Sports

PARIS (AP) — France captain Wendie Renard has announced she will skip the Women’s World Cup this year. Renard says she’s unhappy with the team’s set up and needs to protect her mental health. Renard is arguably France’s greatest women’s footballer. She has played 142 times for France and added 34 goals. She stopped short of

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami’s women’s basketball program has been placed on probation for one year. The school and the NCAA say coaches inadvertently helped arrange impermissible contact between a booster and two players before they signed with the Hurricanes. Coach Katie Meier will not miss any more

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young says he has “nothing but love and respect” for former Atlanta Hawks coach Nate McMillan and expects to have no input in the hiring of McMillan’s replacement. Young spoke with reporters for the first time since McMillan was fired on Tuesday with the Hawks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek has stayed undefeated against Coco Gauff after beating the American teenager 6-4, 6-2 to reach the final at the Dubai Championships. The three-time Grand Slam champion improved to 6-0 against the 18-year-old Gauff and each victory has been in straight sets. The Pole beat Gauff in

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer USA Basketball put together different rosters for all six World Cup qualifying windows, and coach Jim Boylen noticed the same two things with each of those groups. One, every player beamed when putting on the “USA” jersey for picture day. Two, by the third or fourth day of practice,

NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — Newcastle forward Miguel Almiron has signed a 3 1/2-year contact extension with the Premier League club. The Paraguay international is Newcastle’s top scorer this season with 10 goals — the first time he’s hit double digits since joining from MLS club Atlanta United in January 2019. The 29-year-old Almiron recently made

NEWCASTLE, England (AP) — Loris Karius could soon be back in the spotlight. The Newcastle goalkeeper is in line to play Sunday against Manchester United in the English League Cup final at Wembley. It’s been nearly five years since his last appearance for an English club. The German’s gaffes, which were later shown to be

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer Yankees All-Star catcher Jose Trevino is among big league catchers staunchly against introducing robo umps at the major league level. Trevino says Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t have “any idea what’s going on whenever he talks about that kind of stuff.” Manfred cautions the that Automated Ball-Strike System is still

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA has opened an inquiry after a fan in Eindhoven ran onto the field and punched Sevilla’s goalkeeper during a Europa League match. Marko Dmitrović wrestled the fan to the ground after being attacked late in Thursday’s match against PSV Eindhoven. Players from both teams surrounded the fan who was led

SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) — Max Verstappen is displaying his speed in Formula One testing while Mercedes and McLaren struggle. The defending champion wasn’t quite the fastest on the second day of preseason testing but he was only .04 seconds behind Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu and he looked consistent on longer runs simulating a race

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona’s risky financial decision last year to trade future revenues for much-needed cash to rebuild its squad is so far paying dividends in Spanish competitions. But it’s a different story on the wider European stage whether in the elite Champions League or the second-tier Europa League.

By AL LESAR Associated Press KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zia Cooke scored 19 points and Kierra Fletcher had 15 as undefeated No. 1 South Carolina spoiled Tennessee’s pack-the-paint strategy in a 73-60 victory. The Gamecocks improved to 28-0 overall and clinched at least a tie for the regular-season Southeastern Conference title. The Lady Volunteers jammed

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The Russian anti-doping agency has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the case of Kamila Valieva. The court says the agency asked for the teenage figure skater to be punished with as little as a reprimand for a failed doping test and keep a team gold medal from

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Draws for the round of 16 in the Europa League and Europa Conference League.

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Manchester United has been paired with Real Betis in the round of 16 of the Europa League. That gives the 2017 champions another Spanish opponent after eliminating Barcelona. Man United will host the first leg at Old Trafford on March 9. Shakhtar Donetsk is the last Ukrainian team left in this

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has signed a contract extension to stay with the Premier League club through June 2027. The 28-year-old Pickford joined Everton from Sunderland in the summer of 2017 and has since developed into England’s top-choice goalkeeper. The 4 1/2-year deal would take Pickford to a decade at the