Sports

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro will host this season’s Copa Libertadores final. The Copa Sudamericana decider will be played in Montevideo. The president of the South American soccer body announced the decision on his social media channels. The Maracana hosted the Copa Libertadores final in 2020. This year’s

TOKYO (AP) — Shohei Ohtani allowed one hit in the four innings he pitched, struck out five and was the winning pitcher in Japan’s 8-1 victory over China in Group B at the World Baseball Classic. Ohtani also doubled off the left field wall in the fourth to score two at the Tokyo Dome and

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Conservative lawmakers in the U.K. are calling on the BBC to discipline soccer pundit Gary Lineker for comparing the government’s language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. In a tweet on Tuesday, the former England team captain described the government’s plan to detain and deport

PARIS (AP) — France coach Corinne Diacre has been fired only four months before the Women’s World Cup. The French soccer federation’s executive committee made the decision after several players expressed their discontent with Diacre. The coach has said she is the victim of a smear campaign. France captain Wendie Renard last month said she

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer All Paris Saint-Germain can win this season is the French league title after being knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich. It was PSG’s fifth elimination from the last 16 in seven years. France striker Kylian Mbappé says this is the maximum PSG can achieve with its

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — Research by players’ union FIFPRO claims most players from last year’s World Cup do not want the tournament to be held again in November and December. The union cites the short preparation and recovery times for players from a World Cup squeezed into the middle of

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Josh Pastner is facing an uncertain future at Georgia Tech after another losing season and few signs of progress in the Atlantic Coast Conference program. The Yellow Jackets capped a 15-19 campaign with an 89-81 loss to Pittsburgh in the second round of the ACC Tournament

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer BRUSSELS (AP) — A senior legal adviser says UEFA rules on homegrown players are partially incompatible with the European Union’s free movement laws but they might be legitimate to develop and recruit youngsters. Advocate General Maciej Szpunar says UEFA-backed homegrown player quotas are “likely to create indirect discrimination” against

By TRISNADI and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court has jailed a soccer club organizer and its chief of security on charges of negligence leading to the deaths of 135 people when police fired tear gas in a stadium, setting off a panicked run for the exits. The disaster in

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fred VanVleet tried to take a double breath before addressing reporters. But the Toronto Raptors guard was unable to suppress his frustration with referee Ben Taylor and his crew. VanVleet was extremely critical of Taylor after the Raptors’ 108-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Warren Washington scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Arizona State slugged out a 63-57 win over Oregon State in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. Washington’s jump shot with 12:47 left broke a 36-all tie and started a 10-0 Sun Devils run and they rode that spurt to

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — J.T. Miller scored his second goal of the game 20 seconds into overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. Miller beat goalie Lukas Dostal with a high wrist shot. Miller also scored short-handed in the first period, Andrei Kuzmenko added a

TOKYO (AP) — Robbie Perkins hit one of Australia’s three homers to beat South Korea 8-7 on Thursday in Group B at the Tokyo Dome. It was both team’s first game in the group. In Taiwan in Group A, the Netherlands defeated Panama 3-1. It was the Netherlands second win in two days after beating

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — RaeQuan Battle scored 25 points and Montana State beat Northern Arizona 85-78 to clinch its second consecutive Big Sky Conference title and an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Jalen Cone converted a three-point play to cap a 12-6 spurt and pull the Lumberjacks within five points — as close