HOT CORNER

1 PRO BASEBALL:

The Kansas City Royals signed Austin Nola to a one-year contract, adding a veteran catcher to provide some insurance behind Salvador Perez alongside young backup Freddie Fermin. Nola gets a $975,000 salary while in the major leagues and $175,000 while in the minors. The 34-year-old was released from a minor league contract by Milwaukee on Thursday after the Brewers finalized a deal with Gary Sánchez. Nola appeared in 110 games for San Diego two years ago, hitting .251 with four homers and 40 RBIs.

PRO TENNIS: 2

The International Tennis Integrity Agency says Italian tennis player Andrea Rita has been suspended for 15 months as part of a corruption investigation. The ITIA says the 23-year-old Rita admitted to four breaches of anti-corruption rules “including wagering on tennis matches and the failure to report a corrupt approach.”The ITIA says he co-operated fully with the investigation and accepted an agreed sanction.

PRO HOCKEY: 3

The Arizona Coyotes have put forward Adam Ruzicka on unconditional waivers to terminate his contract. The move comes after Ruzicka posted to social media a video of a himself with a white powder appearing to be cocaine and a credit card on a counter. Ruzicka is in the second season of a two-year contract worth $1.525 million. The 24-yearold from Slovakia has only been with the Coyotes for about a month since they claimed him off waivers from the Calgary Flames.

PRO FOOTBALL: 4

Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce is counting on two experienced former head coaches to help guide him. The Raiders announced their full staff Friday. Former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is the assistant head coach and ex-Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin is the senior offensive assistant. Lewis led the Bengals to seven playoff berths, going 131-122-3 from 2003-18. He was a key advisor when Pierce became the interim coach midway through last season. Philbin went 24-28 as the Dolphins coach from 2012-15 and was 2-2 as the Green Bay Packers interim coach in 2018. Philbin was an offensive analyst at Ohio State last season.

5 OLYMPICS:

The International Olympic Committee has reiterated that the bobsled track for the Milan-Cortina Games has to be ready by March 2025 and that there will be no “compromise.” Italy is going ahead with a controversial, $90 million plan to rebuild the historic track in Cortina for the 2026 Winter Olympics, despite fierce opposition from the IOC. Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi says the IOC “expressed a wish”but“the reality is that today there is a construction site which is in Cortina.”