ALEX ANTETOKOUNMPO THOUGHT he'd had a good game. The senior forward for Dominican High School and youngest of the four basketball-playing Antetokounmpo brothers had posted 15 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists in a 20-point victory over Mequon Homestead High School on Dec. 7.

His older brother Giannis had other ideas. The NBA's reigning MVP was fresh off his own 27-point, 11-rebound, 4-assist game in a rout of the LA Clippers on his 25th birthday. He typically darts out of Alex's high school games quickly to avoid being hounded by fans, but after this performance, he stuck around to share some blunt feedback. Afterward, Alex fired off a text to his coach, Jim Gosz.

"You'll see a different Alex," it read.

In Giannis' eyes, Alex hadn't been good enough defensively that night, and he wasn't about to let his little brother slack off on that end of the court. Not when Alex has so much to live up to.

"I'll tell you one thing, it's hard to be Alex," Giannis said. "It's hard to have three brothers get drafted. He wants to get drafted, but he's got to get better every day. There's going to be down days, there's going to be hard days, it's going to be days that he doesn't have confidence, but that's where we step in and say, 'Hey, you're going to be good, keep working hard. Keep your head up. You're going to be really good.'"

Alex can't escape the watchful eye of his superstar brother, especially not when they share the same home. The two brothers live with their mother, Veronica, along with Giannis' girlfriend, Mariah Riddlesprigger, and the couple's newborn child, Liam Charles Antetokounmpo. The baby gets his middle name from Antetokounmpo's late father, Charles, who was instrumental in establishing the work ethic that drives the brothers today.

"He put in you that 'don't-give-a-f---' mentality," Giannis said. "I feel like the toughness, I've always had it, but that 'don't-give-a-f---' mentality whether I win, lose, play good or play bad, I just go out there and chase it. Like, what's the worst that can happen?"

For the brothers, success isn't measured in wins and losses, even though Giannis, Thanasis and Kostas play for the two winningest teams in the NBA this season. Living up to their father's legacy remains the primary goal. From the oldest brother, Francis, a retired soccer player who makes his home in Greece, to Alex, a high school senior in suburban Milwaukee with the bright basketball future, that means supporting and leading one another to greater success.

"It's the biggest thing that we've got to worry about," Alex said. "If we have one goal to fulfill in life, it's that."

MORE: Bucks keep making history, but do skeptics still have a case?

GIANNIS WAS FRUSTRATED. The Bucks had just lost in overtime to the Miami Heat in their home opener on Oct. 26. He'd fouled out on a questionable charge call in overtime. Giannis had forced the overtime session with a tip-in at the fourth-quarter buzzer, but after he fouled out, the Bucks struggled to score, missing all five of their shots from the field. Khris Middleton's potential tying shot with 0.7 of a second left clanked off the rim, and while the other Bucks who weren't in the game stood along the sideline to watch Goran Dragic make the game-sealing free throws, Giannis sat on the bench and stared up at the scoreboard.

In the locker room, Giannis sat in a daze, with his size-17 right foot planted in a big, blue ice bucket. Coming off his MVP season in 2018-19, Giannis had opened this year by fouling out in back-to-back games. While the other Bucks gave Giannis space after the loss, Thanasis rolled his chair over and consoled his brother in Greek. The two brothers and teammates conversing in their native language has become a common occurrence in the Bucks' locker room.

Middleton has been with Milwaukee since Giannis came into the league in 2013, but he said he's seeing a different side of the reigning MVP this season with his brother on the roster.

"You see them talking, joking and how they treat one another," he said. "You can just tell how they were raised to be tight and close-knit."

Thanasis, Giannis, Kostas and Alex were all born in Greece after Charles and Veronica emigrated from Nigeria when Charles' professional soccer career ended. Francis, the oldest Antetokounmpo brother, stayed behind in Lagos with his grandparents and eventually followed in his father's footsteps as a pro soccer player.

The four other brothers have found success in a different sport. But before they became NBA players, Thanasis and Giannis sold CDs, DVDs, glasses and watches on the street in Greece to help supplement the family's meager income. Charles worked as a handyman, and while life wasn't easy for the family, he always tried to set a positive example for his children.

"My dad didn't have nothing," Giannis said. "He didn't have a house. He didn't have a car. No, he didn't. Not one in his name. Obviously, we were living somewhere and we were driving a car, but it wasn't his, so, man, all he had was us. We basically are his legacy."

Nearly three years after Charles' death, the brothers do everything they can to live up to the example their father set for them. They're in contact every day thanks to a lively group chat where they give one another advice about basketball and life.

"I feel like we've all come in together after my father passed away," Kostas said. "Everybody is trying to help. Obviously, my older brother Thanasis and Giannis had the biggest role to do, to step in and help more with my mom, me and Alex. But I've seen growth in Alex, and they've seen growth in me just becoming our own men."

Sometimes that support means holding one another accountable when they're not living up to the high standard they've set for themselves. Giannis is the most accomplished, but that doesn't make him immune from being called out by his older brother.

After a disappointing Game 1 loss to the Boston Celtics in last season's Eastern Conference semifinals, Giannis got a call from Thanasis, who was in the midst of a championship EuroLeague run in Greece playing for Panathinaikos. Kostas sat next to Giannis as the brothers spoke for at least an hour and a half on speakerphone. The older brother urged Giannis to "be more aggressive."

"First of all, have fun," Thanasis told Giannis. "And just understand that there's no shortcuts to nothing."

"Yeah, man, you're right," Giannis responded.

The Bucks went on to beat the Celtics in five games.

"We always speak the truth," Thanasis said. "We always keep it honest. That's how we get better. That's the most important thing."

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NURSING A COMFORTABLE fourth-quarter edge against the New York Knicks at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 2, Thanasis nailed a 15-foot fadeaway and then flashed the family's famous mean mug to the sideline, which brought Giannis to his feet on the bench. Giannis had seen that face plenty of times before, playing one-on-one against Thanasis when they were growing up.

Neither brother will go into detail on who would win those games as kids, but Giannis says he took several aspects of the game from Thanasis -- including the mean mug -- and still holds him in high regard, even as he's become the MVP and Thanasis now plays the supporting role as his teammate.

"Since we were little, he always did that," Giannis said. "When we were little, he was playing way more than me so he was mean-mugging even more. I never got better than him."

"My dad didn't have nothing. He didn't have a house. He didn't have a car. No, he didn't. Not one in his name. ... all he had was us. We basically are his legacy."

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Thanasis will beg to differ.

"None of us will say we're better than each other because that's how we are and being modest and everything," Thanasis said. "But I feel like we really work hard."

They've made sure they instill that same work ethic in Alex. The family sees limitless potential in the youngest Antetokounmpo brother, who checks in at 6-foot-8 and 200 pounds at 18 years old. The older brothers do everything they can to make sure that potential doesn't go to waste.

"One thing about Giannis, there's no gray area with him," Gosz said. "He doesn't sugarcoat anything, even to Alex. He's very hard on Alex, especially when Alex is not playing up to his potential."

Sometimes Giannis will show up to Alex's practices unannounced, and he stays in contact with Gosz for updates. After a game last year, Giannis noticed that Alex wasn't sprinting back on defense after plays, so he had a solution.

"I took him to the [Bucks'] practice facility around like 1 a.m. where he probably ran for hours," Giannis said. "It's not about having a good game, it's about your effort. That's what I try to show my brothers, and that's what Thanasis tried to show us. So if your effort is not there, I'll go crazy."

Thanasis, Giannis and Kostas all showed up for Alex's senior night in February before All-Star Weekend in Chicago. Alex signed the back of Giannis' custom No. 24 hoodie as he flashed a big smile. The family then made the trip to the Windy City, where they enjoyed the weekend's festivities before Team Giannis dropped an intense battle to Team LeBron, 157-155.

"After the game, my brother [Kostas] came down, and he said this has been the most fun All-Star he's been a part of," Giannis said during his postgame media session, as his family waited in a back room at Chicago's United Center. "I asked him why, and he told me, 'Because you guys were really competitive. You guys were playing to win.'"

BEFORE THE LAKERS and Bucks faced off at Fiserv Forum on Dec. 19, Giannis, Thanasis and Kostas all met on the court during pregame warm-ups. It was a rare opportunity for the three brothers to be together during the regular season.

"This is unique, we can't take this for granted," Giannis told Kostas on the court before the game. "We were three brothers under the same roof, going through the same game, going through our pregame warm-up. We're blessed and we've got to keep working hard and keep being thankful and earn more on the court."

Once the final buzzer sounded after Milwaukee's 111-104 win, the brothers swapped jerseys on the court with huge smiles on their faces. Despite claiming the NBA's best record that night, Giannis didn't bask in glory.

Instead, he dressed quickly in the locker room and darted to the arena's kids' room for a private family reunion with his girlfriend, his mother and his brothers -- almost forgetting his media obligations. Giannis wouldn't reveal what the family talked about in private, but once he emerged to meet with the media, he spoke about his humble beginnings, saying that night, "At the end of the day, I realize and my family realizes that I'm not supposed to be here."

When the Bucks and Lakers meet again Friday in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. on ESPN and the ESPN App), the game will serve as far more than a potential NBA Finals preview. It'll be a reminder of all that these brothers have accomplished -- but it will be bittersweet without Charles there to see it.

"For some reason, I feel like he knew this was going to happen," Thanasis said of the family's NBA success. "I don't know how, but he just knew and he just always believed in his kids, and him and my mom always had hope. So my thing is that we are my father's legacy. Not what we do. We are the legacy, and Liam is Giannis' legacy, and then it goes on."

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been fined $500,000 for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating," the league office announced Friday.

The NBA also denied the Mavs' protest of their loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 22, after which Cuban confronted the referees on the court and criticized them on Twitter and while speaking to reporters.

The NBA said in a statement that Cuban's comments were "highly critical, personal and demeaning to the league and its officiating staff" and that he continued to publicly criticize the officiating over the following days.

"It is a recognized part of sports for fans and the media at times to criticize officiating, but team executives must be held to a higher standard," the NBA said. "A team owner's effort to influence refereeing decisions during and after a game creates the perception of an unfair competitive advantage and thereby undermines the integrity of the game.

"Demeaning league employees also creates an intimidating workplace environment. With an increased focus on respectful conduct by coaches, players and fans during games, the actions of team executives should set an example and not lower expectations for appropriate behavior in our arenas."

The league noted that Cuban's postgame confrontation with the referees marked the second time he had walked on to the court to challenge a call during the game.

Cuban has been a longtime critic of NBA officiating and its management -- accumulating more than $3 million in fines -- but this is the first time Cuban has been so public in his attacks of league management since he had to pay a $10 million donation to charity in 2018 after the unearthing of sexual misconduct within the Mavericks organization.

In the game against the Hawks, Cuban was irate that the officials counted a putback by Atlanta's John Collins with 8.4 seconds remaining following a goaltending call that was overturned upon replay review. The decision essentially sealed the Hawks' win over the Mavericks.

"Refs have bad games," Cuban tweeted. "Crews have bad games. But this isn't a single game issue. This is the same s--- that has been going on for 20 years. Hire former refs who think they know how to hire, train and manage. Realize 2 years later they can't. Repeat."

Commissioner Adam Silver determined there was no misapplication of playing rules on Collins' putback, which was the grounds of the Mavs' protest.

"The Replay Center Official correctly understood the rules to require that Collins' basket count if he was in the act of shooting when the goaltending call was made," the NBA said in the statement. "The Replay Center Official also correctly followed the established process of replay review.

"The league's investigation included an analysis of the game footage showing that the whistle began to sound one-fifteenth of a second before Collins gained possession of the ball. However, it is well-established by prior NBA protest decisions that a factual determination by game officials -- including replay officials -- that is shown in a post-game review to be incorrect is not a misapplication of the playing rules.

"While officials strive to get every call right, games cannot be replayed when, after the fact and free from the need to make rulings in real time, a different judgment about events on the playing floor can be made. For these reasons, Commissioner Silver found that the extraordinary remedy of granting a game protest and replaying the last portion of a completed game was not warranted."

The NBA statement listed several actions that the league has taken to "enhance its officiating program through improved management, training, transparency, and technology," noting that these steps were made in part due to input from team executives including Cuban.

"Officiating is one of the toughest jobs in sports," the final paragraph of the statement read. "While officials remain accountable for their on-court performance, maintaining competitive fairness and the integrity of the game is a fundamental obligation of the league office, team owners and personnel, and players.

ESPN NBA Senior Insider Adrian Wojnarowski contributed to this report.

Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will return from a leg injury that's sidelined him for nearly a year on March 15 against the Houston Rockets, he told Yahoo Sports on Friday.

Nurkic was in the midst of a career season when he suffered compound fractures to the tibia and fibula of his lower left leg in a game against the Brooklyn Nets in late March of last season.

The Blazers, who lost fellow big man Zach Collins to a shoulder injury early in the season, enter Friday 3.5 games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th seed in the Western Conference.

"I worked my a-- off to be in position to get back on the court and help my team, but game speed is going to be different," Nurkic told Yahoo Sports. "I'm not going to be playing 40 minutes. But for me, mentally, I need to get these reps in before I can play [extended minutes]. Physically, I'm good. I had a calf strain recently, which is normal for the injury I had. I've been pleased with where my rehab is going. I never doubted I'd be back, but I had to make sure I was 100 percent. I can't wait for [March 15]."

Nurkic averaged 15.4 points and 10.3 rebounds before the injury last season.

MARYVALE, Ariz. -- Making sure Christian Yelich was a Brewer for life, while allowing the team some payroll flexibility, were two factors in negotiations as Milwaukee officially announced its new nine-year deal for the former MVP on Friday.

The extension will almost assuredly keep Yelich, 28, from ever reaching free agency in his career.

"I made two decisions in my life that I felt were right at the time," Yelich said at a news conference Friday announcing the deal. "Chances are I'm probably never going to see free agency. That's just how my career went."

Previously, Yelich had signed a long-term extension with the Miami Marlins before being traded to Milwaukee prior to the 2018 season. With the Brewers, he won the NL MVP in 2018 and finished second in the 2019 voting, despite missing the final month of the season with an injury.

Yelich's new deal will encompass the final two seasons of his previous contract and tack on seven more seasons. The total package is for $215 million and includes a no-trade clause and no opt outs.

"This is what you call an 'opt-in,'" Yelich's agent Joe Longo quipped.

The structure of the deal includes $4 million a year in deferrals in the seasons where his contract is maxed out at $26 million. In other words, the Brewers will never pay more than $22 million to Yelich in a season, allowing them the flexibility to build around him. The deferrals begin the year after the contract runs out.

"That was part of our discussions, internally," Brewers general manager David Stearns said. "How can we make that happen? Knowing Christian is going to be here for the better part of a decade helps us plan and map out how we're going to remain competitive for that time period. That was a priority of Christian's."

In signing the deal, which averages just less than $24 million, its possible Yelich left some money on the table. Several other elite stars, including Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Nolan Arenado, have signed for more annually.

"This is the place I wanted to play and to be," Yelich said. "I realize I had three years before free agency, but above all else, I meant it when I said I wanted to finish my career as a Milwaukee Brewer. Not only that, but be part of winning teams as a Brewer."

The sides began talking last Halloween when Longo and owner Mark Attanasio met for lunch. Yelich even attended two face-to-face sessions, including one during spring training as the sides closed in on a deal.

"With today's agreement Christian has the opportunity to further cement his legacy as one of the best players in Milwaukee baseball history," Stearns said. "It's very rare a player and his team's identity become so intertwined in such a short period of time. It's happened here."

Said Yelich: "I'm really glad I'm able to spend the foreseeable future here. I've only been here for two years, but it feels like it's been a lot longer."

Yelich credited teammate Ryan Braun for providing advice and support during the process. Braun is beginning the final season of an extension he signed in 2011, also with years remaining on his deal at the time.

Braun attended the news conference along with teammate Lorenzo Cain and manager Craig Counsell.

Both sides admitted it was a complicated and complex negotiation.

"A transaction over $200 million in size, from the corporate world I come from, this would be considered fast," Attanasio joked.

Yelich will play in his first spring game on Friday after recovering from a fractured kneecap suffered in September.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Tim Tebow was reassigned to minor league camp by the New York Mets on Friday after going 1-for-8 in spring training with his first extra-base hit in four years.

The 32-year-old outfielder and former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback homered against Detroit's Alex Wilson on Feb. 25. He also had three walks.

Tebow has a .147 average (10-for-68) in four spring trainings with the Mets. After a three-year stint at quarterback in the NFL, he joined the Mets organization in late 2016. He hit .148 (4-for-27) with eight strikeouts during spring training in 2017, .056 (1-for-18) in 2018 and .267 (4-for-15) last year.

He batted .163 in 77 games last season at Triple-A Syracuse in his second straight injury-shortened season. He did not play after July 21 because he cut his left hand while fielding a ball in the outfield. Tebow hit .273 with six home runs, 14 doubles and 36 RBIs in 84 games for Double-A Binghamton in 2018, when his season ended July 18 because of a broken bone in his right hand.

New York also optioned left-handers Stephen Gonsalves and Thomas Szapucki to the minors along with right-handers Jordan Humphreys and Franklyn Kilome.

Right-handers Matt Blackham, Stephen Nogosek, Francisco Ríos and Nick Rumbelow were reassigned to minor league camp along with catchers Austin Bossart and David Rodríguez.

Daytona Int’l Speedway is set to host the 50th annual Daytona Supercross, with the milestone event scheduled for March 7 at the World Center of Racing.

The course for the Daytona Supercross, which is the longest continuous Supercross race in America dating back to 1971, was designed by five-time event winner Ricky Carmichael for the 13th consecutive year.

Carmichael’s course design features a nod to the history of the Daytona Supercross and includes elements from past Daytona courses such as the over-the-wall jump, the Daytona tunnel jump and grass as a fourth racing surface. The Daytona logo will also be displayed in the center of the extended course.

“It was really important to bring back some of these old-school elements to the 50th annual Daytona Supercross,” Carmichael said. “Think of all the years and talent that has come through Daytona and the Daytona Supercross; we had to bring something back that was going to be special.”

Carmichael calls it “an honor” to design the grueling and challenging course for the Daytona Supercross.

“Being a fourth -generation Floridian, it’s so special to me to be a part of Daytona Supercross,” Carmichael said. “(This event) it’s always been close to my heart. I love going there. The fans are epic. The event is epic. It’s where the strong survive and I can’t wait to watch these guys battle it out.”

The first Daytona Supercross in 1971 would almost be unrecognizable to modern-day fans.

The track that first year was constructed in the grassy infield area of the International Horseshoe and the kink of the infield section of the road course. Daytona’s races even predate the AMA Supercross Series and, in fact, the early races were called motocross and were part of the then prestigious Florida Winter-Am Series.

During the era before MX training facilities, many of the top pros readied for the upcoming season by participating in the Winter-Am Series. Gary Bailey was one of those riders. He and his brother had track building experience, having built temporary motocross courses at Southern California’s Ascot Park.

Bill France came to Bailey at one of the Winter-Am races and asked him and fellow racer Jimmy Weinert if they thought a temporary motocross track could be built at the speedway.

“Jimmy and I went down to look at it,” Bailey recalled. “I walked around with Bill the whole time, looking at how we might build the track and Jimmy just sat on the wall. So, Bill asked me if I’d be interested in building it and I said, ‘Sure.’ He never said anything to Jimmy and Jimmy never said anything to him, so I ended up being the guy.”

Bailey had a rough concept in his mind, but when he arrived on the dawn of Bike Week 1971, he didn’t realize how few resources he’d be given to put the track together.

“They told me whatever they had on the property I could use,” Bailey said. “I asked if I could bring dirt in and they said, ‘If you can find it here you can use it.’ I found some piles of lime rock that they used to prep their roads with. I asked them how we were going to get the lime rock over to where we were to build the track and they told me they had a little tractor with a bucket. I asked them how I was going to shape the jumps and they said, ‘Well, you can use the tractor, or we have a motor grader. We use it to flatten out our roads around here.’ I said, ‘A motor grader? How am I supposed to build jumps with that?’

“So we started building and I told them I couldn’t shape the jumps very well and they said, ‘Well, we’ve got plenty of workers around here who don’t do much this time of year, so if you need the manpower, we’ve got it.’ So next thing I know we’ve got six guys out there with shovels and rakes. It was crazy.”

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PLACERVILLE, Calif. – Fresh off of another Placerville Speedway championship in 2019, F&F Racing and driver Andy Forsberg will begin the season on Friday with several new marketing partners on board.

Adorning a new look, and a couple of notable new partners, the Sacramento, Calif., based has welcomed C&H Motor Parts out of Placerville, Calif., and Fresno, Calif., based Bushey Financial Services aboard for the year to come.

“Obliviously this sport we love is tough to make happen financially, so to have some great companies come forward and make it possible is very cool,” Forsberg said. “Everything helps in this sport, and the F&F guys work extremely hard to keep this deal going, so I am excited to welcome C&H Motor Parts, and Bushey Financial aboard.”

Located on historical Main Street in the heart of Placerville, Calif., C&H Motor Parts has been a community staple since 1971. C&H Motor Parts serves the community with all of their auto part needs, and continues to hang their hat on first class customer service.

Also joining the team is Bushey Financial Services. With the financial world often difficult to understand, Bushey Financial puts an emphasis on helping people understand today, and prepare for tomorrow with a wide array of financial services. The companies personalized services guarantee to focus on your needs, wants, and long-term goals.

F&F Racing and Forsberg will get their season started this weekend as they attack the national scene and battle the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series during the series’ rare visit to California.

Friday night the team will be in action at Merced Speedway, Saturday they attack Placerville Speedway, and they close out the three-race stint on Sunday at Petaluma Speedway.

“We are all excited the season is upon us,” Forsberg added. “Really looking forward to kicking things off with the ASCS Tour this weekend and seeing how we stack up.”

ORLANDO, Fla. – For the first time in a long time, Tommy Fleetwood won’t be hanging around for the weekend at a golf tournament.

The Englishman nearly earned his first career PGA Tour victory last week at the Honda Classic, finishing third after a final-hole bogey. But the form he flashed at PGA National was nowhere to be found this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he flamed out with consecutive rounds of 4-over 76.

At 8 over, Fleetwood will miss the cut for the first time in 48 worldwide starts, including 33 straight made cuts on the PGA Tour, which was the longest active streak entering the week. Fleetwood’s last missed cut came at the 2018 French Open, while his last early exit on the PGA Tour came at the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship.

“Just a bad week, really. It was going to happen eventually,” Fleetwood said. “I was just poor on most fronts this week. It’s disappointing. You could say after about 30 holes it didn’t really, you know, that was it then. And then you’ve sort of lost any kind of momentum.”

With Fleetwood’s cut streak coming to an end, the longest active streak on the PGA Tour now belongs to Collin Morikawa, who has made 20 straight cuts to begin his pro career. Morikawa shot a 2-under 70 in the opening round at Bay Hill.

When asked to identify what changed in the span of a week, Fleetwood pointed to “very poor” chipping, inconsistent putting and an inability to capitalize on the par-5s, which he played in 1 over. But overall, it was simply a bad week from a player who rarely experiences them.

“I made, what, two birdies? Two birdies and a lot of bogeys doesn’t really help,” he said. “I say if you’re going to do it, do it properly and be dreadful on all fronts.”

Fleetwood insisted that there was no emotional hangover from last week’s near-miss at Honda, and he said that controversial comments made by NBC golf analyst Paul Azinger about the pressure European players face to win on the PGA Tour “didn’t bother (him) in the slightest.” Instead he’s eager to start a new streak next week at TPC Sawgrass, where he has finished T-5 and T-7 the last two years.

“Every time you tee off as a professional golfer, whether people say it or not, your first prerogative is to make the cut. You can’t win if you don’t make the cut,” Fleetwood said. “It was a good run. If there was two or three wins and two or three missed cuts, that would probably be better. But all you can do is move on to next week now. I’ve missed a cut, so maybe now I can go to the other end of the spectrum next week and get a win.”

Eight footballers from Guinean second division side Etoile de Guinee were killed when their team bus crashed on its way to a league game on Thursday, a statement released by the Guinean Professional Football League (LGFP) seen by ESPN said.

Eight players plus the driver died in the accident on Thursday morning, with a statement from the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection acknowledging 19 injuries of which 17 were serious.

Despite originally being named among the nine deceased players, sources have informed ESPN that Almamy Keita, the cousin of Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita, is not among the dead and has been transported to hospital in Kipe outside the Guinean capital of Conakry.

The accident took place at Timbo, in the prefecture of Mamou, with the 27-man Etoile de Guinee delegation having travelled together approximately 250 kilometres from the capital on a 650 km journey towards Kankan for their league opener against Karifamoriah FC.

The statement from the ministry said that the bus collided with a tree after "skidding due to speeding."

The LGFP thanked national president Alpha Conde for "taking charge of the transporting of bodies and of the injured to Conkary," and also paid tribute to the regional and religious authorities of Mamou for their help.

Liverpool's Keita was one of several high-profile Guinean players to express sadness at the tragedy.

"My sincere condolences to the team Etoile de Guinee and to Guinean football," he wrote on Instagram. "May their spirits rest in peace. What sadness."

"All our condolences to the Etoile de Guinee club and to the families of players and supervisors," added Florentin Pogba, brother of Manchester United's Paul. "This tragedy is heavy."

This is the second such incident to affect Guinean football in the last three months, with Ligue 1 side Wakriya FC losing two players in an accident in December when their bus collided with a stationary lorry transporting wood which had broken down in the road at night time.

Chris Wood, Hampshire's left-arm seamer, has announced his retirement from red-ball cricket at the age of 29 to focus on prolonging his limited-overs career.

Wood has taken 105 wickets at 30.22 across a 43-match first-class career, but has regularly been dogged by injuries. He will represent Hampshire in the T20 Blast, and was a £40,000 signing for the Oval Invincibles in the Hundred draft.

"I've been desperate to play red-ball cricket," Wood said, "but in recent years every time I get up and running my body seems to hold me back, and this has been the case since having two knee operations over the last few seasons.

"When I play red-ball cricket, I feel I'm good enough to contribute to the team but my body just hasn't allowed me to bowl 30 to 40 overs each week and in consecutive games, so I've been mulling it over for some time and now feels like the right time to finally make this decision.

"Concentrating solely on white-ball cricket and trying to get the most of my career, playing the formats that I'm more comfortable with and have had more success in, feels like it makes sense and I'm looking forward to being able to focus all my training overs on improving my skills as a white-ball bowler, which will hopefully help me to continue contributing to the club's limited-overs success in the years to come."

Wood is Hampshire's all-time leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket, with 131, and was a key part of the club's limited-overs double in 2012, as well as their sustained period of T20 success from 2010-15. He had his first taste of franchise cricket earlier this winter, playing for Northern Warriors in the Abu Dhabi T10.