SOCCER

Players for the World Cup champion women’s national team say mediation talks with the U.S. Soccer Federation in their dispute over equal pay are over.

Molly Levinson, who represents the players in matters concerning the dispute, said in a statement that the players look forward to a jury trial.

“We entered this week’s mediation with representatives of USSF full of hope,” Levinson said. “Today we must conclude these meetings sorely disappointed in the federation’s determination to perpetuate fundamentally discriminatory workplace conditions and behavior.”

U.S. Soccer said it had hoped to reach a resolution, but accused the counsel for the players of “an aggressive and ultimately unproductive approach.”

“We value our players, and have continually shown that, by providing them with compensation and support that exceeds any other women’s team in the world,” the federation’s statement said.

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The players sued U.S. Soccer in March, charging institutionalized gender discrimination that includes inequitable compensation when compared with their counterparts on the men’s national team. The federation countered that pay and benefits for members of the men’s and women’s teams, bargained by separate unions, can’t be compared and said there was no basis for allegations of illegal conduct.

The two sides agreed to mediate the matter once the Women’s World Cup in France was over. The United States beat the Netherlands to win the title last month, and afterward fans in the crowd chanted “Equal Pay!”

FIFA: FIFA has banned a Bolivian official for life from football for being involved in bribery while serving on its audit and compliance committee.

FIFA’s ethics division found Romer Osuna guilty of being part of a bribery scheme from 2012-15 while awarding contracts for the media and marketing rights to South American competitions.

BASEBALL

EASTERN LEAGUE: Mylz Jones hit a two-run homer and Manuel Menendez had an RBI single as the Yard Goats used a three-run second inning in beating the Portland Sea Dogs 5-3 at Hartford, Connecticut.

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Portland remained 4 1/2 games behind first-place Reading in the Eastern Division.

Charlie Madden drove in two runs for the Sea Dogs with a home run and sacrifice fly. Nick Lovullo also had an RBI single for Portland.

GOLF

EUROPEAN TOUR: Gavin Green shot an 8-under 64 for a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Czech Masters at Vysoky Ujezd, Czech Republic.

Erik van Rooyen and Lee Slattery shot 7 under to tie for second.

TRIATHLON

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DISQUALIFICATION: The top two finishers in an Olympic triathlon test event were disqualified after they held hands as they ran across the finish line in a race that had to be shortened because of searing heat in Tokyo.

Britain’s Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown grasped hands as they neared the finish, then raised them high as they crossed the line in a race that was reduced by half, to 5 kilometers, in high humidity and temperatures of around 90 degrees in Odaiba Marina Park. International Triathlon Union officials determined that the two had broken a rule that prohibits athletes from finishing “in a contrived tie situation where no effort to separate the finish times has been made.”

The third-place finisher, Bermuda’s Flora Duffy, was moved up to first with a time of 1:40:19 in all three legs of the triathlon and 17:23 in the running portion. Italy’s Alice Betto was second and Britain’s Vicky Holland third.

Neither Learmonth nor Taylor-Brown explained the reason for their action in the competition, which British Triathlon officials had ruled would not count for Olympic qualification because of the shortened running portion.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: Georgia Tech quarterback Lucas Johnson was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

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Johnson can play three more college seasons after the decision.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Arkansas has dismissed forward Gabe Osabuohien from the program.

Coach Eric Musselman announced the move without disclosing the reason.

HOCKEY

WOMEN: The top female hockey players in Sweden refused to attend training camp or play in an upcoming international tournament in Finland, the latest such move by a women’s national team to get better compensation.

The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation said it had been informed of the looming boycott and was “surprised” at the decision.

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JURISPRUDENCE

NETHERLANDS: With the times she’d been running this season, Dutch athlete Madiea Ghafoor could have earned a trip to the World Championships in Doha next month as part of her country’s 400-meter relay team. Instead, she is in a German jail awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges.

Another promising Dutch sprinter, 21-year-old Roelf Bouwmeester, also won’t be competing any time soon after Hungarian police arrested him earlier this month at a music festival and accused him of drug dealing.

Ad Roskam, technical director of the Dutch track and field association, said the sport’s administrators are in shock at the recent arrests.

“We still have no reason to believe it is anything else than coincidence that we have two cases now, as if one is not shocking enough,” Roskam said in a telephone interview.


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