Digest

SOCCER

Morocco joins Spain-Portugal World Cup bid

King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced on Tuesday that his country had joined the bid by Spain and Portugal to host the centenary World Cup in 2030.

The announcement means that Ukraine is likely to be dropped from the bid.

King Mohammed made the announcement after being named the winner of the African Football Confederation 2022 Award of Excellence in Kigali, where world governing body FIFA is holding its annual congress.

A spokesman for the Spanish soccer federation told AFP it would meet with its Portuguese and Moroccan counterparts in Kigali on Wednesday, but made no mention of Ukraine.

Spain and Portugal declared their joint candidacy in 2021, before adding Ukraine to their bid last October.

A South American bid including Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile is set to challenge the Iberian bid, and Saudi Arabia hopes to lead a joint ticket with Egypt and Greece.

Prosecutor changed in Barca corruption case

Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor's office will take over an investigation into alleged payments made by Barcelona to a company owned by a senior refereeing official with a view to influencing match results, the state attorney general said on Tuesday.

State Attorney General Alvaro Garcia Ortiz ordered that the case be transferred from the public prosecutor's office due to the high-profile nature of the allegations that could constitute significant corruption offenses.

The Spanish government and Real Madrid have joined the complaint filed on Friday by prosecutors against Barcelona and two of the La Liga club's former presidents over alleged payments of more than 7.3 million euros ($7.83 million) from 2001 to 2018 to firms owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

Negreira was vice-president of the refereeing committee of the Spanish Football Association from 1993 to 2018 under then president Victoriano Sanchez Arminio.

SWIMMING

US offers cash for Olympic relay sweep

USA Swimming will reward its athletes financially if the Americans sweep all seven relays at this summer's world championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The program announced Tuesday by the sport's national governing body involves the men's and women's 4x100m medley relays, 4x100 freestyle relays, 4x200 free relays and mixed 4x100 medley relay.

If the US wins all seven of these relays at the world meet in Fukuoka, Japan, this summer, all the pool and open water world team members will split $500,000. If the Americans finish first, second or third in all the relays, they will split $150,000.

At the Paris Olympics, if the US sweeps the relays, all the swimmers will split $1 million. If the team medals in every relay, the athletes will share $250,000.

BASKETBALL

Stoudamire takes the reins at Georgia Tech

Damon Stoudamire managed to get one word out — "Wow!" — before he was overcome with emotion.

The longtime NBA guard is thrilled to be back in the college game, heading a men's basketball program that he thinks can once again be a national powerhouse.

Stoudamire was formally introduced as Georgia Tech's coach on Tuesday, capping a whirlwind search that took only three days after Josh Pastner was fired following another losing season.

"This has been a long journey for me," Stoudamire said, choking back tears. "I'm excited beyond belief to be here."

Stoudamire's only previous head coaching experience came at Pacific, a West Coast Conference school where he posted a 71-77 record over a five-year tenure. He has been a Boston Celtics assistant since 2021, working with a team that reached last year's NBA Finals.

Agencies