Pirates, outfielder Reynolds agree to eight-year deal

Bryan Reynolds is sticking with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The veteran outfielder has agreed to an eight-year deal worth $106.75 million, three people with knowledge of the agreement told the Associated Press. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was not official pending a physical.

The contract is the richest in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates and gives the club another cornerstone to build around as it tries to emerge from four straight last-place finishes in the NL Central.

Soccer BRITISH EXECUTIVE CROCKER HIRED AS USSF

SPORTING DIRECTOR >> Matt Crocker intends to focus on leadership, style of play and team identity in his search for a U.S. men’s soccer coach, but deflected about whether he will consider retaining Gregg Berhalter or look at Jesse Marsch.

“Gregg has done a fantastic job,” Crocker said Tuesday after the U.S. Soccer Federation announced his hiring as sporting director. “I intend to to follow up with a number of candidates, both internally within the organization and externally.”

DC UNITED’S JEAHZE ARRESTED

IN SWEDEN, SUSPECTED OF ASSAULT >> D.C. United defender Mohanad Jeahze is in custody in Sweden on suspicion of two counts of assault, Swedish prosecutors said.

Jeahze, who was born in Sweden and plays for Iraq’s national team, has been suspended by Major League Soccer pending an investigation by the league and Swedish authorities.

Jeahze, 26, was arrested on Saturday after the second of the alleged assaults, both of which took place in Stockholm, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said. He was on approved leave from D.C. United at the time of his arrest.

NBA HAWKS’ MURRAY REMORSEFUL FOR REF BUMP, SAYS

HISTORY A FACTOR >> Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray expressed remorse Tuesday for the one-game suspension he received for bumping and verbally abusing an official — a suspension that’ll happen Tuesday night, when his team could be eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

Murray said at the team’s morning shootaround that he regretted not being available for Game 5 in Boston. Atlanta trails the Celtics 3-1 in their first-round series.

“At the end of the day I’m a grown man and I hold my own and I take full responsibility for not being able to play for my teammates, the fans and just the organization as a whole,” Murray said.

Handball UEFA, TOP COACHES TEAM

UP TO URGE EASING OF HANDBALL LAW >> Expect to see fewer penalties awarded for handball in the Champions League next season.

After gathering elite coaches including Zinedine Zidane and Jürgen Klinsmann to discuss the laws of the game, UEFA said Tuesday its new Football Board agreed on new guidance for referees in its competitions.

“The Board recommends that UEFA should clarify that no handball offense should be called on a player if the ball is previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go towards the goal,” the European soccer body said in a statement.

Olympics EUROPEAN LAWMAKERS

URGE FOR OLYMPICS BAN ON RUSSIA, BELARUS >> European lawmakers urged the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Games rather than keep seeking ways to let them compete as neutrals in international sport.

The 46-nation Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held a two-hour session in Strasbourg, France, of its panel for sports issues. It was to help draft a future report on the question of barring the two countries’ athletes and officials from the Olympic movement because of the military invasion of Ukraine.

With 15 months until the opening ceremony in Paris, Olympic sports bodies are weighing the IOC’s formal request — a reversal of its advice last year for exclusion — to look at reintegrating some Russians and Belarusians into games qualifying as individuals, but not in team events.

Tennis

WIMBLEDON TO HOUSE

UKRAINE’S PLAYERS, FUND RELIEF EFFORTS >> The All England Club will pay for two rooms for Ukrainian tennis players and their teams during the grasscourt season and will donate 1 British pound (about $1.25) for each ticket sold at Wimbledon to relief efforts in Ukraine — which could top 500,000 pounds ($620,000) — after deciding to allow players from Russia and Belarus back into the tournament despite the ongoing war.

Club chairman Ian Hewitt said at Tuesday’s annual spring news conference for the oldest Grand Slam tournament that letting Russians and Belarusians compete at Wimbledon after banning them a year ago because of the invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022 was “probably the most difficult decision during my chairmanship.”

Sports STATES MOVE TO LIFT BARRIERS

BETWEEN COLLEGE ATHLETES, NIL >> Lawmakers in Arkansas, Texas and elsewhere are working to remove barriers between college athletes trying to cash in on their fame and the schools for which they play as administrators discover the benefits of moving athlete compensation activities in-house.

The moves could pave the way for schools and their fundraising arms to be directly involved in securing and paying for their athletes’ name, image and likeness endorsement deals while also shielding athletic departments from NCAA enforcement.

Horse racing

ARROGATE, CALIFORNIA

CHROME ELECTED TO

RACING’S HALL OF FAME

Jockey Corey Nakatani and horses Arrogate, California Chrome and Songbird were elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in the contemporary category on Tuesday.

Jockey Fernando Toro was elected via the historic review committee. John W. Hanes II, Leonard W. Jerome and Stella F. Thayer were selected as Pillars of the Turf.

The class will be enshrined on Aug. 4 in Saratoga Springs.

Arrogate, California Chrome and Songbird were elected in their first year of eligibility.

Nakatani won 3,909 races with purse earnings of $234,554,534 in a career that spanned from 1988-2018