College Football
IRVING, Texas – Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby says he’s going to push conference leaders to make decisions one way or the other on the lingering issues of expansion, a football championship game and a league network by the end of the summer.
Athletic directors spent about 90 minutes during the league’s spring meetings Wednesday in what were termed “philosophical discussions” about those topics.
The final decisions will be made by the 10-team league’s board of directors comprised of school presidents and chancellors. That group, which includes three interim presidents, will join the conference meetings Thursday and Friday and will have a significant amount of data to consider this week and into the summer.
Faculty athletic representatives deadlocked 5-5 regarding a change in a league rule that would have given former Texas Tech walk-on quarterback Baker Mayfield an extra season of eligibility at Oklahoma.
Cycling
BRUSSELS – Belgian prosecutors Wednesday formally asked judges to put cycling great Eddy Merckx on trial on corruption charges.
Merckx, 70, is one of 13 people investigated about irregular purchases of equipment by Brussels-area municipalities. He’s accused of using insider information to win a $16,700 contract to sell 46 cycles from his then-company Cycles Eddy Merckx to police in 2006-07.
He allegedly rewarded the policeman who provided the information with a good deal on a carbon-fiber bike, and gave another bike to the man’s wife.
Brussels prosecutors have charged Merckx, a five-time winner of the Tour de France and a Belgian sporting hero, with corruption and using false documents. The file was transmitted to judges Wednesday, prosecutor’s office spokesman Stefan Vandevelde said.
Vandevelde said a decision by judges on whether to order a trial is expected in September.
Soccer
BARCELONA, Spain – Brazilian striker Neymar has teamed up with Michael Jordan to become the first soccer player with a boot endorsed by the basketball great.
Neymar will wear a shoe inspired by the “Jordan V” shoe, carrying Jordan’s No. 23 on one foot and his own No. 10 on the other.
The shoe will sport the “Jumpman” logo, as well as the Brazilian flag and the initials of Neymar’s son, Davi Lucca.
Nike says the Jordan brand will also release a street edition with “Neymar” stitched inside the tongue.
The Barcelona star has been spending time in the United States, including attending a New York Mets game Tuesday. He will not play in the Copa America Centenario, which starts Saturday, instead playing for the home country at the Rio Olympics.
BASTAD, Sweden – With trademark attitude, Zlatan Ibrahimovic dismissed rumors linking him to Manchester United or a return to his original Swedish club, Malmo.
Ibrahimovic, speaking Wednesday at Sweden’s training camp, says “I want you to still write a lot of stories so I get excited when I see them. ... When I’m tired of it, I will let you know where I will go.”
Asked about comments he made two days ago suggesting he will be back in Malmo, he said he meant with the national team, not the Swedish league.
The 34-year-old striker says “I’m still not interested. I’m too good for the Swedish league.”
Associated Press
