MLB
Torre, Winfield lead baseball goodwill tour in Cuba
Joe Torre and Dave Winfield will be leading a baseball goodwill tour of Cuba this month.
Major League Baseball and the Players Association said Thursday the Dec. 15-18 trip will include children’s clinics and a charity event.
This is Major League Baseball’s first visit to Cuba since the Baltimore Orioles played an exhibition game against the Cuban national team in 1999. There is the possibility of the Tampa Bay Rays playing a spring training game in Cuba next year.
Torre is the chief baseball officer and Winfield is the union’s special adviser. They will be joined by current players, a group that has not yet been announced.
NFL
Coldplay to headline the Super Bowl halftime show
The British rock band, which is releasing a new album Friday, will perform during halftime of the Super Bowl, said a spokesperson for Pepsi, which is sponsoring the halftime show.
The Super Bowl is set for Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
The NFL is due to announce the halftime performer Thursday night during the prime-time matchup between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.
Katy Perry starred in the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history earlier this year, when more than 118 million viewers tuned in to see her perform with Lenny Kravitz and her now-famous dancing sharks.
OLYMPICS
South African appeals court convicts Pistorius
A South African appeals court has convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder, overturning a lower court’s conviction of the double-amputee Olympian on the lesser charge of manslaughter for shooting his girlfriend to death in 2013.
Justice Lorimer Leach of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered the ruling by the five-judge appeals court Thursday in Bloemfontein and said the trial court, the North Gauteng High Court, should impose sentence.
Pistorius killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early morning of Valentine’s Day. He insisted he thought she was an intruder behind a door in his home. The prosecution said Pistorius shot Steenkamp during an argument.
Pistorius killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early morning of Valentine’s Day.
SOCCER
U.S. indicts 16 more in probe of soccer corruption
Five current and former members of FIFA’s ruling executive committee were among 16 additional men indicted on corruption charges as part of U.S. prosecutors’ widening investigation into soccer corruption.
Led away by Swiss federal police in a pre-dawn raid Thursday at a Zurich hotel were Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay, president of the South American confederation, and Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, head of the North and Central American and Caribbean governing body. The action came just before FIFA’s executive committee met to approve reform measures.
SWIMMING
Phelps wins in U.S. Winter National Championships
Michael Phelps won the 200-meter intermediate medley Thursday night at the U.S. Winter National Championships.
Preparing for the Olympics next year, the 30-year-old Phelps finished in 1 minute, 57.61 seconds, well off his world-best time this year of 1:54.75. Ryan Lochte set the world record of 1:54.00 in 2011.
The 18-time Olympic champion also will race in the 100 butterfly on Friday and the 200 butterfly Saturday.
Associated Press
