The United States Soccer Federation apologized Wednesday night for arguing in legal filings this week that “indisputable science” proved that the players on its World Cup-winning women’s national team were inferior to men. Facing on-field protests by the women’s players and withering criticism from major federation sponsors like Coca-Cola, U.S. Soccer’s president, Carlos Cordeiro, attempted […] More
The Champions League, the richest, grandest tournament in club soccer, is facing the prospect of being suspended after Real Madrid became the latest of Europe’s elite teams to go into quarantine because of fears of exposure to the coronavirus. Real Madrid confirmed in a statement on Thursday morning that one of its basketball players had […] More
A player for Juventus, the Italian soccer champion, has tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the club announced Wednesday, a worrisome development for a sport — and a country — struggling to contain the outbreak. The player, the 25-year-old defender Daniele Rugani, is believed to be the first athlete in […] More
LIVERPOOL, England — Anfield, for once, was hushed. It was a deflated silence, but it was also a reflective one, as if those in the stands — and possibly, for a moment, those on the field — were trying to process what had just happened, what it meant, and what that feeling was. Liverpool has […] More
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — The N.F.L. Players Association board of directors elected J.C. Tretter of the Cleveland Browns as the president of their union for the next two years. Tretter, now the highest-ranking player in the union, will replace Eric Winston, the former offensive lineman who held the job for six years but had to […] More
Sign up for Rory Smith’s weekly soccer newsletter at nytimes.com/rory. MANCHESTER, England — Every year, on the day of the Champions League final, European soccer’s governing body gathers a handful of coaches, former players and all-purpose grandees to reflect on that season’s competition: the patterns, the trends, the developments, the warning signs. This is UEFA’s […] More
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — With just days to go before N.F.L. players vote on a 10-year labor agreement, one of the most influential members of its union’s executive committee has accused the staff of the N.F.L. Players Association of negotiating the proposed deal in bad faith. Russell Okung, who has been vocal opponent of the […] More
HARRISON, N.J. — One goal separated the United States women’s soccer team and Spain on Sunday. The distance between the American players and the United States Soccer Federation, however, apparently remains incalculable. On the field, of course, neither the team nor the federation that employs it would dispute that their goals continue to align nicely. […] More
