FIFA reinstates Messi from his suspension
Argentina’s World Cup chances got a lift when captain Lionel Messi was cleared by FIFA on Friday to play in the next three Cup qualifiers after a ban for insulting a referee’s assistant was lifted.
Messi served one match of a four-match ban that was imposed in a ruling by the FIFA disciplinary committee hours before Argentina’s 2-0 loss in Bolivia in March.
“We are very happy that FIFA once again has credibility at (the Argentine Football Association) and that we can count on Leo Messi,” Claudio Tapia, head of the Argentine organization, wrote on his Instagram account.
FIFA said its appeal committee considered Messi’s behavior “reproachable” in verbally abusing a linesman late in a 1-0 win over Chile on March 23. But the panel concluded the “evidence available was not sufficient to establish ... the appropriate standard” required for the disciplinary committee to impose the suspension.
Chelsea’s path to the English Premier League title was made much easier when second-place Tottenham lost 1-0 at West Ham, ending the Spurs’ nine-match winning streak.
ELSEWHERE Manfred targets racist taunts
Days after a fan in Boston directed racial slurs at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones, Commissioner Rob Manfred said he is determined to “provide our players with an environment where they feel comfortable in every major-league stadium that they play.”
In Minneapolis, Manfred said MLB is surveying all 30 teams to see how they handle such situations “as a prelude to giving consideration to some more industrywide guidelines in this area.” He did not comment on specific changes or guidelines being considered.
Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez went on the disabled list for the first time in his 14-year career, with right elbow soreness . ... St. Louis placed outfielder Stephen Piscotty on the 10-day DL with a right hamstring strain suffered in Thursday’s game . ... Seattle will be without left-hander James Paxton for at least a couple of starts after he was placed on the 10-day DL with a forearm strain. Colleges: The University of Iowa will hire an outside firm to review its employment practices after a jury ruled that it discriminated and retaliated against a high-ranking gay female athletic administrator.
President Bruce Harreld said the review would begin with the athletics department, which was the subject of Jane Meyer’s threeweek trial. Jurors awarded Meyer $1.43 million Thursday for lost wages and emotional distress, agreeing that she faced discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.
The Cal men’s basketball team announced the signing of Deschon Winston, a 6-foot-2 point guard who averaged nearly 18 points a game last season for Birmingham High in Los Angeles. Horse racing: Abel Tasman rallied from last to win the Kentucky Oaks, giving trainer Bob Baffert a victory with his lone entry in the marquee races of Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The Kentucky Oaks is a $1 million race for 3-year-old fillies. Hockey: Former Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss made 42 saves for Germany in a 2-1 win over the U.S. in Cologne, Germany, on the opening day of the world championships.