Its a bit of a tricky time for World Cup hopefuls. In order to make the 26-man roster this summer, U.S. mens national team manager Mauricio Pochettino wants to see players getting regular minutes for their clubs. That means he wants to see them at the top of their games, scoring goals, making an impact, and keeping clean sheets. On the surface, thats all well and good. But theres risk involved. Just ask fullback Sergino Dest, who suffered an apparent leg injury during PSV Eindhovens 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar over the weekend. The defender went down in the 56th minute, grabbing his left hamstring and screaming in pain. He was helped off the field by medical staff. Now, Dest could miss the USA's upcoming March camp, which features matches against Belgium (March 28) and Portugal (March 31) in Atlanta. This window is the most important one to date because its the last time the squad will be together before Pochettino makes his World Cup roster decisions. Dest said he hopes to be back as soon as possible. "Im out for a little while to do what I love the most!" Dest posted on social media. "But one thing for sure this is NOT the end of the season! Ill do everything in my power to make sure that Im coming back asap on the right timing! Thanks for the messages wont let you guys down!" Dest would likely be the No. 1 option at right back for Pochettino, but the U.S. manager has options should he need to use them. Tim Weah has been used as an attacking player for the national team, but is versatile and plays right back and right wing for Marseille. Alex Freeman, who joined Villarreal from Orlando City in January, has impressed Pochettino over the last year. And Joe Scally, who plays regular minutes for Borussia Mnchengladbach, was a backup on the 2022 World Cup roster. In the months leading up to World Cups, players always say they try not to think about getting injured and do their best to stay focused on a daily basis. But injuries can happen at the most inconvenient times. Four years ago, defenders Miles Robinson (torn Achilles) and Chris Richards (hamstring) missed the World Cup in Qatar due to injuries sustained months before the tournament began. On the women's team side, forward Mallory Swanson (knee) and former captain and starting center back Becky Sauerbrunn (foot) were forced to miss the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Midfielder/forward Catarina Macario (knee) missed the 2024 Olympics after initially making that roster. Dest tore his ACL in April 2024 and returned to national team duty in March 2025. He has only played in a handful of matches for Pochettino since then, but was in good form ahead of this most recent setback. When healthy, Dest is one of the best players in the pool. In addition to Dest, Pochettino and his staff are keeping their eyes on left back Antonee "Jedi" Robinson, who is recovering from an ankle injury but is back playing for Fulham. And midfielder Diego Luna, who is dealing with a knee injury thats kept him sidelined at the start of Real Salt Lakes MLS season. Striker Ricardo Pepi, who recently returned to form after breaking his arm in January, scored the winning goal for PSV about 30 minutes after Dest was taken off the field. Time is of the essence. It's less than 100 days until the USA's June 12 opener against Paraguay in Los Angeles.

The Gujarat government has made a "historic" budgetary provision of Rs 1,331 crore with an aim to transform the state into a sports hub and develop Ahmedabad as an "Olympic-ready" city, cabinet minister Jitu Vaghani informed the legislative assembly on Tuesday.

Smith is headed back to New York, where he started his career 13 years ago

WASHINGTON, D.C. During Fridays White House presidential roundtable of business titans and sport executives, Donald Trump made a proclamation that surprised many in attendance: He plans to issue another executive order to govern college athletics.Trumps proclamation came in the final 10 minutes of the 100-minute roundtable meeting, after several participants informed the president of the difficulties in passing congressional legislation.It, apparently, left him with one solution: Hell write another executive order to solve the problem, Trump said, while acknowledging that his own order would be subject to legal challenge as it would include the re-implementation of policies deemed by the courts as unlawful.Though his mid-meeting announcement stole headlines, the roundtables immediate and most lasting impact resides in another place: Congress.Many believe that the roundtables primary goal was to move lawmakers toward congressional legislation by way of bringing attention to college sports issues. Its not so far-fetched considering that star-studded invitee list and the fact that the entire roundtable was streamed live on CSPAN, which many participants did not expect.But before we launch into some behind-the-scenes scuttle on congressional happenings, lets first answer a couple of questions.Will Trump really write another executive order? Would it have much of an impact?The White HouseIf Trumps first executive order released in July is any indication, an executive order will have no impact on college sports.Were still waiting for any enforcement of the first one, said one high-ranking university leader.Legal experts say there is a good reason for that: Congressional legislation and court rulings are law in this country not executive orders.In fact, that very thing came up during another roundtable Tuesday on Capitol Hill.Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), host of the roundtable, said any college sports solution must and should, he added come from Congress.Executive orders can be overturned by the next president, he warned the roundtable.If youll recall, Trumps first executive order directed members of his cabinet and the Federal Trade Commission to create and enforce policy around several aspects of college sports that would protect the NCAA and conferences from enforcing rules to govern the industry. It also required schools to maintain a certain level of scholarships, prohibited third-party pay for play and addressed athlete employment.President Donald Trump (L) gestures as former head coach Nick Saban (R) speaks alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles during a roundtable discussion on college sports at the White House on March 6. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Anna Moneymaker via Getty ImagesThe order gave the attorneys general, secretary of labor, secretary of education and the FTC anywhere from 30-60 days to create this policy and begin enforcing it, by way of withholding federal funding for violators, opening up Title IX investigations, etc.Some 229 days later, there has been nothing.But thats not to say Trump has given up on the issue.Over the last few weeks, hes taken a more hands-on role in the topic, pushing aside White House staff members and those in his cabinet who had previously presided over the college sports reform agenda item. In an interview this week, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey described the presidents interest as truly meaningful.But heres the bottomline: Even if Trump eventually releases another executive order White House officials have called around seeking advice on the order its true impact is likely to be minimal.In all likelihood, more of an impact will come from a smaller subgroup created out of the 50-plus person roundtable. That subgroup is expected to work with lawmakers to move forward congressional legislation.Speaking of thatThe HouseThe SCORE Act, the college sports bill introduced last summer, is back on the agenda for the House of Representatives.The SCORE Act, a mostly Republican-backed college sports bill, would grant the NCAA and conferences their antitrust protection to enforce rules (think transfers, eligibility, rev-share cap/College Sports Commission, etc.), prevent athletes from being deemed employees and potentially create a new governance model in college sports.Many believe the bill will be brought to the floor for a vote as soon as next week. However, there is one problem. In order for the bill to advance to the floor, lawmakers must first pass whats called a rule vote, a procedural step on a resolution from the Rules Committee that determines how a bill will be debated and amended once reaching the floor.Rule votes are notoriously decided along party lines. The House has a narrow Republican majority with 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats, with three seats vacant. This slim margin means that Republicans can only afford to lose one vote on party-line legislation.When House Republican leadership on Friday told dignitaries during the roundtable that they have the votes necessary to pass the SCORE, they were likely referring to the actual bill vote not the rule vote. In fact, House Leader Steve Scalise said they believe that a double-digit number of Democrats support SCORE if it were to reach the floor.In September and then again in December, House Republican leaders failed to get enough of their own party members to vote for the rule vote.Why arent enough Republicans voting for the rule vote? There are a variety of issues there, most notably that many lawmakers struggle to grant any significant authority and legal protection to the NCAA in any future governance model. In fact, one House staff member quipped recently, We really underestimate the hate for the NCAA. This is less about the current NCAA leadership and probably more about the previous.Recent modifications to SCORE are a sign of an NCAA overhaul. The amendments create a commission to study the future of the NCAA, the first step in informing governance changes, potentially moving away from the NCAA and toward a new model.The SenateLegislation in the Senate has a higher threshold than the House. A 60-vote margin for passage means getting seven Democrat votes.At Fridays roundtable, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made it quite clear that Senate Democrat leadership was preventing other Democrat lawmakers from agreeing to his long-discussed draft of a college sports bill.He didnt say them by name but hes likely referring to Maria Cantwell (D-Wa), the Democrat lead of the Senate Commerce Committee, which Cruz chairs and which primary holds jurisdiction over college sports legislation; and Chuck Schumer, the longtime leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus. Cruz has spent much of the last year negotiating with Chris Coons (D-De.).Cruz blames the Democrats affiliation with labor unions for preventing leadership from agreeing to any legislation that includes a concept prohibiting athletes from becoming employees. There are plenty of other issues dividing the lawmakers, including the breadth of an NCAA antitrust exemption and the amending of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, a concept gaining steam that would permit conferences to consolidate their media rights to, in theory, increase revenues in an effort to solve the current financial issues.In fact, Cantwell and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) jointly announced on Friday a narrow bill that only amends the SBA a significant bipartisan move that cant be ignored and one that puts more pressure on Cruz. As it turns out, Cruz and Schmitt, separately, both spoke virtually to a group of university presidents and board of trustees gathered in Dallas last week for a summit hosted by the private-equity backed group Smash Sports, whose officials are proposing a new college sports model that necessitates the amending of the SBA.A second committee is also involved in any college sports legislation: the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (shortened to HELP), which Cassidy chairs. That committee holds jurisdiction over portions of any college sports bill, including athlete employment, which was a divisive topic during Tuesdays roundtable discussion.Either way, there is more pressure than ever on Cruz from the White House, fellow Senators, college sports leaders (including in his own state of Texas) and, potentially, from House Republican leadership, especially if they manage to achieve passage of the SCORE Act in their chamber.Cruzs draft isnt so dissimilar from SCORE, but any Senate legislation will need to be more bipartisan to get the requisite votes. Cantwells all-encompasing college sports bill, the SAFE Act, amends the SBA and is silent on employment. Cruzs draft, at least for now, does not amend the SBA and includes an anti-employment clause.Will he compromise on these matters? If Schmitt worked with Cantwell, cant Cruz?There is belief that negotiations between Cruz and Cantwell thus far almost non-existence are on the horizon.

Free agent offensive tackle Braden Smith reached agreement with the Houston Texans on a two-year, $25 million contract that includes $13.5 million fully guaranteed, his agent told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Geno Smith is returning to the swamps of New Jersey nearly 13 years after being taken by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Detroit has reached an agreement to add running back Isiah Pacheco as a replacement for David Montgomery after the Lions traded Jahmyr Gibbs' backup before free agency started, a person with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday. Pacheco spent his first four seasons in the running back rotation with the Kansas City Chiefs, who agreed to a $45 million, three-year deal with Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in the opening hours of free agency.The Green Bay Packers are doing some shuffling at cornerback by adding Benjamin St-Juste while informing Nate Hobbs of a plan to release him a year after signing him to the $48 million, four-year contract, according to two people with knowledge of the decisions. St-Juste is getting a $10.5 million, two-year deal.All the people are speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because transactions cant be become official until Wednesday, the first day of the NFLs new league year.Pacheco rushed for 2,537 yards and 14 touchdowns over four seasons with the Chiefs, helping them win two Super Bowls. Montgomery, who no longer wanted to play behind Gibbs, was sent to the Houston Texans for offensive lineman Juice Scruggs along with fourth- and seventh-round draft picks.The Chiefs also agreed to a $24.5 million, three-year deal with former Baltimore safety Alohi Gilman and an $11 million, two-year contract with receiver Tyquan Thornton, who emerged as perhaps their best deep threat during a 6-11 season that ended a 10-year playoff streak.Gilman fills a big need in Kansas Citys depleted defensive backfield. Safety Bryan Cook is headed to Cincinnati, the Chiefs traded cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Rams and fellow cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams are signing elsewhere.St-Juste was on the field for about 35% of the Chargers defensive plays last season and also was a key special teams contributor during his lone year in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old has two interceptions over five seasons, the first four in Washington for the 2021 third-round draft pick.Hobbs injured his knee in training camp last year and was benched midseason after leaving the Las Vegas Raiders to join the Packers. The 26-year-old made five starts in 11 appearances and had a career-low two pass breakups.The Packers will designate Hobbs a post-June 1 cut, which will save about $8 million on the salary cap. Hobbs missed the wild-card loss to Chicago and said after the season he tore a medial collateral ligament Dec. 27 against Baltimore.Pittsburgh agreed with running back Rico Dowdle on a $12.25 million, two-year deal in what will be a reunion with new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy. They were together in Dallas, where Dowdle became the first undrafted Cowboys running back to rush for 1,000 yards in McCarthy's final season in 2024.Dowdle signed with Carolina last year and followed a 206-yard outing against Miami with 183 yards rushing and a 36-yard touchdown catch against the Cowboys. Dowdle finished the season with 1,076 yards.The Steelers are waiting on what would be a much more significant reunion for McCarthy. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers hasn't said whether he plans to return for a 22nd season, and second in Pittsburgh. The 42-year-old was with McCarthy for 12-plus seasons in Green Bay, and they won a Super Bowl during the 2010 season.The Buffalo Bills and tight end Dawson Knox agreed to a three-year contract extension that will save money under the salary cap. The seventh-year player was entering the final year of his deal and scheduled to count $17 million against Buffalos cap.The New York Giants have an agreement with cornerback Greg Newsome after losing starter Cor'Dale Flott to Tennessee on the first day of negotiations for free agents. New York also has a deal with safety ArDarius Washington, the third player to follow new coach John Harbaugh from Baltimore after tight end Isaiah Likely and All-Pro punter Jordan Stout.Minnesota is keeping two-time All-Pro long snapper Andrew DePaola. The 38-year-old is set for a seventh season with the Vikings. DePaola is the only long snapper to make three straight Pro Bowls (2022-24).___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Detroit has reached an agreement to add running back Isiah Pacheco as a replacement for David Montgomery after the Lions traded Jahmyr Gibbs' backup before free agency started, a person with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday. Pacheco spent his first four seasons in the running back rotation with the Kansas City Chiefs, who agreed to a $45 million, three-year deal with Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in the opening hours of free agency.The Green Bay Packers are doing some shuffling at cornerback by adding Benjamin St-Juste while informing Nate Hobbs of a plan to release him a year after signing him to the $48 million, four-year contract, according to two people with knowledge of the decisions. St-Juste is getting a $10.5 million, two-year deal.All the people are speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because transactions cant be become official until Wednesday, the first day of the NFLs new league year.Pacheco rushed for 2,537 yards and 14 touchdowns over four seasons with the Chiefs, helping them win two Super Bowls. Montgomery, who no longer wanted to play behind Gibbs, was sent to the Houston Texans for offensive lineman Juice Scruggs along with fourth- and seventh-round draft picks.The Chiefs also agreed to a $24.5 million, three-year deal with former Baltimore safety Alohi Gilman and an $11 million, two-year contract with receiver Tyquan Thornton, who emerged as perhaps their best deep threat during a 6-11 season that ended a 10-year playoff streak.Gilman fills a big need in Kansas Citys depleted defensive backfield. Safety Bryan Cook is headed to Cincinnati, the Chiefs traded cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Rams and fellow cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams are signing elsewhere.St-Juste was on the field for about 35% of the Chargers defensive plays last season and also was a key special teams contributor during his lone year in Los Angeles. The 28-year-old has two interceptions over five seasons, the first four in Washington for the 2021 third-round draft pick.Hobbs injured his knee in training camp last year and was benched midseason after leaving the Las Vegas Raiders to join the Packers. The 26-year-old made five starts in 11 appearances and had a career-low two pass breakups.The Packers will designate Hobbs a post-June 1 cut, which will save about $8 million on the salary cap. Hobbs missed the wild-card loss to Chicago and said after the season he tore a medial collateral ligament Dec. 27 against Baltimore.Pittsburgh agreed with running back Rico Dowdle on a $12.25 million, two-year deal in what will be a reunion with new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy. They were together in Dallas, where Dowdle became the first undrafted Cowboys running back to rush for 1,000 yards in McCarthy's final season in 2024.Dowdle signed with Carolina last year and followed a 206-yard outing against Miami with 183 yards rushing and a 36-yard touchdown catch against the Cowboys. Dowdle finished the season with 1,076 yards.The Steelers are waiting on what would be a much more significant reunion for McCarthy. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers hasn't said whether he plans to return for a 22nd season, and second in Pittsburgh. The 42-year-old was with McCarthy for 12-plus seasons in Green Bay, and they won a Super Bowl during the 2010 season.The Buffalo Bills and tight end Dawson Knox agreed to a three-year contract extension that will save money under the salary cap. The seventh-year player was entering the final year of his deal and scheduled to count $17 million against Buffalos cap.The New York Giants have an agreement with cornerback Greg Newsome after losing starter Cor'Dale Flott to Tennessee on the first day of negotiations for free agents. New York also has a deal with safety ArDarius Washington, the third player to follow new coach John Harbaugh from Baltimore after tight end Isaiah Likely and All-Pro punter Jordan Stout.Minnesota is keeping two-time All-Pro long snapper Andrew DePaola. The 38-year-old is set for a seventh season with the Vikings. DePaola is the only long snapper to make three straight Pro Bowls (2022-24).___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

A violent altercation broke out inside a betting shop during this afternoon's Cheltenham Festival, with footage of the disturbance rapidly spreading across social media.The incident occurred whilst the 3.20pm Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase was being contested at the prestigious racing event.Video clips posted on X show multiple individuals exchanging blows within the bookmakers, as bystanders attempted to separate those involved in the fracas.The footage has been shared nearly 300 times on the platform.The scenes represent an unwelcome blemish on what is traditionally one of British racing's most celebrated occasions.Despite the unsavoury scenes unfolding off-course, the race itself produced a thrilling conclusion.Johnnywho claimed victory in the contest, with jockey Richie McLernon guiding the horse trained by Jonjo and AJ O'Neill to triumph over the three-mile-one-furlong distance.The well-fancied Jagwar, sent off at odds of 3/1, had to settle for the runner-up position.Quebecois completed the frame in third place.The result will have delighted connections of the winner, whilst those who backed the favourite were left to rue what might have been.McLernon's assured handling of his mount proved decisive as the race unfolded at Prestbury Park on the opening day of the Festival.The winning jockey expressed his satisfaction with the performance, stating: "I travelled nicely through the race, thought the ground was a little quick. Everything just unfolded for me; jumped when I needed him to and he answered every call. So absolutely thrilled."AJ O'Neill was equally effusive in his praise, remarking: "Absolutely fantastic. Richie gave him a great ride and he was in the right place all the time. Just great to see it all work out."Trainer Jonjo O'Neill also paid tribute to McLernon's contribution to the yard, saying: "Richie, he's done a great job for us since the day he came really. "He's a great rider, he's a great judge and a lovely fella to be around. What more do you want?"Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter