RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Cristiano Ronaldo's legs might be on the wane but never doubt his timing.

Eager to lessen the chaos of the transfer portal era, the NCAA approved a new eligibility model for Division I athletes on Tuesday that will allow five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.The Division I Cabinet approved the change from the longstanding tenet of college sports that gave athletes five years to complete four seasons of competition with their eligibility clock starting at the time of enrollment, regardless of age.The move will all but eliminate waivers or resdhirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, maternity leave or active-duty military service. No longer will extensions be considered for athletes who are injured.The rules are set to take effect this fall. Division I includes more than 350 schools, some 200,000 athletes and, with football and basketball leading the way, is by far the most lucrative of the three in the NCAA.The five-in-five language also is included in Senate legislation intended to address numerous concerns across college sports and comes after a wave of lawsuits from athletes seeking to extend their college careers and ability to earn money through revenue sharing and name, image and likeness deals. Still to be seen is whether the new rules will withstand legal scrutiny alongside the existing challenges.Heisman Trophy runner-up and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia remains the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging an NCAA rule counting seasons spent at junior colleges against players Division I eligibility time. That case is slated for trial in February.I wouldnt say that the rule change itself will slow lawsuits down, said Sam Ehrlich, a Boise State assistant professor of legal studies in business and management who tracks litigation against the NCAA.Ehrlich said athletes very well could continue to petition courts for extended eligibility based on antitrust arguments, but appellate courts recently have delivered wins for the NCAA by overturning preliminary injunctions in several cases.The new eligibility model will affect all athletes who enroll in 2027-28. Currently enrolled athletes with eligibility after the 2025-26 academic year, and those who are incoming freshmen this fall, can apply the age-based model or continue under previous eligibility rules.For schools with current athletes who may be eligible for hardship waivers or extensions of eligibility under current rules, the D-I Cabinet indicated the deadline to submit requests to the NCAA is July 31. After that date, waivers would no longer be available.Attorney Mit Winter, who specializes in sports law, has called the five-year proposal and age limit a very sensible rule in offering a more black and white evaluation to player eligibility, particularly for schools navigating a complicated waiver process determined on a case-by-case basis.But with athletes still not being considered employees or having collective bargaining available to establish agreed-upon standards, Winter said, legal challenges are likely.It might be a little easier to defend than the current rules we have, Winter said when the rule was proposed in April. But when you just look at it from a broad point of view, its still essentially limiting how long someone can work as a college athlete and be paid as a college athlete.___AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Eager to lessen the chaos of the transfer portal era, the NCAA approved a new eligibility model for Division I athletes on Tuesday that will allow five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.The Division I Cabinet approved the change from the longstanding tenet of college sports that gave athletes five years to complete four seasons of competition with their eligibility clock starting at the time of enrollment, regardless of age.The move will all but eliminate waivers or resdhirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, maternity leave or active-duty military service. No longer will extensions be considered for athletes who are injured.The rules are set to take effect this fall. Division I includes more than 350 schools, some 200,000 athletes and, with football and basketball leading the way, is by far the most lucrative of the three in the NCAA.The five-in-five language also is included in Senate legislation intended to address numerous concerns across college sports and comes after a wave of lawsuits from athletes seeking to extend their college careers and ability to earn money through revenue sharing and name, image and likeness deals. Still to be seen is whether the new rules will withstand legal scrutiny alongside the existing challenges.Heisman Trophy runner-up and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia remains the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging an NCAA rule counting seasons spent at junior colleges against players Division I eligibility time. That case is slated for trial in February.I wouldnt say that the rule change itself will slow lawsuits down, said Sam Ehrlich, a Boise State assistant professor of legal studies in business and management who tracks litigation against the NCAA.Ehrlich said athletes very well could continue to petition courts for extended eligibility based on antitrust arguments, but appellate courts recently have delivered wins for the NCAA by overturning preliminary injunctions in several cases.The new eligibility model will affect all athletes who enroll in 2027-28. Currently enrolled athletes with eligibility after the 2025-26 academic year, and those who are incoming freshmen this fall, can apply the age-based model or continue under previous eligibility rules.For schools with current athletes who may be eligible for hardship waivers or extensions of eligibility under current rules, the D-I Cabinet indicated the deadline to submit requests to the NCAA is July 31. After that date, waivers would no longer be available.Attorney Mit Winter, who specializes in sports law, has called the five-year proposal and age limit a very sensible rule in offering a more black and white evaluation to player eligibility, particularly for schools navigating a complicated waiver process determined on a case-by-case basis.But with athletes still not being considered employees or having collective bargaining available to establish agreed-upon standards, Winter said, legal challenges are likely.It might be a little easier to defend than the current rules we have, Winter said when the rule was proposed in April. But when you just look at it from a broad point of view, its still essentially limiting how long someone can work as a college athlete and be paid as a college athlete.___AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Thomas Tuchel has opened up on his decision to drop John Stones and Nico O'Reilly for tonight's World Cup clash between England and Ghana in Boston.Marc Guehi and Djed Spence have been drafted in for the clash, with the rest of the Three Lions' starting XI unchanged.England were impressive going forward against Croatia last week, scoring four times via a Harry Kane double and further efforts from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.However, they were vulnerable at the back, with Tuchel now choosing to act.TRENDINGStoriesVideosYour SaySpeaking to the BBC, Tuchel elaborated on his thinking.The 52-year-old said: "They [Guehi and Spence] deserve to play and we have a little bit more speed and a different profile of players.Marc is a little bit more agile and faster than John [Stones] and it is more convenient for him to play on the left side [of centre-back], and Djed justa bit more defensive and faster, more defensive to control the counter attacks."Ghana are happy to give up possession and they want to have ball wins in the centre of the pitch."They want us to fall asleep, their opponents to feel safe, and then do the counter-attacks with very fast and physical players."The other thing is very direct out to the wings. I think we will have a lot of duels on the wing-back position and we need to be careful in the coverage and be aggressive to stop counter-attacks before they get dangerous."LATEST SPORTS NEWS:Fifa ban commentator from World Cup after furious meltdownCristiano Ronaldo screams two-word message down camera after firing Portugal to Uzbekistan World Cup winThomas Tuchel reacts to national anthem change ahead of England and Ghana World Cup showdownTuchel also expressed his satisfaction over the state of the pitch as England look to make it back-to-back World Cup wins."Always it's important [to stay patient]," he said."I just heard the grass is a bit long so we are happy that it has been raining, maybe not too fast, let's see. "We need to adapt. It is important we find a good balance between patience and intensity and the freedom to attack."While we are attacking we need to protect ourselves from being too open."England go into the clash hoping to break tradition.They have drawn their second match of a major tournament eight times over the years, particularly under Gareth Southgate.At Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 respectively, they produced stalemates against Scotland and Denmark.And, at the 2022 World Cup, they were forced to settle for a point in a drab 0-0 draw with the United States.Tuchel is eager for England to win tonight to boost their chances of topping the group."Winning is always the most important of course, but listen, even a draw is not the end of the world," he continued. "We want to put out a good performance and continue where we left off."I'm pretty sure Ghana dreams of winning. We have a very tough group and after a tough first match comes the next match. It's a tough game against a strong opponent, we will try to make it happen and go for the win."Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first player to score in six World Cups as his double helps Portugal thrash Uzbekistan.

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In der Gruppe L will Englands Nationalteam gegen Ghana vorzeitig die nchste Runde erreichen. Das Spiel aus Boston im Livestream.[mehr]

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