Wednesday Sports in Brief

NFL

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) - NFL owners gave the competition committee the go-ahead Wednesday to decide whether to refine the new rule allowing replay challenges involving pass interference.

The proposed tweak would take the decision on whether to review in the final two minutes of each half out of the hands of the officials. Reviews in the final two minutes would instead require a coach’s challenge.

Owners voted to hold the NFL draft in Cleveland in 2021, the 75th anniversary of the Browns, and in Kansas City in 2023. The league said it delayed choosing a site for 2022 because about 20 cities are interested in hosting that year.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Juwan Howard is coming back to Michigan.

The former member of the Fab Five agreed to a five-year deal, which will pay him $2 million in his first year, on Wednesday to lead the Wolverines.

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, in his first major move in three years in charge of the department, is giving the Miami Heat assistant coach his first shot at being a head coach other than during the NBA’s summer league.

Howard replaces John Beilein, who left to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers.

CANADIAN FOOTBALL

TORONTO (AP) - The Canadian Football League and its players have ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement.

The league and the CFL Players’ Association confirmed the deal in a joint press release Wednesday. The sides came to terms on a tentative agreement May 15 and signed a memorandum of agreement Saturday, a day before training camps opened.

The memorandum of agreement was finalized after reports that a tentative deal between the two sides had fallen apart.

NASCAR

NASCAR announced the $2 billion purchase of International Speedway Corp. on Wednesday, an aggressive move to gain control of key racetracks and set itself up for sweeping changes that could save America’s most popular racing series.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

ISC owns 12 tracks that host NASCAR races, including Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Its holdings stretch from New York to California , and ISC is one of two major facilities companies that host NASCAR races, along with Speedway Motorsports Inc.

Gaining control of a dozen tracks, along with Iowa Speedway, which it already owns, would seemingly make it easier for NASCAR to alter its racing schedule, including the possibility of fewer events.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Tony Stewart headlines a Joe Gibbs Racing trio that has been elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The three-time Cup Series champion will be inducted alongside car owner Joe Gibbs and former teammate Bobby Labonte. Driver Buddy Baker and mechanic Waddell Wilson were also voted in Wednesday.

Stewart won 49 Cup Series races during his 17-year NASCAR career, including championships in 2002 and 2005 driving for Gibbs and another in 2011 with Stewart-Haas Racing. He won another championship as an owner in 2014 with driver Kevin Harvick.

SOCCER

FIFA scrapped plans to expand the 2022 Qatar World Cup to 48 nations, deciding Wednesday to stick with 32 countries due to the political and logistical complexities of using another Persian Gulf nation.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s hopes of expanding the Middle East’s first World Cup in the region were stymied by the regional diplomatic crisis and the governing body’s demands on host nations to adhere to its human and labor rights requirements. That means the World Cup will not be expanded until 2026, with FIFA already having approved a format with 48 teams for that tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

TUKWILA, Wash. (AP) - Three-time MLS defender of the year Chad Marshall announced his retirement due to injury on Wednesday, bringing an end to a 16-year career that included stints with the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders.

Marshall’s last game for Seattle was on May 4 against Minnesota United, after which it became clear the knee was becoming a problem. Marshall had undergone surgery on the knee to repair a meniscus tear he suffered during the MLS Cup playoffs.

GOLF

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Miranda Wang won the 20th hole of the final match on the course Wednesday, giving Duke a 3-2 victory over Wake Forest for its seventh NCAA title in women’s golf.

The longest day at rain-soaked Blessings Golf Club concluded with three of the five matches going extra holes.

Duke sophomore Jaravee Boonchant went 19 holes to beat Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Jennifer Kupcho. Siyun Liu of Wake Forest kept alive her team’s hopes by winning in 20 holes.

Wang was 2 down with six holes to go against Letizia Bagnoli, tied the match with a birdie on the 15th and won on the second extra hole when Bagnoli pulled her second shot into the water.

Duke won its first national title since 2014 and now trails Arizona State, which has eight NCAA titles.

OLYMPICS

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) - Dealing a blow to Olympic boxing officials after months of investigations, the IOC has set up a vote next month on removing the sport’s governing body AIBA from organizing bouts at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

The International Olympic Committee’s executive board on Wednesday proposed suspending AIBA - a move that will go before the full IOC membership at their June 24-26 annual meeting. However, the IOC intends to keep boxing’s 13 medal events on the Tokyo program.

AIBA’s finances, governance and integrity of judging and refereeing have been investigated for six months by an inquiry panel of three IOC members, which published its report Wednesday.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) - Former Olympic swimming champion Ruta Meilutyte has retired at the age 22 while facing questions for missing three doping tests.

The Lithuanian Swimming Federation says Meilutyte wants to focus on her studies and other interests.

At 15, Meilutyte won gold in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2012 London Olympics and added world championship gold a year later.

She missed out on a medal at the 2016 Olympics and has had a mixed record at major championships since. Meilutyte hasn’t competed since winning silver in the 50 breaststroke at the short-course world championships in December.

ESPORTS

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A month after the NCAA voted to table a discussion regarding esports, “League of Legends” publisher Riot Games launched a governing body for its college and high school competitive video game activities.

The Riot Scholastic Association of America (RSAA) will feature a six-member advisory board that oversees all “League of Legends” college competition, the company announced Wednesday.

“League of Legends” is the world’s most popular esport, and more than 80 colleges already have official LoL teams. This season’s League of Legends College Championship is set to begin Thursday. Collegiate LoL competition did not previously have a governing body, although Riot did have employees who worked with schools and conferences to operate LoL competitions.

The NCAA board voted April 30 to push back its ongoing conversation regarding esports.

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