LIV abandons world ranking points pursuit
The Great White Shark is waving the white flag when it comes to LIV Golf being recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking.
Greg Norman, the CEO and commissioner of the Saudi-funded league, has told his players that LIV has withdrawn its application.
The OWGR board formally rejected the application last October, saying it could not fairly measure a league with the same group of players against 24 other tours around the world that have fuller tournaments and a path to get into them.
The four majors use the world ranking as part of their criteria.
Representatives from the majors were the ones voting to reject LIV's application last fall. The stronger effect would be the Olympics, which also relies on the world ranking to determine eligibility.
AGE LIMIT CHANGED >> The Open Championship is reducing the age limit to 55 for winners of the claret jug this year and beyond, part of a few tweaks to its exemption categories announced Wednesday.
Among the changes are to take the leading five players from the International Federation Ranking — the top players from the money lists of Japan, Asian, Australian and South African tours, plus the next-highest player in the world ranking from those tours.
Motorsports
GRIEVANCE VOICED >> Mercedes driver George Russell has called for transparency following a report alleging that the president of Formula 1's governing body intervened to overturn a penalty. Russell finished fourth behind Fernando Alonso in last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but was briefly upgraded to third when Alonso was given a 10-second penalty because Aston Martin's pit crew touched the car with a jack while serving an earlier penalty. That ruling was later overturned.
The BBC reported that an internal FIA document said president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had allegedly called another senior FIA official to say he thought the penalty should be overturned.
Olympics
ISRAEL'S STATUS INTACT >> Israel faces no threat to its Olympic status ahead of the Paris Games despite the conflict in Gaza, IOC president Thomas Bach confirmed.
Some of the scattered calls Israel has faced for sporting sanction since October have come from Russia, which is isolated in world sports because of its invasion of Ukraine. Bach's frustration with Russian government and sports officials was clear in a one-hour online call with invited international media ahead of the Paris Olympics that open July 26.
Asked about Israel teams and athletes not taking part in Paris, Bach said, “No, there is no question about this.”
ATHLETES BARRED >> Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from marching in this year's Paralympics opening ceremony in Paris, even if they are approved to compete as neutrals.
The International Paralympic Committee set limits on athletes from the two countries which are stricter than those detailed by the International Olympic Committee for the Paris Games that open one month earlier. The IOC in December decided against a blanket ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes over the invasion of Ukraine.
Soccer
FEDERATION FINED >> The Spanish soccer federation and Barcelona soccer club have been fined an undisclosed sum by Spain's labor ministry for not meeting workplace regulations regarding gender equality. The ministry said the federation, along with Barcelona and two second-division clubs, failed to meet regulations obliging workplaces with at least 50 employees to have “equality plans” in place.
The ministry it ordered an inspection of clubs with women's soccer teams and the national soccer federation after the federation president caused an international uproar when he kissed forward Jenni Hermoso during the trophy presentation at last year's Women's World Cup. He has since lost his job and now faces trial for sexual assault.
The inspection found that the federation had also failed to have a working protocol to handle cases of sexual harassment, as required by law, at the time of the incident.