Federal government to inject $755 million into Canadian sport over five years

Freestyle Canada chief executive officer Peter Judge faced a choice between his organization running a deficit of over half a million dollars or hosting no World Cups in Canada next year.

The federal government's announcement of a $755-million injection into sport over the next five years, and dropping to $118 million after that, had Judge and other Canadian sport leaders exhaling Tuesday.

"I was literally doing budget work today," Judge said. "My sense is my board had reached their tolerance limit for deficit spending.

2030 Winter Olympics organizers weigh Paris or Lyon for ice hockey after Nice impasse

PARIS (AP) — French organizers of the 2030 Winter Olympics are looking at alternative locations for ice hockey outside of Nice, including in Paris and Lyon, because of a political deadlock involving the Riviera city's new mayor.

Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps project has split snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the Mediterranean resort of Nice.

Nice was to turn the city's soccer stadium, Allianz Arena, into a temporary hockey rink.

But Nice far-right new mayor Eric Ciotti opposes the plan, refusing that the resident football club lose access to its stadium for months because of the Olympics. Ciotti, a former conservative allied with the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, was elected last month.

Federal government gives $6.22 million over next two years to athletes’ mental health

OTTAWA -

The federal government will supply $6.22 million over the next two years for athletes' mental health.

Secretary of Sport Adam van Koeverden made the announcement Friday in Ottawa.

The money comes out of $16 million to support the well-being of athletes and coaches already announced March 20.

Paris offers to host 2030 Winter Games ice hockey after Nice mayor opposes Olympic plan

PARIS (AP) — Olympic Games events could return to Paris as soon as 2030.

The Paris Entertainment Company, which operates the Adidas Arena and Accor Arena in the French capital, told The Associated Press on Thursday it has submitted a bid to host ice hockey during the 2030 Winter Games to be held in France.

Both venues were used during the 2024 Paris Summer Games and could serve as alternative solutions because the new Nice mayor, Eric Ciotti, opposes ice hockey events at Nice soccer stadium, the Allianz Arena, which would be converted into a temporary hockey rink.

Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps has split snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the French Riviera resort Nice. The final venues will be confirmed in June when the IOC decides the list of sports and events.

New cricket stadium in Southern California heralds the sport’s Olympic return after 128 years

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s been 126 years since cricket — the second most watched sport in the world — made an appearance in the Olympics. That’s about to change in 2028.

On Wednesday, shovels hit the ground in Pomona, a city in the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, where construction has begun for a 10,000-plus capacity premier cricket stadium. It will serve as the venue for men’s and women’s games, played by six teams in each competition.

The stadium is being erected in the Fairplex fairgrounds as the home of the Los Angeles Knight Riders, a professional Major League Cricket team owned by the Mumbai-based Knight Riders Sports. The company is co-led by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

The groundbreaking kicked off with a “bhumi pujan,” a ritual rooted in Hindu tradition, which often marks the start of a construction project as a way of seeking divine blessings and forgiveness for disturbing the earth.

Alcaraz and Sabalenka win Laureus sportsman and sportswoman of the year

MADRID (AP) — Tennis players Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka were named sportsman and sportswoman of the year at the Laureus awards on Monday while Paris Saint-Germain was the team of the year.

Alcaraz won the French and U.S. Opens last year plus the Australian Open in January. Sabalenka, the top-ranked woman, won her second consecutive U.S. Open last year.

PSG broke through with its first Champions League title in 2025.

Rory McIlroy, who successfully defended the Masters title this month, received the comeback of the year award.

WADA is challenging India to clean up doping issues

NEW DELHI (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency reported progress in its fight to clean up India, its worst offender.

India has topped WADA's list of doping lawbreakers for three consecutive years, reporting the highest positive rate among major nations. That's a red flag for the country scheduled to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and aiming to host the 2036 Olympics.

“Performance-enhancing drugs and steroids are readily available in India — it is one of the biggest producers. It is a serious problem,” WADA president Witold Bańka said on Thursday at a press conference for its global anti-doping intelligence and investigations network.

“At the same time I have had fruitful conversations with different stakeholders here — from the sports minister, to NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency), and the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to enhance cooperation in cracking down on the doping networks.”

Hockey coach who admitted using false COVID-19 vaccine certificate at Olympics is fired

ZURICH (AP) — A Swiss hockey coach who admitted he used a certificate falsely claiming he'd been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get around China's travel restrictions for the 2022 Winter Olympics has been fired.

In a statement late Monday, head coach Patrick Fischer said he made a “serious mistake in this matter” by travelling to Beijing with the Switzerland men’s team using false paperwork.

The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation initially supported him, saying the case was closed because he had admitted to his mistake. But that changed Wednesday with news of his dismissal.

"The case is legally closed but has triggered a public debate about values and trust, which the federation takes very seriously,” federation president Urs Kessler said in a statement.

USOPC ‘closely monitoring’ reaction to Wasserman but sidesteps questions about his LA28 leadership

The chair of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said the board has shared its concerns about LA Olympic leader Casey Wasserman with that organizing committee's board and that the USOPC is “closely monitoring the impact on our community.”

Wasserman put his talent agency up for sale in February, shortly after the release of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation that included flirtatious emails between Wasserman and Epstein's confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell, from more than 20 years ago.

USOPC chair Gene Sykes said the federation's board of directors discussed the issue at its quarterly meeting Wednesday and that “we take the concern seriously.” There has been no move to remove Wasserman from his role in leading the Olympic effort. Decisions about Wasserman's future are up to LA's board, not the USOPC's.

LA organizers said they had no comment about the USOPC meeting.

USA Surfing regains status as national governing body in time for leadup to LA Olympics

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee recognized USA Surfing as the official national governing body for the sport in America on Wednesday, ending a multiyear saga that included the corporation's decertification and an attempt by U.S. Ski and Snowboard to take over.

The USOPC approved USA Surfing's application effective June 1, declaring the federation was financially stable and ready to guide the sport into the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

"USA Surfing's new leadership and new approach has made this moment possible," said USOPC chair Gene Sykes.

According to USA Surfing's own application, it voluntarily agreed to decertify in December 2021 after a USOPC audit made “many negative findings” related to the NGB's finances.

Hockey coach admits using a false COVID-19 vaccine certificate to enter China for Olympics

ZURICH (AP) — Swiss ice hockey coach Patrick Fischer has admitted he used a certificate falsely claiming he'd been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get around China's travel restrictions for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In a statement late Monday, Fischer said he made a “serious mistake in this matter” by traveling to Beijing with the Switzerland men's team using false paperwork.

“I'm very sorry if I've disappointed people with this situation,” Fischer said. “I was in an extraordinary personal crisis because I didn't want to be vaccinated. At the same time I certainly didn't want to let my team down at the Olympic Games.”

Swiss public broadcaster SRF said it confronted Fischer with documents showing he was fined nearly 39,000 Swiss francs ($50,000) by local authorities in 2023 for document forgery after buying the certificate on social media. SRF said he went public with his admission shortly after.

War on Iran forces postponement of global sports conference in neighboring Azerbaijan

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The war on Iran by the United States and Israel has forced the postponement of a global conference of Olympic and international sports officials in neighboring Azerbaijan.

The SportAccord conference was scheduled for May 24–28 in Baku which is about 560 kilometers (350 miles) from Tehran.

“Azerbaijan has proven itself to be a safe and reliable partner to sport’s stakeholders,” the country’s sports minister Farid Gayibov said on Thursday in a statement by Lausanne-based organizers of SportAccord, which pledged to announce new dates in Baku “in due course.”

The annual conference has traditionally been a forum for cities to lobby and campaign for Olympics and sports event hosting, but has been held just once since 2019.

Olympic champion Caster Semenya disappointed with Kirsty Coventry after IOC’s transgender decision

CAPE TOWN (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya on Sunday expressed her disappointment with IOC President Kirsty Coventry over the decision to ban transgender women athletes from competing in women's events at the Olympics.

Semenya, who is South African, said she expected more from a woman leader like Coventry, who is from Zimbabwe and a fellow African.

“Personally, for her as a leader, she’s an African, I’m sure she understands how, you know, we as Africans, we are coming from, as a global South, you know, you cannot control genetics,” Semenya said at a press conference after a women’s race promoted to celebrate female strength, unity and community support in Cape Town. “For me personally, for her being a woman coming from Africa, knowing how, you know, African women or women in the global South are affected by that.”

Semenya spoke three days after the International Olympic Committee excluded transgender women athletes from competing in women's events at the Olympics or any IOC event. The decision published in a 10-page policy document Thursday also restricts female athletes such as Semenya with medical conditions known as differences in sex development, or DSD.

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, banned from Olympics, speaks at United Nations

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Vladyslav Heraskevych was shunned by the Olympics, then invited to the United Nations.

He never expected that would happen.

The Ukrainian skeleton athlete was not allowed to compete at the Milan Cortina Games because of his plan to wear a helmet paying tribute to some of those killed following Russia's invasion of his country. He spoke on a panel at the U.N. on Thursday detailing why he still believes he made the right decision.

“I think it’s important that we use this stage and talk about important things," Heraskevych said at the opening ceremony of Change the World Model United Nations, an educational simulation for thousands of students. “Sometimes it feels like, in all these hours of training, we really forgot about the overall mission of sports. It is not only about the medals, but it’s also about values that we represent.”