Sports

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland Browns fired defensive coordinator Joe Woods after his third season ended way short of expectations or the playoffs. Cleveland’s defense had issues from the opener, leading to a 7-10 record. Woods was heavily criticized all season and he sensed his dismissal last week.

By DENNIS PASSA AP Sports Writer BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Ash Barty finished 2022 the way she started it. She was in the spotlight even if it was nine months after she retired at age 25 while the No. 1-ranked woman in tennis. Barty won’t be defending the title she won a year ago when

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press LE PECQ, France (AP) — The president of France’s football federation has apologized after Kylian Mbappé, the French sports minister and Real Madrid all took him to task for brusque comments that he “couldn’t care less” about Zinédine Zidane’s future as a coach. Noël Le Graët says his comments in

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Staying awake might be Mikaela Shiffrin’s biggest challenge as she prepares to try to set a record for women’s World Cup skiing victories. Having poured out her emotions after matching Lindsey Vonn with career win No. 82 in an early morning giant slalom in

ZURICH (AP) — The six female match officials who worked at the men’s World Cup in Qatar have also been selected by FIFA for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The tournament will have 13 men in the team of video review match officials. French referee Stéphanie Frappart made World Cup history in December handling Germany’s

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal has hired former Belgium coach Roberto Martínez to lead its national team. The Spaniard replaces Fernando Santos. Santos quit in December after Portugal’s elimination against Morocco in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Santos left amid the controversy of benching Cristiano Ronaldo in the knockout stage of the tournament in

PARIS (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s first game in Saudi Arabia is set to be against Paris Saint-Germain. That could mean a possible reunion with his career-long rival Lionel Messi. Qatar-owned PSG says it will play a Jan. 19 friendly in Riyadh on a two-day trip to the region. It’s against a composite team of players

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal has hired former Belgium coach Roberto Martínez to lead its national team. The Spaniard replaces Fernando Santos. Santos quit in December after Portugal’s elimination against Morocco in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Santos left amid the controversy of benching Cristiano Ronaldo in the knockout stage of the tournament in

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Thomas Müller has ruled out international retirement after Germany’s failure at the World Cup and says he will remain available for selection. The Bayern Munich forward suggested Dec. 1 he might have played his last game for Germany and paid tribute to the fans after Germany was knocked out in the

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — A Californian court has ruled in favor of swimming’s governing body in antitrust cases filed in 2018 by athletes and a rival independently run competition. World Aquatics says it won rulings from a judge in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The issues in court

ATLANTA (AP) — Greg Beadles has been named Atlanta Falcons president as part of several changes in team owner Arthur Blank’s family business management team. Longtime Falcons executive Rich McKay, who was hired by Blank as general manager in 2004 and was named team president in 2011, has been named CEO of the Falcons and

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — TCU’s unlikely run to the College Football Playoff championship has come at a most fortuitous time for the Big 12. “If you think about where this conference was 18 months ago, and the uncertainty and the lack of stability and you fast forward

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Jon Rahm thinks he has played as well as anyone of late, and he has three victories worldwide in his last five tournaments to show for it. The latest was one he never saw coming. He started seven shots behind Collin Morikawa in the Sentry