TRUMP CALLS FOR 2026 WORLD CUP IN NORTH AMERICA

WASHINGTON» President Donald Trump on Monday called on African countries to get behind the joint North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup.

Trump made the appeal during a Rose Garden press conference Monday with President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. The U.S. is joining with Canada and Mexico in the bid for the quadrennial soccer tournament.

The African country Morocco is also bidding to host the 2026 event.

“I hope all African countries and countries throughout the world, that we also will be supporting you and that they will, likewise, support us in our bid, along with Canada and Mexico, for the 2026 World Cup,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments came in the context of highlighting American assistance to Nigeria and follow a veiled threat to withhold U.S. support from countries opposing the North American effort.

‘’It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid,” Trump tweeted Thursday.

Roulier-Huth named Bears women’s basketball coach.

Northern Colorado turned to a native Coloradan for its next women’s head basketball coach.

Former Cherry Creek High School and Colorado Buffaloes star Jennifer Roulier-Huth was announced on Monday as the Bears coach. She replaces Kamie Ethridge, who was hired by Washington State in April after leading UNC to an 83-44 record over the last four years.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to come back to my home state,” Roulier-Huth said in a news release. “I’m excited for the chance to build on an already great program and look forward to getting to work at this great institution.”

Roulier-Huth served as an assistant at UCLA for the past seven seasons. She takes over a UNC team that finished 26-7 last year to earn its firstever NCAA Tournament bid.

Maple Leafs’ Lamoriello will not return as GM.

TORONTO» Maple Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello will not return to the role next season.

Team President Brendan Shanahan said Monday he was sticking to a plan that called for the 75-year-old Lamoriello to serve as GM for three years and then transition to senior adviser for four years.

The Maple Leafs set franchise records for points (105) and wins (49) in the regular season, but were eliminated in seven games by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs last week.

Carolina terminates Francis’ contract.

N.C.» The Hurricanes RALEIGH, terminated the contract of demoted general manager and Hall of Fame player Ron Francis on Monday.

The Hurricanes announced the move in a three-sentence statement nearly two months after Francis was reassigned to another position — president of hockey operations.

Francis, 55, is a four-time All-Star who won the Stanley Cup twice with Pittsburgh in the 1990s and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. He took over as Carolina’s general manager in 2014 .

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have not made the playoffs since 2009. Their nine-year postseason drought is one of the longest in NHL history.

IMSA locks up 6-year TV deal with NBC.

DAYTONA BEACH,

FLA.» NBC Sports grabbed another piece of motorsports programming with a sixyear contract announced Monday to distribute IMSA’s SportsCar Championship on its network and cable channels. The deal begins in 2019 and includes digital rights on its app and NBCSports.com for live streaming of every championship race.

NBC Sports has also acquired the entire IndyCar package and Indianapolis 500 for next season, and owns half the NASCAR schedule.