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Brazil youth star after racist abuse: Hurts the soul
The Brazilian football federation (CBF) said they will file a complaint with South America's governing body CONMEBOL after Palmeiras under-20 player Luighi faced racial abuse while playing against Cerro Porteno U20s in Paraguay on Thursday.
Luighi complained to the referee shortly after cameras showed a man in the stands making monkey gestures towards the visiting players at the CONMEBOL Libertadores U20 match, which Palmeiras won 3-0.
The 18-year-old striker, who played for Brazil's U17 team at the 2023 age-group World Cup, was substituted soon after and was seen in tears at the bench.
"It hurts the soul. And it is the same pain that all black people have felt throughout history, because things evolve, but they are never 100% resolved," Luighi later wrote on Instagram.
"Today's episode leaves scars and needs to be seen for what it really is: A crime. Until when? That is the question I hope we won't have to ask at some point. For now, we keep fighting."
The CBF posted on X saying they had called in their legal department to make a representation to CONMEBOL demanding strict punishment for the offence.
"It is shocking to see scenes like these. Racism is a criminal offence and must be combated by everyone. I know how much pain Luighi has suffered. Enough of racists in football," CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement.
Luighi was promoted to Palmeiras' first team in June 2024 and has made nine league appearances for the senior side, scoring once.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has described Saturday's clash with Southampton as the "first of three finals" his team will play in the coming week.
Liverpool will host Ivan Jurić 's side in the Premier League this weekend before welcoming Paris Saint-Germain to Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday night, having beaten the French champions 1-0 in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie.
Slot's side will then travel to Wembley on March 16 where they will take on Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final. Liverpool are 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League while Southampton are bottom of the table after picking up just nine points from their 27 league games this term.
However, Slot has stressed the importance of both his players and the fans being at their very best on Saturday afternoon.
"My full focus is now on Southampton," he told a news conference on Friday. "It is the first of three finals to play in the upcoming week. For me, the Southampton game is by far the most important of the week, not only because it is the first one we play but because it is a very important game for us."
He added: "It is a week to look forward to for every Liverpool fan. We know the final is there and everyone is already talking to me about how the atmosphere will be on a Champions League night, but I truly hope our fans will be at their loudest tomorrow, not in the final or against PSG, but tomorrow.
"I have to convince my players we play three finals, and I hope that I influence our fans a bit as well, so they understand how important they are going to be tomorrow. I hope they don't come in five minutes before the kick-off.
"I hope the stadium is completely filled half an hour before kick-off and the players get their reward for their performance in Paris, for working so hard. The fans have great songs [for the players]. They are really creative, so let's hear them tomorrow."
Liverpool must wait to discover whether forward Cody Gakpo is fit to face Southampton after the Netherlands international missed Wednesday's clash at the Parc des Princes through injury.
"He didn't train yesterday so let's see if he can train today," Slot said. "It's a close call. It's not a long-term injury but he still had a bit of pain yesterday so let's see how he is today."
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has described Guglielmo Vicario as "one of the purest human beings I've ever come across" following an altercation with fans at full-time of Thursday's Europa League defeat at AZ Alkmaar.
Spurs were beaten 1-0 in their round-of-16, first leg clash due to a Lucas Bergvall own goal and Vicario, who made a string of fine saves during the game, appeared to gesture to the travelling supporters to show greater backing for their team.
That triggered an angry reaction from some fans and Vicario, 28, subsequently told reporters that "I can assume the disappointment [was] for the night because we didn't play our football."
Speaking at Tottenham's training base on Friday, Postecoglou told a news conference: "Vic is very, very passionate about this football club. He is very passionate about what we are trying to do here.
"He wants to win, he wants everyone on board with that. If people think there is one bad or vindicative bone in Vicario's make-up, they don't know the man that I do. The guy is one of the purest human beings I've ever come across.
"Whatever he does he thinks is best for the team, best for the football club because he really cares."
Spurs face Bournemouth on Sunday before the return game against AZ on Thursday. Losing in the Europa League would mean another trophyless season for Tottenham, who currently sit 13th in the Premier League table.
Patterson repels Morris to give New South Wales vital lead
New South Wales 258 for 8 (Patterson 86, Morris 4-25) lead Western Australia 196 by 62 runs
After 13 wickets fell on the opening day, the match appeared to be moving at warp speed in echoes of last month's remarkable WA-South Australia clash at the WACA - the shortest outright result in Shield history.
NSW teetered at 26 for 4 in reply to WA's first innings of 196 before No. 3 Patterson, who was dropped twice, rescued the innings with unwavering powers of concentration to make 86 from 262 balls. He survived an onslaught late on the opening day before defying WA's strong attack until he finally fell to Morris in the final hour of play.
Patterson departed short of a deserved century, but continued his outstanding Shield season where he has now tallied 697 runs at 69.70. Patterson had an intriguing battle with Morris, who straddled sharp pace and control to good effect and finished with 4 for 25 from 18 overs.
Morris, playing a rare back-to-back Shield match, does have a restriction of around 30 overs per game coming off a stress fracture last winter as well as a quad strain late in the pre-season. "I think I'm going to be a little bit restricted [bowling for the rest of NSW's first innings], need to keep a few [overs] up the sleeve if we want to try and chase a result," Morris said after play.
Just 0.24 points separated second-placed NSW and WA before this round began with a victory for either team putting them in pole position to reach the final.
Resuming at 17 for 3, NSW were initially in a battle for survival on day two but WA were left to rue an early chance off Patterson when Sam Fanning dropped a tough catch at short leg.
Nighwatchman Liam Hatcher, the second used in the innings, succumbed quickly when he was late on a short delivery and miscued to quick Cameron Gannon, who dived forward to take a sharp return catch in his follow through.
Having claimed two wickets during a fiery spell late on the first evening, Morris bowled angrily after the earlier missed chance off his bowling. He consistently bowled around 140kph and bent his back to ensure the ball sizzled past the helmets.
Matthew Gilkes unwisely took his eyes off the ball on one particularly fierce short delivery from Morris and copped a blow to the grill. He was shaken but stuck it out and provided good support for Patterson, who dropped anchor and scored just eight runs off his first 50 deliveries.
After such a torrid time against pace bowling, his eyes lit up when offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli came into the attack and he swept superbly to finally get the WACA's legendary scoreboard ticking over.
But Patterson had more fortune on 27 when Fanning dropped another tough chance at short leg much to the despair of Rocchiccioli, who occasionally produced sharp bounce and turn.
Patterson and Gilkes batted cautiously after the resumption knowing that wickets fell in clumps at the same stage on the previous day. The surface appeared to be flattening and an increasingly confident Patterson started to trust driving as he reached his half-century off his 156th delivery with a lovely stroke through the covers.
The milestone - rare in recent times at the WACA - received strong applause from his team-mates in the terraces, notably Sam Konstas who earlier in the day's play had been mobbed by kids desperate for selfies.
WA looked out of answers until the 93-run partnership - lasting over 41 overs - was broken seemingly out of nowhere. Gilkes, who earlier had almost been run out, turned slowly on the second run and was short of his ground after a brilliant throw from Jayden Goodwin at fine leg was collected at the stumps by wicketkeeper Joel Curtis.
Philippe's run-a-ball 26 ended when the towering Gannon showcased his athleticism with his latest brilliant catch at gully. But WA's bid to wrap up the innings was thwarted by Edwards as NSW batted through the day's play against the odds.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
Kate Cross: Cultural change required as England women seek to rise from Ashes
"There's areas that we probably know we need to address from cricket points of view, but also from probably cultural points of view as well," Cross said. "This review, I don't know what's going to come of it, but I'm hoping that these are the things that will get addressed, and pave the way for the next generation to want to play for England."
"Ultimately I feel like we might've lost a few fans in the last couple of months, which is really sad from our point of view," Cross added. "I think the 2023 Ashes was how good it can be and the 2025 Ashes how bad it can be."
Cross brought a unique perspective to her evaluation of the tour, having travelled with a bulging disc in her back, which ultimately kept her sidelined throughout despite repeated attempts to prove her fitness to play.
"It was unprecedented how poorly we performed over there, I don't think anyone probably anticipated the Ashes turning out the way it did, and obviously there was a huge disappointment that came with that," Cross said.
"As a group of players now, we don't know what's going to come of this review that's happening at the moment, but I think it motivates you to be a better group of players and a better, I guess, version of yourself."
"My reflections on my trip were quite unusual. I didn't get to play a game of cricket, but as a 33-year-old getting ruled out of an Ashes series was devastating. So I feel like it's made me really think about how I want to manage my career now moving forwards and, with the new structure of the tiers in the counties, I'm hoping that I'll be so well supported with that, that that wasn't my last Ashes hopefully.
"Ultimately as players, we still want to try and get young girls interested in the game and us losing quite drastically isn't going to do that. So we're going to have to have a real look at how we want to portray ourselves as a team moving forward and try and get a bit of love back from our fans because we, or certainly I, felt that we kind of lost a lot of that from our Ashes series, so hopefully we can move in the right direction now."
Cross was speaking at the launch of the Professional Cricketers' Association Women's Impact Report, highlighting advances made in the game since 2020. That progress includes equal domestic minimum salaries of 28,000 for men and women from this season, where women's teams have been aligned with the men's in a three-tiered county-based structure.
But more work remains to be done, including addressing the salary gap between genders in the Hundred, which widened rather than closed this year. While the leading earners in the men's competition will earn 200,000, an increase of 60%, the top earners in the women's game will earn 65,000, up 30%. The base salary for men went up by 1,000 on last year to 31,000 compared to the women, who went from 8,000 to 10,000.
"I would hope to see that it happens quite quickly, especially with how vocal the players were about the pay gap getting bigger," Cross said. "It was obviously a disappointment, but I'm always of the bigger picture, that the Hundred has done a lot for the women's game. It continues to do that. It puts us in a spotlight that we've never had before in the domestic game.
"So as disappointing as those headlines are, there's still a lot of great stuff and there's a lot more money coming into the game now and hopefully that'll get pushed in the right direction and the gender play gap will continue to get smaller rather than get bigger."
A PCA working group will lobby the ECB on various aspects of the Hundred, which will receive a huge injection of funds through private investment from next season.
Daryl Mitchell, PCA chief executive, said: "From our side, I think particularly the announcement of the salaries took us a little bit by surprise this time around, I think the communication needs to improve, particularly in that sort of announcement. What we were shown in October actually, at the players' summit, was very different in terms of salary bands to what was actually produced and put out publicly.
"There's been some pretty robust discussions about that process, it's fair to say, over the last couple of months. The ECB have stated it was an interim year with the sale of the Hundred franchises with a view to increase the salaries across the board next year. There's a lot of things to work through."
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women's cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
Liam Guthrie signs three-year Northamptonshire contract
His arrival follows that of new head coach, Darren Lehmann, who described Guthrie as a "genuine pace" option who can swing the ball. The pair worked together previously during Lehmann's time coaching Queensland and Brisbane Heat.
"I'm truly excited about the opportunity to play for Northamptonshire." Guthrie said. "Competing in the UK has always been a goal of mine, and I am eager to embark on this new chapter.
"I'm looking forward to reconnecting with Darren Lehmann, whose influence on my cricket has been significant since our time working together in Queensland."
Guthrie, 27, made his first-class debut for Western Australia in 2018 but struggled for regular opportunities. He made his Big Bash League debut for Brisbane Heat in 2021, subsequently winning a state contract with Queensland.
In 18 first-class matches, he has taken 50 wickets at 37.82, to go with 27 at 27.62 in List A cricket and six at 34.00 in T20s.
Lehmann said: "We're really excited about Liam joining us as a local player for the next three years. He brings left arm swing, genuine pace and having worked with him at Brisbane Heat and Queensland, his attitude is excellent and he has real wicket-taking abilities.
"He'll fit right in with the group who I've thoroughly enjoyed working with so far."
Will Smeed signs new deal to play red-ball cricket for Somerset
It was viewed as a groundbreaking move, indicative of the growing divide between limited-overs and first-class cricket. While many players have taken up white-ball contracts, often while simultaneously retiring from red-ball, none had done so at such a young age.
However, after a hamstring injury ruled him out of last summer's Hundred, Smeed found playing time for Somerset in the Second XI County Championship, which prompted a rethink.
"I'm desperate to play more cricket than I did last summer," Smeed said. "I picked up an injury last summer and it felt like I hadn't really played any cricket. I played a few second XI red-ball games towards the end of last year and really enjoyed it. That's when I started to think that this would be a good option.
"Watching how the team went about things in the Championship last year was great and some of the wins were absolutely insane. It would be crazy to not want to be a part of that team."
Smeed, who scored a red-ball hundred for the second XI when he was just 16, has played almost exclusively T20 cricket in his career to date, with his one List A appearance coming for England Lions. In 2022, he became the first player to score a century in the Hundred, and was soon in demand on the franchise circuit, playing in the CPL, PSL and SA20.
Somerset director of cricket, Andy Hurry said: "We all know Will has a huge amount of potential, and his return to multi-day cricket will certainly add depth to our County Championship batting options.
"When he initially signed a white-ball contract, he always made it clear that the door was not closed to the red-ball game, and I know our members and supporters will be excited by the prospect of him now being available to be considered for selection in all formats for the club that he loves."
U.S. offers $10M for arrest of former Olympian
LOS ANGELES -- There's a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a former Olympic snowboarder for Canada who is wanted for allegedly running a multinational drug trafficking network and orchestrating multiple murders related to the drug ring.
The FBI added 43-year-old Ryan Wedding to its 10 Most Wanted list Thursday, while also announcing the U.S. State Department's $10 million offer.
"Wedding went from shredding powder on the slopes at the Olympics to distributing powder cocaine on the streets of U.S. cities and in his native Canada," said Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office. "The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man."
Among his aliases, according to the FBI, are "El Jefe," "Public Enemy" and "James Conrad King."
Wedding was charged in June with murder and drug crimes. Those charges were augmented in September in an indictment that alleged Wedding and others arranged the shipment of some 60 tons of cocaine a year using long-haul semitrucks to move the drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada.
In announcing the indictment in October, the FBI said a dozen people had been arrested in connection with the case.
U.S. authorities allege the group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in what officials there said was a case of mistaken identity, as well as two other people, according to officials and federal court filings.
Wedding finished 24th in parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Olympics.
'I texted him right away and said, "Are you crazy?"': Why Terry Francona and Bruce Bochy ditched retirement to manage again
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Alyssa Francona had several missed calls from her dad. Then her sister texted her.
"Dad's trying to get in touch with you," the message read. "Be supportive. He's really excited."
Alyssa -- the eldest daughter of longtime MLB manager Terry Francona -- wasn't sure what to make of that. Her dad was happily retired and feeling healthy for the first time in years. He was traveling more, his golf game was improving and by all accounts, his time with family and friends was fulfilling.
If Francona, 65, was itching to manage again, he wasn't showing it.
Not surprisingly, his daughters were happy that Francona seemed done with the grind of the game, but they knew their dad better than anyone: He loved being in the dugout and in the clubhouse. And there is "nothing like that ninth inning," Francona would later say.
Alyssa called her sister Leah before calling her dad back.
"She said the Cincinnati guys were out there talking to him," Alyssa recalled recently. "Don't burst his bubble."
KIM BOCHY HAD a similar experience in 2022.
The wife of manager Bruce Bochy was looking forward to her husband's retirement. Bochy, 69, quit baseball after the 2019 season, but the two hadn't fully enjoyed their newfound freedom yet as the COVID-19 pandemic soon shut the world down, and, like Francona, Bochy had various health issues to address. Just as the two were beginning to enjoy the fruits of a lifetime in the game, new Texas Rangers GM Chris Young came calling.
"Once CY came to visit -- once he walked through the door -- I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' I think this is not going to be good," Kim Bochy recalled. "In my perspective, I was very, very content and very happy being done. He was too. I tried to talk him out of it, I did my best to talk him out of taking the job.
"Why do you want to go back? You've won three World Series, you've done everything in this game. Why do you want to go back? And he said, 'I want to win another World Series.'"
Kim eventually came around to the idea of her husband's return and it didn't take long for Bochy to accomplish that goal, leading the Rangers to their first title in 2023. Now Francona has the same desire to restore glory to a franchise as the new manager of the Cincinnati Reds. When Francona left the Cleveland Guardians dugout after the 2023 season, he swore he was done. Baseball disagreed.
"I wasn't planning on coming back," he told ESPN. "I really wasn't."
BY THE TIME Francona left Cleveland, after 10 years, his body was breaking down. Ask him what ailed him the most, and he shakes his head.
"That's the problem, there were about 12 things," Francona said with a smile from his office in spring training. "I got both knees, both hips, my right shoulder. About a week after the season in Cleveland, I had my shoulder replaced and I had three hernias.
"I'm on blood thinners because of the blood clots. So when we fly, f---, my right leg, we take off, my pants fit. When we land, my pants don't fit."
Those issues finally caught up with him. He felt he was relying too much on his coaches and wasn't fulfilling his No.1 rule -- one that possibly impacted his health.
"I think if you're managing correctly, you're putting the players and the organization first and you're putting yourself like a distant last," Francona said. "I needed to be away. When you know you need to be away, you're probably late."
Francona's short retirement consisted of time with his grandkids, golf trips to Mexico, a vacation to Hawaii and taking in some college football.
"I wasn't married to my phone anymore," Francona said. "My biggest decision was should I get another cup of coffee?"
He even offered to watch the grandkids while his daughters vacationed in Europe last summer.
"I almost came back then," Francona quipped.
Watching a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old might have been more taxing than managing, according to his daughter. Shortly after arriving in Europe, Alyssa texted one of the kids, asking what grandpa was doing.
"She's like, 'Grandpa needed a rest day,'" Alyssa said with a laugh. "He's taking a day off and we're like 48 hours into what is a 10-day trip!"
Francona told that story at baseball's winter meetings in December, not long after taking the job in Cincinnati. The Reds had flown down to Tucson to see him about their opening after the team had let David Bell go near the end of the season. Francona was "enjoying some beers" at a football game when he got the call that Cincinnati was interested -- former broadcaster Marty Brennaman first broached it to him -- and soon after, Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall and GM Brad Meador were at his house. A day later, owner Bob Castellini was there, as well.
"I'm sitting in my rocking chair talking to them and I caught myself really early a couple times," Francona recalled. "I said, 'we' could do this or 'we' could do that. I'm like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down.'"
But he wasn't premature. The job was his if he wanted it -- and on Oct. 4, he accepted it. After four years in the Philadelphia Phillies dugout, eight more in Boston and 10 in Cleveland followed by a one-year sabbatical, Terry "Tito" Francona was back. The news came unexpectedly even to his own family.
"We were making jokes about his golf score," Alyssa said. "If he started shooting over 80 that he may take a job, but from all accounts he was shooting well on the course too. It was a little surprising."
MANY OF FRANCONA'S contemporaries, starting with Bochy, were less surprised. Even after accomplishing his goal of winning another World Series after returning, Bochy is still going, with his 70th birthday coming early in the 2025 season.
"I just went through it," he said. "I know the feeling. You get out. You miss it. You think 'Gosh, I got out too early.' All those thoughts go through your head. You just miss what you love to do."
Like Francona, Bochy didn't seek out a job as much as it sought him out. It's why his wife knew there was trouble brewing once Chris Young walked through that door. A team needs you. It's hard to turn away from that.
"I'm so glad he's back, nor did it surprise me when Bochy came back," Colorado Rockies skipper Bud Black said. "Don't ask me why. I just know those guys and I knew they weren't done."
Black, 67, has been the manager in Colorado since 2017. The Rockies haven't sniffed the postseason since 2018, losing more than 100 games in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024. He has been given little to work with, yet he keeps coming back for more.
"It's not just one thing, it's all of it," Black said. "It's the passion for the game. I don't think it ever leaves you. When you have the desire to stay in it, to stay in the fight, it feels good."
Several managers ESPN spoke with echoed Black's comments. Even those who were a little surprised at Francona's unretirement understand what drives him -- what keeps men who don't need the money or glory from stepping away for good.
"I texted him right away and said, 'Are you crazy?'" San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin said. "But there are guys that are just baseball guys. It's in their blood. It's what they have to do. He's one of them.
"He's a legend."
Melvin is looking forward to exchanging lineup cards before Francona's first regular-season game back in the dugout later this month as the Reds will host the Giants on Opening Day. Ahead of the matchup featuring two managers in their 60s, Melvin, 63, was asked why teams are turning back to some of the older guard to lead their clubs after a period when younger skippers were en vogue across the sport.
"Because of the success," Melvin said, citing Dusty Baker and Bochy both winning World Series titles this decade. "Any time there is success, there's a wave that goes in that direction."
Francona is hoping to get caught up in that wave. He has a young, ultratalented team that seemingly underachieved last season when it won just 77 games and finished in fourth place in the NL Central.
Infielder Jeimer Candelario is among the players at Reds camp who think their new manager will provide just what the team needs to change that in the season ahead.
"Leadership," Candelario said. "I think he's a Hall of Famer. He's done this for a long time. When he was named manager, he came to the Dominican Republic to see the guys. That was different. The way I see him is with a lot of respect because we know he's a leader."
After replacing retirement vacations with introductory trips to meet his new players, Francona admits he wasn't sure how he would have filled his free time if he hadn't come back. There's only so much golf and traveling a person can do. Besides, managing is about the only thing he knows.
"Other than taking a real estate course for two weeks, this is all I've ever f---ing done," Francona said. "I'm comfortable here."
Jabeur wants to 'use platform' to change women's lives
As Ons Jabeur continues her quest for further sporting success, there's more on the Tunisian star's mind than just tennis.
Her appointment in 2024 as an ambassador for the World Food Programme (WFP) has given the three-time Grand Slam finalist a chance "to do some good", particularly in the empowerment of women.
"I wanted to be able to use my platform and represent the woman I am and where I come from, to try to make a change in the world," Jabeur told BBC Sport Africa before International Women's Day, which is on Saturday.
While highlighting global food insecurity is part of her work with the WFP, the 30-year-old says the focus on women is also key.
"People think it [the WFP] is only related to food, but it's also education and helping women.
"When you help women, they get the opportunity to work and provide for the whole family, and that's really important."
One of Jabeur's first assignments was attending projects in Cairo where she saw first-hand how women were trying to improve their lives.
"I was preparing bread with one of the women and you have no idea the big heart that they have," she said.
"She almost gave me everything that she made, and I was like, 'No, please, you keep it. You have to sell it!'
"Even though they don't have enough, they were very generous and that is what everyone should stand for."
Education in vulnerable areas is another important issue for Jabeur.
"A woman went to school at a late age. I told her she was very courageous and very proud that she's going with her kid to school, because she never had education before. That was really a great example," said Jabeur.
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