Lewandowski, Bronze win FIFA awards

GENEVA — Robert Lewandowski won the biggest individual prize of his career Thursday, showing that a forward not named Messi or Ronaldo can be voted the world’s best soccer player.

The Poland captain was named the FIFA Best Men’s Player for 2020 after his 55-goal season lifted Bayern Munich to a sweep of international and domestic trophies.

Lewandowski topped a threeplayer shortlist that included Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Voting was by a global jury of national team captains and coaches, plus selected journalists and fans. Lewandowski received 52 voting points, with Ronaldo second on 38 and Messi third with 35.

Though FIFA hosted the virtual ceremony in Zurich, its president Gianni Infantino went to Munich to present the trophy in person.

Lucy Bronze was voted the best women’s player to give England its first individual victory at the FIFA awards. A Champions League winner with Lyon, she has since joined Manchester City.

Bronze got 52 points from the women’s voting jury. Pernille Harder, who helped Wolfsburg to the Champions League final, finished second with 40 points and Bronze’s former Lyon teammate Wendi Renard scored 35 points.

OLYMPICS

GENEVA — Russia will not be able to use its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Lausanne-based court halved the four-year ban proposed last year by the World Anti-Doping Agency in a landmark case that accused Russia of state-ordered tampering of a testing laboratory database in Moscow. The ruling also blocked Russia from bidding to host major sporting events for two years.

Russian athletes and teams will still be allowed to compete at next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, as well as world championships including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, if they are not banned for or suspected of doping.

One win for Russia is the proposed team name at major events. The name “Russia” can be retained on uniforms if the words “Neutral Athlete” or equivalents like “Neutral Team” have equal prominence, the court said.

The burden of proof was also shifted away from Russian athletes and more toward WADA when their doping history is vetted for selection to the Olympics or other sporting events.

Russian athletes and teams can also retain the national flag colors of red, white and blue in their uniforms at major events.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

UCLA’s game against Stanford on Saturday will be its final football game of the season after the Bruins announced they would decline any bowl invitations.

Athletic director Martin Jarmond and coach Chip Kelly said in a statement that the decision was largely made by the players and supported by the administration.

CONWAY, S.C. — The Sun Belt Conference football championship game

Saturday between No. 9 Coastal Carolina and No. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette was canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test within the Coastal Carolina program.

An entire position group would have been unavailable to play because of contact tracing.

“We are very disappointed that the championship game cannot be played, but we are so proud of all of the players and staff members and their hard work during this truly challenging season,” Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill said in a statement. “We will honor both teams as 2020 Sun Belt Conference Co-Champions.”

INDYCAR

IndyCar made the first pandemic-related change to its 2021 schedule and moved the prestigious Grand Prix of Long Beach from April to September because of California restrictions.

Long Beach, second only to the Indianapolis 500 in prestige and popularity on the IndyCar calendar, was shifted to Sept. 26 and will now be the season finale.

NBA

The NBA coach’s challenge is back, and here to stay.

Following the recommendation from the league’s competition committee, the NBA’s board of governors voted to keep the challenge as an option for coaches going forward. It was introduced last year on a oneyear trial.

Also approved by the board of governors: a plan to give teams the ability to expand their active roster on game nights from 13 to 15 for this season — a move being made largely in response to the coronavirus pandemic and in anticipation of the likelihood that teams will be missing players from time to time.

Plus, the trade deadline is finally set for this season: It’ll be March 25, or about two weeks into the “second half” of the schedule.

NHL

WASHINGTON — Star goalie Henrik Lundqvist will sit out the upcoming NHL season because of a heart condition, announcing the news a little more than two months after joining the Washington Capitals.

Lundqvist posted a written statement and a videotaped one on social media, saying it was a “pretty tough and emotional day.”

He said he has been having various tests on his heart “for several weeks” and “unfortunately won’t be able to join the team this year.”