Kaepernick jersey from first game to be sold

The white No. 7 jersey worn by blackballed NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick during his debut with the San Francisco 49ers could fetch US$100,000 when it goes up for auction in December.

Julien's Auctions said on Thursday the jersey, which is signed by Kaepernick, was worn by the quarterback on Oct. 2, 2011, when he entered the 49ers' game against Philadelphia in the first quarter. The seller wishes to remain anonymous.

Kaepernick, 32, has since become one of the most prominent and controversial sports figures in the United States.

His decision in 2016 to kneel during the playing of the national anthem in order to put a spotlight on police brutality helped inspire the Black Lives Matter movement. Critics said he was disrespecting the United States and its flag.

“He's a cultural icon. He's up there now with Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson,” Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien's Auctions, told Reuters.

It will go up for auction in Beverly Hills on Dec. 4.

The Arizona Coyotes named former St. Louis Blues assistant GM Bill Armstrong as their GM on Thursday.

Terms of the contract weren't disclosed by the team. Armstrong becomes the 10th general manager in franchise history. He succeeds John Chayka, who left the team in July.

Armstrong, 50, spent 16 years in St. Louis. The team won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2019.

Almost 60 years after Billie Jean King helped the United States win the inaugural Fed Cup, the team event is being renamed in honour of the greatest trailblazer in women's tennis.

King, a 12-time Grand Slam singles champion and the founder of the Women's Tennis Association, said she was “humbled” to have the competition named after her.

Georgian police have arrested the vice-president of the country's rugby union, Merab Beselia, for the shooting of player Ramaz Kharazishvili at the offices of the sport's governing body in Tbilisi on Wednesday.

Kharazishvili, 32, the former captain of the Georgian national Sevens team, underwent surgery after being shot in the leg and his life is not in danger, doctors said.

Local media reported the shooting followed a dispute between the two men. Reuters