NBA player and head coach among 30 arrested in illegal US gambling investigation

The NBA, one of the world’s most prominent sports leagues, found itself associated with illegal gambling again on Thursday after two prominent stars were arrested in a sweeping federal investigation. Chauncey Billups, a Hall of Fame player who is now coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was arrested in connection with a poker operation linked to the mafia, while Miami Heat star Terry Rozier is accused of taking part in a scheme to manipulate games.“Today, we are here in New York to announce a historic arrest across a wide sweeping criminal enterprise,” the FBI director, Kash Patel, said at a news conference on Thursday unveiling the charges. “This is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that spanned the course of years.”Federal prosecutors unsealed two indictments on Thursday, and announced that they had arrested “over 30 individuals” across multiple states as part of a federal investigation into “sports rigging” and illegal gambling operations that authorities say involved the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese crime families

Women’s marathon world record-holder Chepngetich handed three-year doping ban

The women’s marathon world record-holder, Ruth Chepngetich, has been banned for three years after the Athletics Integrity Unit rejected her claim that her failed drugs test came from taking her housemaid’s medication after feeling hot and having a rapid resting heartbeat.The Kenyan stunned the world when she ran 2hr 9min 56sec at the Chicago marathon in 2024, a time that shattered the previous best by almost two minutes. However her performance was immediately questioned by many in the athletics world who felt it was too good to be true.But while the 31-year-old will not be able to race again until 2028, she will be allowed to keep her world record because her positive drugs test came after her run in Chicago. That will leave a sour taste in the mouth for many people

Caluori’s aerial prowess adds intrigue to battle in the sky at Franklin’s Gardens

Brian Clough famously said that if God had intended football to be played in the sky, he’d have put grass up there. Tactical trends in rugby are moving in the opposite direction though, and with Noah Caluori set to make his second Prem start, Northampton’s high-stakes meeting with Saracens on Friday night promises to be a battle in the skies.Phil Dowson’s table-topping Saints, champions in 2023-24, are the only unbeaten team remaining after three wins and a draw. Second-placed Saracens are two points back, having scored a league-leading 168 points to Northampton’s second-best 138. Nine players involved in England’s training camp this week will start at Franklin’s Gardens

Just redo it: inside Nike’s plans to put the swoosh back into its sales

The entrance to Nike’s swish global headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon is paved with rough cobbles, designed to remind employees to watch their step when they go forward.Last summer, though, not even the world’s biggest sports brand could stop itself from taking an almighty tumble.Over the course of one July day in 2024, Nike’s share price plummeted by $28bn – the worst single-day performance in the company’s history – after it revealed that second-quarter sales were down 10%.There were headlines proclaiming that Nike was in crisis. That it had lost its cool, become either too woke, too safe, too conservative or too cumbersome, depending on their political stripe and reading of the situation

Tour de France unveils 2026 route with double Alpe d’Huez for men and Ventoux debut for women

The 2026 men’s and women’s Tours de France will climax on two of the most famous climbs in world cycling, Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux. The mountains will host key stages, with the Ventoux featuring in the Tour de France Femmes for the first time.A double stage finish to the ski station at Alpe d’Huez will provide the pivotal moment in the 113th running of the men’s race, whose route, along with the women’s event, was revealed in Paris on Thursday morning.The men’s Tour starts in Barcelona on 4 July with a rare team time trial over 19km and spends three days in north-east Spain before crossing the Pyrenees into France, with a first climbing finish to Les Angles.The threat of pro-Palestinian protests, which overshadowed this year’s Vuelta a Espana and forced the cancellation of the final stage, during the Grand Départ in Catalunya in July appear to have receded, for now

Australia beat India by two wickets in the second men’s one-day international – as it happened

That’s the series 2-0 to Australia, with one to play in Sydney on Saturday. They get the win, and it never really felt as close as the final margin suggests. At 132 for 4, maybe, when Carey fell, or 187 for 5 when it was Short getting out, those were the points when it might have been close. But Connolly settled things down after the Carey wicket, and Owen counterpunched so effectively after Short was out that he more or less finished the contest then and there. India had a slight chance at the end but not enough runs to play with