NWSL calls off weekend games after sexual misconduct allegations against coach - CBC.ca

FIFA's judicial bodies on Friday opened an investigation into the sexual harassment scandal involving a coach in the National Women's Soccer League as this weekend's games were called off.

Claims by two former players of sexual coercion against Paul Riley led to the North Carolina Courage coach being fired Thursday. FIFA told The Associated Press it was "deeply concerned" by the case and will now be seeking further details from American soccer authorities about the issues raised.

It is rare for world soccer's governing body to make such an intervention in a controversy involving a member association.

"Due to the severity and seriousness of the allegations being made by players, we can confirm that FIFA's judicial bodies are actively looking into the matter and have opened a preliminary investigation," FIFA said in a statement to the AP. "As part of this, FIFA will be reaching out to the respective parties, including US Soccer and NWSL, for further information about the various safeguarding concerns and allegations of abuse that have been raised."

U.S. Soccer suspended Riley's coaching license following a report Thursday by The Athletic in which former NWSL players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim recounted alleged abuse by the English-born Riley.

The alleged harassment of Farrelly started in 2011 when she was a player with the Philadelphia Independence of the now-defunct Women's Professional Soccer league.

She told the website the abuse continued when Farrelly was with the Portland Thorns. Shim, a former Thorns player, also allegedly experienced harassment. The Thorns said Thursday that the team investigated claims about Riley and passed those on to the league when he was dismissed.

"When it comes to misconduct in football," FIFA said, "we would like to reiterate that FIFA's position is clear: anyone found guilty of misconduct and abuse in football shall be brought to justice, sanctioned and removed from the game.

"FIFA takes any allegation of misconduct reported to it extremely seriously and will continue to cooperate together with the relevant national and international authorities on any allegation or report that is made in confidence to FIFA about abuse or misconduct in football."

Signs of a reckoning

NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird said the decision to call off the games this weekend was made with the players' association.

"This week, and much of this season, has been incredibly traumatic for our players and staff, and I take full responsibility for the role I have played. I am so sorry for the pain so many are feeling," said Baird, who came to the NWSL in early 2020. "Recognizing that trauma, we have decided not to take the field this weekend to give everyone some space to reflect. Business as usual isn't our concern right now. Our entire league has a great deal of healing to do, and our players deserve so much better."

OL Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock, who has been playing in the NWSL since its inception in 2013, suggested the league, and women's sports overall, are in the midst of a reckoning.

"I think women athletes specifically have gone through so much over the years, not just women's football," Fishlock said. "I think everybody knows what's happened with USA Gymnastics that has gone on, and this is something that has been happening in women's sports over and over and over again for years and years and years. And we've never felt safe enough to talk about it, and if we ever felt brave enough to talk about it, then it would just get swept under the rug, or we were told that we were in the wrong ... and I think we're at a point now where we're just done."

The National Women's Soccer League didn't specify whether the games were cancelled or postponed. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Riley told The Athletic the allegations were "completely untrue."

Riley was head coach of the Thorns in 2014 and 2015. After he was let go by the Thorns, he became head coach of the Western New York Flash for a season before the team was sold and moved to North Carolina.

Riley was WPS Coach of the Year in 2011 and earned the same honors in the NWSL in 2017 and 2018. The Courage won the NWSL championship in 2018 and 2019.

The NWSL Players' Association said Friday that it requested that this weekend's games be postponed. The union said it hoped fans would understand and support the decision.

"It is OK to take space to process, to feel and to take care of yourself," the union said. "In fact, it's more than OK, it's a priority. That, as players, will be our focus this weekend."

Series of scandals

The union has also called for an independent investigation of the allegations levelled at Riley. The union demanded the suspension of any league or club staff who have been accused of violating the league's anti-harassment policy or of failing to report misconduct, no matter when it occurred.

The union demanded to know how Riley was hired by another club after allegations of misconduct surfaced while he was with the Thorns.

The league did not immediately respond to those demands. The union is currently negotiating its first contract with the league.

In its ninth season, the NWSL has been rocked by several recent scandals involving team officials.

Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke was fired after a Washington Post report detailed verbal and emotional abuse of players. The league formally dismissed Burke and sanctioned the Spirit on Tuesday after an independent investigation.

Richie Burke was fired as coach of the Washington Spirit after reports of verbal and emotional abuse of players. (Getty Images)

Gotham FC general manager Alyse LaHue was fired in July after an investigation connected to the league's anti-harassment policy. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly was fired in September but the reasons for his dismissal were not made public.

OL Reign coach Farid Benstiti abruptly resigned in July. On Friday, OL Reign chief executive officer and minority owner Bill Predmore said Benstiti was asked to step down after an undisclosed incident during practice.

Benstiti had previously been accused by U.S. national team midfielder Lindsay Horan of sexist behaviour during his time as coach of Paris Saint-Germain. Horan has said she was berated by Benstiti because of her weight.

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2021-10-01 17:49:51Z
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Breaking down the Robbie Ray vs. Gerrit Cole 2021 Cy Young race - Sportsnet.ca

Not only was Thursday’s game against the New York Yankees enormously consequential for the Toronto Blue Jays, it also represented the closing argument for Robbie Ray’s Cy Young case.

It’s safe to say that it didn’t go as planned for the southpaw as he allowed five earned runs on four home runs in a six-inning stint. It was his season high for earned runs allowed.

Ray came into the year as the ultimate wild card, and he’s finishing it as a pitcher his team specifically lined up for a Wild Card Game. He’s been nothing short of spectacular, and from his simplified two-pitch repertoire to his internet-famous pants, he’s put up his eye-popping numbers in style.

The question for the southpaw is whether that will be enough, and the answer to that will depend on how voters feel he compares to Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Although a tortured FIP-based argument could be made for Nathan Eovaldi to factor into the race, the reality is that this is Cole vs. Ray.

So, how do the two stack up?

The WAR war

Although not everyone agrees on which version of WAR is the best, or how much weight the metrics should carry, the reality is that Wins Above Replacement will be the first port of call for many awards voters.

This how it breaks down:

There’s a significant difference between how the two models see Ray — we’ll circle back on that — but there isn’t a big enough advantage for either pitcher to establish a frontrunner on this basis.

Edge: Push

The narrative game

There’s an argument to be made that MLB awards are being given more on merit in recent years than they have in the past — no one is winning a Gold Glove based on just 28 games in the field like Rafael Palmeiro did back in 1999 — but that doesn’t mean voters are immune to a good narrative.

This aspect of the race is somewhat unresolved due to the Blue Jays’ unknown playoff fate, but there are some components that are resolved.

Cole has name recognition and a superior win total in his favour, but he doesn’t have too much more to recommend him. The 31-year-old did much of his best work early in the season, and if the Yankees make the playoffs, which is extraordinarily likely at this point, the perception will be that Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton got them there — not their ace. It doesn’t help Cole’s case that he laid an egg in his biggest start of the season on Wednesday night, and his September ERA sits at 5.13.

Ray, on the other hand, has the underdog story working in his favour considering that disastrous 2020 he had, and if the Blue Jays reach the Wild Card game there will be no doubt they couldn’t have gotten there without him. Even if Toronto misses the playoffs, he probably has more narrative goodwill with the voters — especially considering Cole became a face of the “sticky stuff” controversy earlier in the season.

Edge: Ray

There’s a case to be made for leaving it at that. The total value numbers are relatively similar and Ray bests Cole when things get less tangible. However, there is still a debate to be had between the two and it comes down to the best way to value pitchers.

Fielding-independent numbers

If you think the best way to determine pitcher value is to focus your analysis on strikeouts, walks, and home runs, Ray’s case weakens significantly.

Not only does he have the tendency to get victimized by the long ball, none of his other fielding-independent stats match Cole’s:

This looks a little bit grim for Ray, but it requires some context.

Valuing FIP over ERA has some logic behind it, but it also originates from an era before contact quality statistics were readily available. When a pitcher’s ERA used to be higher or lower than their peripherals would indicate, the assumption tended to be that luck was the primary factor at play. Luck still plays a role that we should acknowledge, but now we have Statcast numbers that give us a precise idea of the quality of contact a pitcher is allowing, making it less wise to ignore balls in play.

That’s exactly what FanGraphs’ version of WAR does, which is why it favours Cole by a solid margin.

Edge: Cole

Run prevention and contact management

The number that those who see Ray as the Cy Young favourite cite the most is ERA, where the southpaw has a significant advantage, beating out Cole 2.84 to 3.23. For many voters that will be an unbridgeable gap. The job of a pitcher is to keep runs off the board and there’s no disputing that Ray has done that better than Cole.

Where things get a little sticky is when you look at how that happened. If we establish that Cole has done better than Ray on fielding-independent measures, that means the Blue Jays ace’s advantage comes when the ball is put into play. However, there’s significant evidence to suggest the ball is hit with more authority off Ray than Cole:

That information leaves you a tough spot for Ray because Cole’s got him beat on strikeouts and walks, suppressing home runs, and managing contact with balls in the play.

Based on that information, you wouldn’t expect Ray to have the better ERA, but he does for two reasons. The first is that he’s been supported by better defence. We don’t think of the Blue Jays as a top-tier defence — and they aren’t — but the Yankees have been brutal in the field this year and Toronto has them beat by 70 runs according to DRS and 11.8 by UZR. That’s a massive difference, but the bottom line is that they’ve been better.

The second factor suppressing Ray’s ERA is his incredible rate of stranding runners. The left-hander has left a MLB-leading 90.1 per cent of runners on base compared to Cole’s 77.9. That’s a tricky stat to parse because Ray deserves some credit for performing better with runners on base, and his strikeout ability plays into that, but there’s also some luck and sequencing as well.

For instance, the left-on-base numbers there might have you believe that Ray has performed far better with runners on than Cole has, but they’ve allowed hitters to produce almost identical lines in those situations:

This category is where voters' preferences will come into play because there are multiple ways to interpret it.

Edge: Ray (in most voters’ minds)

It’s probably safe to say that Cole has pitched better than Ray this year. It’s also reasonable to assert that Ray has gotten better results. The race between the two is close enough that a vote for either is valid — but Cole’s case is more esoteric while Ray’s seems more likely to resonate with the voters.

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2021-10-01 14:54:00Z
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Canucks agree to new contracts with Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes - Sportsnet.ca

The Vancouver Canucks agreed to new contracts with the team's two most important players on Friday: Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.

Pettersson's new contract is for three years with a $7.35 million average annual value. Hughes agreed to a six-year deal and a $7.85 million AAV.

Both restricted free agents missed the beginning of training camp while contract negotiations continued and had been training together in Michigan.

Pettersson, 22, is a dynamic offensive talent and the face of the Canucks as the team's No. 1 centre. The 2019 Calder Trophy winner began his career with back-to-back 66-point campaigns before a wrist injury limited him to only 21 points in 26 games last season.

The Canucks added key pieces such as Conor Garland, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jason Dickinson in off-season moves, but Pettersson's return from injury could be the biggest factor in helping Vancouver rebound from a season in which they finished last in the North Division with a 23-29-4 record. Now that he's under contract, Pettersson and the Canucks can begin to map out a plan to return to the post-season for the second time in his career.

Hughes, the 2020 Calder Trophy runner-up to fellow blueliner Cale Makar, was originally drafted by the Canucks in the first round, seventh overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft.

A fixture on the Canucks' power play ever since his debut season, Hughes holds the Canucks' all-time rookie record for points scored on the man-advantage -- a presence he figures to continue having for the club moving forward now that a new deal for his services is in place.

With the deal, Hughes joins blue-line contemporaries Makar and Miro Heiskanen, who signed lucrative, new contracts in July, as high-profile defencemen to sign new deals before the season began. Heiskanen, who plays for the Dallas Stars, earned an eight-year deal worth $8.45 million annually, while the Colorado Avalanche gave Makar a six-year deal with a $9-million AVV.

Now that negotiations are behind him, Hughes, 21, will look to build off his performance last season when he had three goals and 38 assists in 56 games.

With the two Canucks' stars now signed, Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators is the only restricted free agent still looking for a new contract.

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2021-10-01 20:33:00Z
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Why did Tom Brady leave New England Patriots for Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Money, input are reasons - USA TODAY

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Had the New England Patriots been willing to meet a few Tom Brady demands, perhaps the legendary quarterback would have finished his NFL career with the organization. 

Already, Brady has seen his football life post-New England looks a lot like his time there: winning. In his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady won his seventh Super Bowl. 

On Sunday, he'll return to New England for the first time and face his former coach Bill Belichick. It's expected to be a warm homecoming, but some will be left wondering by the end of the night: 

Why isn't Tom Brady with the Patriots anymore? 

Brady wanted fair contract (more money), more input 

With his contract set to expire after the 2019 season, Brady showed up to training camp ready to make a deal to keep him in New England for the rest of his career, Seth Wickersham reported in his upcoming book, "It's Better to Be Feared." Brady, who turned 42 that month, felt he earned the right to a contract that would take him to age 45. Owner Robert Kraft was a proponent of keeping Brady happy.

The talks became contentious, Wickersham reports, with the deadline to ink an extension that month. The Patriots ultimately announced a two-year extension – but those years would void at the completion of the 2019 league year, and the team would not be able to place the franchise tag on the quarterback.

Brady’s house in Brookline, Massachusetts, then went for sale. He quelled suspicion at the time, but it proved to be one of the first steps in his departure. 

"Brady was tired of taking team-friendly deals with no input into how the money saved was spent – and still wanted a long-term contractual commitment," Wickersham writes in his book.

The quarterback also wanted more input on personnel decisions. Belichick pushed back on it and lamented what he felt was a Kraft-Brady alliance. 

"Belichick told associates that every organizational decision now was in support of Brady, geared toward pleasing him and making him successful – and that Kraft meddled with the team, sometimes with opinions, sometimes with restrictive budgets," Wickersham writes.

The Buccaneers signed Brady to a two-year, $50-million contract and extended him another year through 2022. Brady routinely took team-friendly deals so Belichick could spend to address needs across the Patriots' roster. 

Brady-Belichick relationship wore down

Aside from the contract and money, and despite their personality differences, Brady and Belichick found common ground through their work ethic and ambition, Wickersham said on the "ESPN Daily" podcast about his book.

After the Patriots' Super Bowl 51 win over the Atlanta Falcons, per Wickersham, Brady's thinking shifted into his off-field pursuits. Brady recently told the Wall Street Journal "I feel like I'm living two lives" – his current football life, and the post-football life he's already built. 

"‘Hey, we’ve made history now, I can venture out of my own business and promote my own business … I can have a camera crew follow me around for ‘Tom vs. Time’ (documentary),'” Wickersham described the future Hall of Famer's thinking. 

Wickersham referenced a 2017 loss against the Houston Texans, after which Belichick crushed Brady during a film session in front of the team and other coaches further chided his performance.

Brady, Wickersham said on the podcast, is “a relentless positive thinker and positive speaker. There was always going to be an inherent rub to that in Bill Belichick.” Belichick, although also an optimist, had a process that focused on the negatives in every situation. 

Then there was friction over Brady's "fitness guru" and friend Alex Guerrero, who guided the famous "TB12 method" that drives the quarterback's namesake wellness company and lifestyle. Belichick apparently banned him from the team plane; Guerrero has his own office in Tampa Bay, according to Wickersham.

Belichick also appeared to question Brady's toughness following a comeback victory in the 2017 AFC championship game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Brady suffered a cut on his hand in practice that week. 

“Tom did a great job and he’s a tough guy. We all know that, all right?” replied Belichick when asked whether the injury affected the game plan. “But we’re not talking about open heart surgery here.” 

No matter: the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl. The damage had been done though. Brady told those close to him he no longer desired to play for Belichick, per Wickersham. 

Brady wanted to try things away from New England 

During an April 2020 interview on "The Howard Stern Show" (Sirius XM) – a two-hour affair with the legendary talk radio host, his first extensive public comments since signing in Tampa Bay – Brady was open and revealing when asked about his legacy being tied to Belichick. 

"I think it's a pretty (expletive) argument actually that people would say that. Because, again, I can't do his job and he can't do mine," he told Stern. "The fact you could say, 'Would I be as successful without him, the same level of success?' I don't think I would have been. But I feel the same in vice versa as well. 

"To have him allowed me to be the best that I could be. So I'm grateful for that, and I very much believe he feels the same way about me because we've expressed that to each other." 

Stern asked: "But Tom, isn't there some resentment on your part, that he didn't make you a Patriot for life?" 

"No, absolutely not," Brady answered. "Because this is a part of my life to experience something very different." 

How it ended: a tearful goodbye

As coronavirus pandemic precautions went into effect during mid-March 2020, Brady texted Kraft to arrange a socially distanced meet-up.

Kraft had done his best to hold the trio together, Wickersham said. He was aware of Brady’s dwindling patience and he offered olive branches to the quarterback.

“We’re not gonna continue together,” Brady told Kraft. Both men started to cry, according to Wickersham. 

Brady also wanted to visit Belichick, who said he was not available. This week the coach denied the assertion he didn't want to meet in person. During a phone call that night, Belichick offered effusive praise, Wickersham reported. Brady said this week their relationship is in good standing. 

"They were no longer overlord and star employee, but two employees who together had accomplished something unprecedented that was coming to an end," Wickersham said.

Onto Tampa Bay was it was for Brady. So far, so good – for him. 

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.

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2021-10-01 11:27:19Z
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Ray rocked by Yankees' long ball, putting Blue Jays playoff hopes on ropes - Toronto Sun

Author of the article:

Rob Longley

Bo Bichette of the Blue Jays narrowly avoids a pitch in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 in Toronto. Photo by COLE BURSTON /GETTY IMAGES

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Robbie Ray was coming up aces — again.

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Through five innings at a Rogers Centre electrified by a monster RBI double from Vlad Guerrero Jr. in the bottom of the inning, Ray had allowed just one hit and managed to get DJ LeMahieu to ground out to open the sixth.

Couple that with an out-of-town update beamed through the open-roofed dome showing the Boston Red Sox losing lopsidedly to the Orioles, suddenly the let’s-get-to-the-playoffs party was ready to rock among the sellout crowd of 29,659.

And then Ray took one on the chin. And another. And then one more for good measure in what could be the hard-throwing lefty’s final act in a short but near spectacular tenure with the Jays.

First, a shot to the right (from the Yankees Anthony Rizzo), then one to centre (from the next batter Aaron Judge, with his second of the game) and then the knockout blow, also to centre, a two-run shot from Gleyber Torres.

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Just like that, the Jays were on the canvas, Ray was out of the game and the Yankees well on their way to a clutch and critical 6-2 win that put their AL East rival’s playoff aspirations on life support.

Just like that, a one-hitter turned Ray into a punch-drunk pitcher left to hand the ball to manager Charlie Montoyo and exit the mound, barely able to look up at the crowd applauding his breakthrough season.

And just like that, the Jays’ playoff hopes took a sideswipe and will require a huge weekend with some help from both coasts of the U.S. to qualify.

Anthony Rizzo of the New York Yankees celebrates his home run with Aaron Judge in the sixth inning. COLE BURSTON/GETTY IMAGES“They can hit,” a sullen Ray said after matching a career-high for homers allowed. “They’ve proven it all year. That’s a tough lineup from top to bottom.”

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All losses with so much on the line have an excruciating element to them. But this was a tough one to stomach on so many fronts for the Jays, who dropped two of three to the Yankees and now need a magical final weekend to advance.

For Ray, it was the most untimely of nights to allow five earned runs, his most of the season. And his usual strikeout prowess was missing as the Yankees laid off his slider. Ray had just four strikeouts, his fewest since Aug. 2, but still is the heavy favourite to capture the American League Cy Young Award.

Worse yet, the four hits he allowed were all homers, with Judge’s first of the night — a mammoth 455 shot just below the scoreboard in centre — opening the scoring in the first inning and the rock ’em, sock ’em sixth the lefty’s ultimate downfall.

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Boston did go on to lose 6-2 in Baltimore, meaning the Jays now trail both Boston and Seattle by a full game for the second wild-card spot and are a distant three behind the Yankees, who can smell the wire.

It almost certainly will necessitate a weekend sweep of the Orioles here while hoping the Red Sox drop at least one to Washington and Seattle at least one to the Los Angeles Angels.

The Jays certainly haven’t helped themselves down the stretch of what is now a four-horse race, losing six of their past 10.

“We have to win every game now for sure,” Montoyo said, his one-game-at-a-time mantra now loaded with urgency.

That they are still alive heading to Game 160 will feel like a hollow accomplishment at this point, however, but given the wild swings in this race, they’ll see what happens.

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If the Jays don’t make it through, it’s a solid possibility that Thursday’s outing was Ray’s last as a Jay, a brilliant campaign that saw him emerge as the ace of the Toronto staff. His 5.1 innings in his regular-season finale included three walks and four strikeouts.

It was the four hits allowed that had the lefty shaking his head in disbelief as Montoyo took him out of the game. Four hits, all of them leaving the park and all of them no-doubters.

When the Bronx Bombers go bombing, they do it in style. In their past 21 games, 74 of their 110 runs have been scored via the long ball. And Thursday was the fourth time this season they’ve banged out five or more.

The three from a run of four batters in the sixth was as prodigious as it gets, of course. But forget the silliness of questioning whether Montoyo left Ray into long. The bull of the Jays staff was pitching like the Cy Young favourite he has become.

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He just happened to run into a formidable group of Yankees hitters confident and competent enough to administer the knockout blow.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

GAME ON

While Ray was the main victim, the Yankees had a fifth hit (and a fifth homer) in them off the bat of centre fielder Brett Gardner, a solo effort in the ninth … Helping keep the Jays within reach was righty Nate Pearson, who threw two scoreless innings of relief, striking out four while featuring a fastball hitting 102 miles per hour … The Jays’ bid for a rally began in the eighth when red-hot Bo Bichette blasted a leadoff double but fizzled rather spectacularly when Teoscar Hernandez, Corey Dickerson and Alejandro Kirk struck out in order … They got the lead man on in the ninth, as well … When he’s on, Judge can be one of the most prolific sluggers in the game and that was certainly the case in this series. His pair of homers on Thursday bumped his season total to 39 … The Jays tied it up in the second on a two-out double from Dickerson that drove in Bichette, who led off the inning with a single.

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1. 

   Bronx Bombers light up Blue Jays in opener of big Rogers Centre series

2. 

   SIMMONS: Is this the way it ends for Robbie Ray and the Blue Jays?

3. 

   Bichette brings down the house with two-homer night as Blue Jays ding Yankees

WILD STUFF

The Jays have had to worry about every out and every inning — almost literally — before they can plan for the potential wildness of next week.

But pitching coach Pete Walker admits the coaching staff has advanced planned for every possible permutation that awaits.

“We’ve thought it all through, obviously the different scenarios,” Walker said. “But really, our focus is on winning each night, but we have adjusted things.

“It will be good to have (Jose) Berrios and Ray available for tiebreakers and wild cards.”

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Meanwhile, the array of possibilities for next week have been mind-boggling for the Jays, even with Thursday’s result.

Among the craziest of scenarios, the team had to plan for a season-ending game here on Sunday — with a strong possibility of it being must-win, followed by a potential trip to Seattle for a game Monday and with a win, back to New York for a wild-card game Tuesday.

And that’s just one of a dozen or more potential scenarios that tend to boggle the mind, especially with the Mariners being prominent in the fray.

AROUND THE BASES

For the season-ending series against the O’s beginning on Friday, Montoyo plans to run out Steven Matz, Alek Manoah and Hyun-Jin Ryu as his starters … Lourdes Gurriel Jr. wasn’t available on Thursday, nursing the injured finger gashed by teammate Randal Grichuk’s cleat.

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2021-10-01 02:52:36Z
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Bryson DeChambeau cruises into Round of 16 at PLDA World Championship - Golf Channel

Bryson DeChambeau’s week in Mesquite, Nevada will extend at least another day as he advanced to the Round of 16 at the Professional Long Driver’s Association World Championship.

DeChambeau finished in a four-way tie for fourth place among his group of 16 competitors, with the top 8 moving on to Friday.

There were two groups of 16 battling on Thursday. Each group competed in five sets, hitting six balls in each set. Points were earned based on how a player finished in each set, and each set matched up a player with three different competitors from the same group, round-robin style. Winners of each set earned 200 points, second got 100, third 50 and fourth 25 points. Group standings were determined by total points earned.

The top eight players in each group advanced.

Facing a varying wind – sometimes 20 mph into the players, sometimes 10 mph right to left – DeChambeau competed in the second group, at 3:45 p.m. local time. His first set got off to a rough start with three balls OB, but his fifth drive went 358 yards, which was long enough to win the set.

He finished third and second in his next two sets, respectively, but locked up a spot in the Round of 16 by easily winning the fourth set with a longest drive of 333 yards. DeChambeau matched that number in the fifth set, but it was only good for fourth place.

Still, DeChambeau accumulated enough points to advance to Friday’s play, which will begin again at 3:45 p.m. local time under the same set of rules, with one group of 16. The championship format will include eight players broken into two groups of four and will continue to be reduced in half until a winner is crowned.

Click here for more details on who advanced from each group on Thursday.

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2021-10-01 00:38:45Z
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Afghan girls soccer team in Portugal gets surprise visit - CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

LISBON, Portugal (AP) - Girls from the Afghanistan national soccer team who were recently granted asylum in Portugal have had a surprise visit from the captain of the senior team.

Farkhunda Muhtaj, a professional player who from her home in Canada spent weeks helping arrange their recent rescue from Afghanistan, flew into the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, for an emotional reunion with the girls' team late Wednesday.

As the sun set over the River Tagus, the girls aged 14-16 and their families gathered on the riverbank and hugged and kissed Muhtaj amid smiles and tears.

“They have dedicated so much, they have been so resilient, and to finally see them in person has been so emotional because I knew how much they went through,” Muhtaj said.

After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the girls and their families tried to leave their country. They feared how their lives might change under the Taliban - not only because women and girls are not allowed to play sports, but because they were advocates for girls and active members of their communities.

What made the rescue mission harder was the size of the group - 80 people, including the 26 youth team members as well as adults and other children, including infants.

“You are a fantastic nation for impacting the lives of so many girls and for supporting us in so many ways and providing these girls with asylum,” Muhtaj said, thanking Portugal for taking them in.

The rescue mission, called Operation Soccer Balls, was coordinated with the Taliban through an international coalition of former U.S. military and intelligence officials, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, U.S. allies, and humanitarian groups, according to Nic McKinley, a CIA and Air Force veteran who founded Dallas-based DeliverFund, a nonprofit that's secured housing for 50 Afghan families.

On Thursday, the girls practiced with Muhtaj at a soccer pitch in Odivelas, outside Lisbon.

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2021-09-30 23:30:19Z
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