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Barcelona, Osasuna appeals rejected over rearranged match date

BARCELONA: Barcelona and Osasuna’s appeals against the rescheduled date of their postponed La Liga match were rejected Thursday by the Spanish football federation’s appeals committee. The La Liga leaders will host Osasuna on March 27, after the game was canceled when a Barcelona club doctor died on the original date, March 8. Barcelona appealed against the new date because it allowed some of their players “insufficient time to rest” following international duty. “Precedent... establishes that national team call-ups are not sufficient grounds for rescheduling a match...

Not just a dunker, Canada's Toby Fournier excelling on all fronts as she leads Duke into March Madness

Star forward and leading scorer for the Duke Blue Devils. Freshman of the year. A conference title and a top two seed in March Madness.

NBA champion Boston Celtics to be sold for a record $6.1B US: reports

A group led by Symphony Technology Group managing partner William Chisholm has agreed to purchase the Boston Celtics for at least $6.1 billion US, which would make the sale the richest in U.S. major pro sports history, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Thursday.

Japan first to seal World Cup spot as South Korea, Australia get closer

HONG KONG: Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday as South Korea were held but still inched closer along with a rampant Australia. Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo scored in the second half to give Japan a 2-0 home win over Bahrain and take their place alongside hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico at next year’s finals. The runaway Asian Group C leaders failed to sparkle on a chilly night in Saitama until substitute Kamada pounced for the opener in the 66th minute. In front of nearly 60,000 fans, Kubo added another in the 87th minute as Japan sealed their berth in style. It will be their eighth straight World Cup appearance. “I’m relieved that we could qualify at home in front of our supporters,” said Kubo, before he and his team-mates doused coach Hajjime Moriyasu with water. “This here is not our goal — we want to compete against strong teams at the World Cup.” Australia are in pole position to qualify out of Group C with Japan. Two goals in two minutes helped the Socceroos secure a 5-1 thrashing of Indonesia as Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert was well beaten in his first game in charge. Japan lead on 19 points.