• The Canadian Press

    Champions League semis: Bayern hosts Madrid then Dortmund welcomes PSG

    Bayern Munich will host Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund hosts Paris Saint-Germain in the first legs of the Champions League semifinals. Bayern-Madrid is on April 30, and Madrid will stage the return leg on May 8. Dortmund-PSG is on May 1, and PSG has the second leg on May 7. The scheduling was on Thursday. Madrid beat defending champion Manchester City 4-3 on penalties at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday after the game finished 1-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate. Bayern beat Arsenal 1-0 to advan

  • The Canadian Press

    Israeli soccer facing Palestinian calls for action by FIFA at annual congress

    GENEVA (AP) — Calls for action against Israel in international soccer because of the conflict with Hamas will be stepped up by Palestinian officials at the annual FIFA congress next month. The Palestine Football Association proposal to 211 member federations in Thailand calls for “appropriate sanctions, with immediate effect, against Israeli teams,” according to FIFA documents released late Wednesday, one month before the May 17 meeting. The motion notes “international law violations committed b

  • The Canadian Press

    Fernando Tatis Jr. has 50 custom cleats planned this year, including odes to Gwynn, Curry and more

    SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. had Tony Gwynn with him when he rounded the bases after a dramatic, go-ahead home run against the Chicago Cubs last week. The San Diego Padres star stutter-stepped into third base with his right cleat, designed with the look of the team's home white pinstriped jerseys from 1998, when Gwynn led the Padres to their most recent World Series. Tatis’ left cleat was in the brown and yellow color scheme from the 1980s. Both cleats had “Mr. Padre” on the back to honor

  • The Canadian Press

    NFL draft has potential to set a record for most players on offense selected in the first round

    The NFL draft will be offensive. We’re not talking about hurt feelings. This draft has the potential to set a record for most offensive players selected in the first round. No draft has seen more than 19 players on offense chosen in the first round. That happened three times, most recently in 2009. Many draft experts are predicting more than 20 offensive players will go in the first round and some have up to 25. The AP’s final mock draft had 22 going in the first round, including 10 offensive li