NCAA back in court in amateurism case

The NCAA will be in court Tuesday in Oakland, defending its amateurism rules against plaintiffs who say capping compensation at the value of a scholarship violates antitrust law.

The claim against the NCAA and the 11 conferences that have participated at the highest level of college football originally was brought by former West Virginia football player Shawne Alston.

Plaintiffs say the NCAA illegally restricts schools from compensating football and basketball players beyond what is traditionally covered by a scholarship. The NCAA counters that altering amateurism rules would lead to pay-for-play, fundamentally damaging college sports and academic integration of athletes.

Soccer: Lionel Messi has failed to make the world player of the year short list for the first time since 2006, and Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah made their first appearance in the final three alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. Since 2008, Messi and Ronaldo have been the only winners of world soccer’s main individual award from FIFA.

Former Brazil forward Ronaldo has become the majority stakeholder in recently promoted Spanish club Valladolid. Ronaldo says he hopes his soccer expertise will help the club be successful.

Amir Bashti scored in the 88th minute to give the 10th-ranked Stanford men a 1-1 draw at Georgetown. Stanford is 0-0-3.

Swimming: World champion Madisyn Cox has been cleared to compete again after her two-year doping ban was cut to six months. The Court of Arbitration for Sport approved a settlement between the American and the International Swimming Federation because tests eventually showed a vitamin supplement was contaminated.