EPL CLUBS REJECT POWER GRAB
A plan to transform English soccer engineered by Liverpool and Manchester United was rejected by Premier League rivals at a meeting on Wednesday.
Liverpool and United worked with the English Football League on a plan that would have provided more cash for the three professional divisions below the Premier League, but it was denounced by critics as a power grab by the wealthy elite to strengthen their control and split of television revenue.
The plan — known as Project Big Picture — was criticized by the government and Premier League leadership ahead of Wednesday's video call between clubs.
The Premier League said its 20 clubs “unanimously agreed that Project Big Picture will not be endorsed or pursued by the Premier League, or the FA.”
The governing body had threatened to block any changes it didn't approve using its “Special Share” in the Premier League that was created as a breakaway in 1992.
But public discord since EFL chairman Rick Parry made the secret plans public has spurred the Premier League into working on what it calls a “strategic plan for the future structures and financing of English football.”
More soccer
Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The club says the rest of the squad will go back into isolation. The Juventus players and staff were isolating at the club's hotel until last week after two staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
Teenager Caden Clark scored in the 77th minute in just his second MLS game, helping the New York Red Bulls to a 1-1 draw with MLSleading Toronto FC. Clark, 17, also scored in the Red Bulls' 1-0 win over the Atlanta United on Saturday night.
The match between the Chicago Fire and Minnesota United was postponed due to a suspected case of COVID-19 among the United club.
Boxing
Tyson Fury is turning his attention to an all-British heavyweight unification bout with Anthony Joshua early next year after ending plans for a third fight with Deontay Wilder.
Fury claimed the WBC belt from Wilder with a seventh-round stoppage in their rematch in Las Vegas in February and the British boxer's U.S. promoter, Bob Arum, was looking to stage a third fight between them in front of 15,000 spectators at the home of NFL team Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 19.
However, U.S. government restrictions on fans attending sports events and TV scheduling clashes with college football games has scrapped those plans, and Arum said Fury did not want a Wilder fight to be pushed back until the end of January or February.
Instead, Arum told The Associated Press, Fury is set to fight an as-yet-unnamed opponent back in Britain on Dec. 5 and then “wants to go right to a Joshua fight, which is his right.”
Sports and courts
Broncos running back Melvin Gordon III wasn't at practice Wednesday after being cited for driving under the inf luence and speeding by Denver police the night before.
Gordon was cited for traveling between 25 and 39 mph faster than the posted speed limit when he was pulled over Tuesday in downtown Denver, according to police records.
Gordon could face discipline from the NFL, including a suspension. Gordon is coming off his first 100-yard game for the Broncos after signing a two-year, $16 million free agent contract last offseason.
Also
Arnaud Demare earned his fourth stage victory at this year's Giro d'Italia by winning the 11th leg in another mass sprint, and Joao Almeida held onto the overall leader's pink jersey.
Demare edged Peter Sagan and Alvaro Hodeg at the end of the mostly f lat 182-kilometer (113-mile) leg from Porto Sant'Elpidio to Rimini along the Adriatic coast.
The Dallas Wings of the WNBA fired coach Brian Agler. Agler, who had one year left on his contract, came to the Wings in 2018 and led the team to an 8-14 mark this past season.