Spanish police raid soccer federation as part of probe into Barcelona's payments to referee official

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish police raided the offices of the country's soccer federation on Thursday as part of an investigation into the payment of millions of dollars over several years by Barcelona to a former vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee. The Guardia...

NBA hires former Obama counsel, Google exec Albert Sanders Jr. to head ref operations

The NBA has hired Albert Sanders Jr., a Google executive and former associate counsel to President Barack Obama, as its new head of referee operations. He will be an executive vice president, working with Monty McCutchen, the senior vice president for referee development and...

Winner of last month's $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot claims prize in Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The winner of last month's $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot — the third-largest in U.S. history — has come forward to claim the prize, officials said Wednesday. In all, Mega Millions has had five prizes of more than a billion dollars. ...

Winner comes forward in Florida to claim $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot from August, officials say

Pilots racing in WWII-era planes die in midair collision shortly after first-second finish in Reno

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Two veteran California pilots were killed over the weekend when their World War II-era planes collided in midair while preparing to land just after finishing first and second in a title race at the National Championship Air Races north of Reno. Officials...

World Cup referee Yoshimi Yamashita among first women match officials at Asian Cup

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Referee Yoshimi Yamashita will return to Qatar to make more soccer history at the men’s Asian Cup in January after she worked in the country last year at the men’s World Cup. Yamashita is among five female match officials, including two referees,...

For ACC and power conferences, off-site help on football replay reviews is now essential

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Video panels covered the wall with crisp HD images of Atlantic Coast Conference teams playing on the season's first full Saturday slate. Alberto Riveron watched intently, observing every detail possible as the league's new supervisor of football officials. ...

A Russian-appointed official says a key shipyard in Crimea is on fire after a Ukrainian attack and 24 people are injured

Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh may soon add another role to her resume: Olympic committee member

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Oscar-winning Michelle Yeoh was proposed Friday to be a member of the International Olympic Committee. Yeoh, who won an Academy Award for best actress this year for her performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” was among eight potential...

Serbia runs past Canada 95-86 and reaches the gold medal game at the Basketball World Cup

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — No Nikola Jokic, no problem. Even with its best player sitting out this summer, Serbia is going to play for gold at the Basketball World Cup. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 23 points and Serbia defeated Canada 95-86 in the World Cup semifinals on Friday. Ognjen...