Grand Slam champion’s semifinal after getting embroiled in a flap involving spectators who brought banned Russian flags to Melbourne Park. Djokovic wound up beating unseeded American Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 to

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tommy Paul says he went into his Australian Open semifinal against Novak Djokovic with a specific game plan. He also says none of it worked because Djokovic wouldn’t let it work. Paul managed to take four games in a row to make the score 5-all

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Of all of his considerable talents, Novak Djokovic’s ability to cast aside whatever appears to stand in his way might be the most valuable. So forget about the potential distraction of his father’s decision to stay away from Rod Laver Arena for Djokovic’s semifinal against

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — It took four days for the No. 2 Ohio State women to go from unbeaten to second place in the Big Ten. If the Buckeyes don’t find a fix quickly, coach Kevin McGuff knows the slide could accelerate. Here, in perhaps the top women’s basketball

PARIS (AP) — French rugby federation president Bernard Laporte has resigned from his position. The move, confirmed by France’s sports minister, came after Laporte was convicted in a corruption case last month. His stepping down came a day after French rugby clubs voted against accepting Patrick Buisson as interim president. Buisson was nominated by the

SAN JUAN, Argentina (AP) — Three-time world champion Peter Sagan will ride a farewell season of World Tour road races and then target the mountain bike event at the 2024 Paris Olympics before retiring. The Slovakian rider announced his plans on his 33rd birthday at a race in Argentina. He is targeting a last Tour