Saudi Arabia to stop funding LIV Golf next season

Saudi Arabia will withdraw its multi-billion dollar backing of LIV Golf at the end of the season, plunging the future of the series into further doubt, BBC Sport has been told. somethingsdifferent.biz

The breakaway tour is set to announce on Thursday a "new strategic plan" to find new financial investors.

According to well-placed sources, the breakaway tour will also confirm new board members as it tries to move forward with fresh leadership.

It comes amid reports that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) could confirm that its governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is stepping down from LIV's board.

Al-Rumayyan co-founded LIV in 2021 and has been the tour's most powerful figure.

This week LIV postponed its June event in New Orleans, meaning it will not have any tournaments in the US between 10 May until 6 August, when it goes to Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.

BBC Sport has been told LIV remains hopeful of remaining an international tour with a team model, and that it is in "constructive" talks with potential investors.

Sources indicated that executives are exploring a number of opportunities to "reposition" the business. They said LIV Golf was on course to earn $100m (£86m) more in 2026 than last season.

But officials accept it is likely the series will have to be significantly scaled back, with far fewer events.

Team captains have been warned that the company will reveal plans to find new financial backers on Thursday.

LIV declined to comment.

This month LIV Golf chief executive Scott O'Neil told players the 2026 season would continue "as planned and uninterrupted" amid rumours the tour was on the verge of collapse, although he did not address what might lie ahead.

It came as PIF announced a new strategy, with a focus on more sustainable investments.

The LIV project, which pivoted to a more traditional 72-hole format this year, has been bankrolled by an eye-watering amount of money from PIF.

Major winners Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith are among the players who compete on the tour.

The overall investment surpassed $5bn (£3.8bn) when fresh capital of $267m (£229m) was injected this year.

The tour's net losses in markets outside the US increased to $462m (£340m) in 2024, meaning it had lost more than $1.1bn (£810m) since it was established in 2021.

With vast amounts of money pumped into the US arm of the operation, losses look likely to run to several billion dollars.

PIF has been approached for comment.

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While the NFL world has focused on the 2026 NFL Draft this week, it's been a difficult few days for the Washington Commanders. On Sunday, Washington lost a franchise legend when former linebacker Monte Coleman died. He was 68.

An 11th-round pick back in the 1979 NFL Draft, Coleman would go on to play 16 NFL seasons — all with the Redskins. He played on four Super Bowl teams and was a three-time Super Bowl champion. Coleman wasn't just on those teams; he was a key defender for years. Coleman was one of the NFL's most athletic linebackers throughout his career. That type of skill set would make him valuable in today's NFL.

The loss of Coleman has impacted Washington fans and several legendary former Redskins. Tributes have poured in for Coleman, including from Commanders Wire. It's almost impossible to encapsulate what Coleman meant to many of his former teammates, coaches and the fans. Not only was Coleman a terrific player, but an honorable man.

On Wednesday, Hall of Fame Washington coach Joe Gibbs weighed in on Coleman's passing.

"Monte meant so much to the Washington community," Gibbs wrote. "He was a fan favorite. He played his entire 16-year career with us, and only Darrell (Green) played in more games in franchise history. He was a key part of all our Super Bowl teams. He was really respected by his teammates, leading by example through his preparation and his workout routines. He really had a tremendous work ethic. He applied all those same qualities into his coaching at University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. But more impressive than all of that is the type of person that Monte was. He truly was well liked by everyone he came into contact with. We are praying for his wife, Yvette, and his children."

Others, such as Joe Jacoby, Joe Theismann, Charles Mann and Doc Walker, all fondly remembered Coleman this week. Coleman is a member of Washington's Ring of Fame and was also named one of the franchise's 80 greatest players.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Joe Gibbs remembers Monte Coleman

Welcome to the FC Bayern Campus Round Up, where the matches of Bayern Munich’s U-23, U-19 and U-17 squads are recapped, line ups are provided and the highlights to the matches are hyperlinked on top of their respective score line. Remember, to watch highlights one needs to have established an account on the website but there is no need to spend any money. The DFB YouTube channel streamed the U-17’s game this weekend, so, provided one is situated in Germany or has a VPN, the whole match can be viewed here.

Information on the matches of the U-23, U-19, U-17 and the other youth teams down to the U-14 teams is provided by the official FC Bayern website here, here, here and here, respectively. If you wish to learn more about the format of the U-17 and U-19’s youth leagues and what is at stake, you can find more info here. Additionally, none of these matches can be viewed in full length without a paid FCBayernTV subscription. Without further ado, here is the round up:

Bayern II (U-23s) 1-0 TSV Aubstadt, Matchday 31

Bayern lineup (with subs): Bärtl – Schuhbauer, Heindl, Puljić, Yanda – Rüger (72. Chemwor), Deziel Jr., Sadat (72. Darboe) – Hentcho Nseke (63. Schmitz), Heinz, Scott (90.+2 Zöls)

Unused subs: Kösters

Goal: 1:0 Heinz (41.)

Unavailable players: Tim Binder, Leon Klanac, Steve Breitkreuz, Younes Aitamer, Louis Richter, David Santos Daiber, Artur Degraf, Maycon Cardozo, Guido Della Rovere, Deniz Ofli

Position: 9., 43 points

Bayern II’s season has been drifting for a long time now with nothing to play for. Most recently, they were humiliated 4-1 in midweek by top of the table Nürnberg II. How Nürnberg’s U-23s are so far ahead of Bayern’s despite the former’s much more modest funding is anyone’s guess. Meanwhile, every other youth team is either competing for a championship or making it into the knockout phases of league play, so this time is not even useful for promoting youngsters to the U-23s. Still, likely due to the lack of personnel at the wing, U-19 player Aristide Hentcho Nseke has been called up to the team and is doing quite well. For a team that has had to play a left back (Julien Yanda) and a right back (Maximilian Schuhbauer) on the wings in previous games, it is quite a change of pace.

The aforementioned full back duo were back in their more usual positions this games, while Hentcho Nseke and Michael Scott roamed the wings. Scott also had a good game, making some dangerous dribbles and providing the cross for the match winner. Given the senior team’s lack of personnel on the wing and his recent training session with the senior team, perhaps Scott can make his Bundesliga debut in the coming.

Star striker Anton Heinz, returning from a two game suspension, resumed regular business and scored the only goal with the game with an outrageously clinical header.

There are three games left in this season for the U-23s.

Bayern U-19s 3-3 Rasenballsport Leipzig U-19s, Matchday 10

Bayern lineup (with subs): Prescott – Moumouni, Mijatović (65. Pavlić), Schäfer, Ajayi – Olychenko, Gashi (86. Matosevic), Schmid (65. Snip) – Egwuatu (86. Chemwor), Codjo-Evora, Wilson (46. Lambe).

Goals: 1:2 Konate (12.), 1:1 Gashi (27.), 2:1 Egwuatu (30.), 2:2 Konate (36.), 2:3 Al Khalaf (40.), 3:3 Olychenko (79.)

Unavailable players: Chivano Wijks, Wisdom Mike, Michel Ekodi, Cassiano Kiala, Chris Afanou

This was the climactic final day of the season, in which Bayern would try to do enough to qualify in the top 4 of the table. They would have to do that by hosting Leipzig, the team top of the table. No pressure, eh?

So that things would remain really tense, Bayern would naturally concede the first goal. Striker Yll Gashi dropped deep to help open up the play but only succeeded in giving the ball away to a Leipzig forward. One pass later and the ball was in the back of Leonard Prescott’s net within 12 minutes. Leipzig would continue to look like the more dangerous team after the goal, despite having nothing to play for, before Bayern’s equalizer swung the game in the home side’s favor.

It would be the two main protagonists of the game, Gashi and Bogdan Olychenko, who played crucial roles in the goal. Olychenko crossed the ball in, Leopold Schmid headed it back across goal and Bayern’s #9 made up for his previous mistake and buried the ball into the back of the net. 1-1. Gashi would then provide a positive example of dropping deep, picking up the ball on the right hand side near the halfway line and bending a beautiful pass through to Frank Egwuatu, whose audacious attempt to squeeze the ball in from a nearly impossible angle was rewarded with the go ahead goal. 2-1.

But, of course, the game would not remain calm and again Gashi was involved, failing to rise as high as Leipzig’s Konate at an opposition corner and only being able to watch as the equalizer was netted. Some lax defending from captain Luis Schäfer would allow Leipzig to steal ahead to end a breathless half 3-2 in favor of the visitors.

Desperate, Bayern threw all they had at the visitors to level the game. Gashi was denied, as was Olychenko twice. But there were big gaps at the back, with Prescott being called upon to keep the deficit at just one goal. Finally, near the end of the match, Olychenko won the ball inside the penalty area, jinked past a couple of defenders and wrong footed the goalkeeper to finally find the equalizer. Bayern even had the better chances to find a winner, with Gasi’s free shot from about the penalty spot only kept out with an utterly world class save by the Leipzig No.1

But the game would end square, meaning this is the final table:

1. Rasenballsport Leipzig, 20 points, GD 5
2. FC Kaisersalutern, 17 points, GD 5
3. Hannover 96, 17 points, GD 2
4. FC Bayern, 15 points, GD 8
5. Borussia Mönchengladbach, 15 points, GD 4
6. Berliner AK, 0 points, GD -24

Clearly, the good news is that Bayern secured progress from the group in a very difficult campaign. But the team may also look back at Gashi’s late missed chance and wonder what might have been. Remember, fourth placed teams gets drawn to play away to first placed teams in other groups while third placed teams get draw to play away to a second placed team. If Bayern had won the match, they would have jumped to 2nd in the table on goal difference, securing a much more favorable draw as well as a home game.

As it is, Bayern will travel to FC Köln U-19s for the first knockout round in a single tie elimination game on Saturday, May 2. The Billy Goat’s youth team finished top of Group G with 20 points and will be favorites to advance in this tie.

Schalke 04 U-17s 1-0 Bayern U-17s, Knockout Round 1- ELIMINATED

Bayern lineup (with subs): Podar-Sitube – El-Chaar, Gashi (80. Attalai) , Pavić (46. Pucci), Nuraj – Zogaj, Schaff – Hentcho Nseke (80. Maspimby), von Taube, Danioko (56. Turbic) – Assomo (46. Babl).

Goal: 1:0 Bangoura (40.)

Unavailable players: Jakub Horvath, Valentin Beckert, Kubo Horoszczak, Luis Nadler, Jonas El-Allali, Wisdom Imade, Erblin Osmani

Position: Season over

This is a very good example of how a less than satisfying finish in the league table can hamper a team. Bayern U-17’s 3rd place finish in the table was good, considering that the team was outside of the top 4 places for most of the campaign, but the finish still saw them drawn to play a road trip away to Schalke 04’s U-17s. Schalke finished 2nd on 22 points in their group, missing out on the top spot only on goal difference behind Bochum’s U-17s. For the sake of context, Bayern collected just 14 points.

Bayern were up against it but put out a very strong lineup. Most notably, star strikers Philipp von Taube and Bastian Assomo lined up to play together for the first time since October 2025. Meanwhile, do not be fooled by the name of Hentcho Nseke in the line up. That is Aristide’s little brother, Aviel, who played in today’s match.

Unfortunately, it would be goalkeeping uncertainty that would decide the match. David Podar-Stiube has enjoyed a fairly solid campaign despite some blow out losses, but he had a very poor game. He had already been bailed out a couple of times, including a wayward excursion out of the box, when a seemingly harmless shot sailed at him in the 40th minute. He flapped at it, however, allowing it to go over his head towards the net. He managed to push it out but only right in front of the line, where Schalke’s Bangoura would tap it in for the game’s only goal.

Assomo, still only haf-fit, could last no longer than 45 minutes. Still, Bayern pushed and pushed, getting mightily close to the equalizer. The closest they got was in the 72nd minute, when von Taube brilliantly controlled a cross from winger Simon Schaff, took it past a defender and got a clean shot off from seven yards. It was well hit and close to the corner, but Schalke goalkeeper Yüksel Kücük made a genuinely world class save that even the likes of former Schalke player Manuel Neuer would be proud of.

So it would finish 1-0 to the hosts, who move on to the quarterfinals. As for Bayern’s U-17s, they are eliminated from the league with this loss and their season is over in April. The team will have to re-group and do much better next season.

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

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Bruno Fernandes has been Manchester United’s most consistent performer over the years.

He has made 323 senior appearances for the club, bagging 106 goals and 106 assists in the process.

Fernandes has just over a year left on his current contract at Old Trafford, fueling speculations he could leave in the summer transfer window.

However, United’s bosses are confident the team’s recent success, as well as potential summer signings, will see the Portuguese pledge his future to the Manchester giants, per the Mirror.

The Red Devils only need two more points from their final four Premier League fixtures to guarantee qualification for next season’s Champions League.

United have revived their fortunes since Michael Carrick took over as interim manager.

They have won nine and lost just two of their 13 Premier League matches under the English boss.

With Champions League qualification almost secured, the club have already started preparations for the summer transfer window.

They want to add two midfielders to the squad, with Casemiro leaving at the end of the season.

United could pursue a third if Manuel Ugarte also follows the Brazilian out of the club.

The Red Devils are looking for an experienced striker to share the goalscoring burden with Benjamin Sesko.

Meanwhile, the club also need a left-back, with Tyrell Malacia leaving and Luke Shaw injury-prone.

Stats from Transfermarkt

Ashley Sanchez scored in the 76th minute and the North Carolina Courage rallied in the second half for a 2-2 tie with the Boston Legacy on Wednesday, preventing the National Women’s Soccer League expansion team from winning its first match.

Elsewhere, the San Diego Wave lost 2-0 at the Portland Thorns; Gotham FC beat the Chicago Stars 2-0; and Racing Louisville fell to the Washington Spirit 1-0.

The Legacy did earn the first point in club history, but they remain at the bottom of the standings.

Alba Caño scored in the fifth minute off a pass from Nichelle Prince on the right wing to give Boston a quick 1-0 lead at Gillette Stadium. Eight minutes later, Prince cut back on the edge of the six-yard box and found Massachusetts native Sammy Smith, who fired a shot into the top right of the net.

North Carolina's Dani Weatherholt scored in the 53rd minute off a corner kick to make it 2-1. Uno Shiragaki had the initial shot and Casey Murphy’s knockdown block fell right at Weatherholt’s feet as she punched it to the left side of the net.

Portland rises to the top

In a match between the league's top two teams at Providence Park in Portland, the Thorns snapped San Diego's five-game winning streak to climb to the top of the standings.

Marie Muller scored her first career NWSL goal in the 10th minute to put the Thorns on the board. Sophia Wilson extended the lead in the 64th, scoring her second goal of the season.

It was the second time these two teams met this season. San Diego won the first battle last month 3-1.

Scoring woes over for Gotham

Despite just scoring two goals before the international break earlier this month, Gotham FC’s scoring woes appear to be over.

In their first two games back, they scored five goals defeating Bay FC 3-0 at home and then got two more goals in the shut out of the Stars on the road.

Jordynn Dudley scored in the first minute of the match after Jaedyn Shaw’s cross ran through the back line of the Stars' defense. It was the second-fastest goal in club history.

In the 10th minute, Rose Lavelle was left wide open and volleyed a shot past Alyssa Naeher.

Katie Atkinson, who played in the Stars’ previous two matches, was inactive with a thigh injury.

Rodman scores, Andi Sullivan returns to the pitch

Trinity Rodman scored her 30th career goal in the 15th minute with a cross-body volley strike from the middle of the penalty box at Audi Field in Washington.

Andi Sullivan came on in the 63rd minute after a long absence. She tore her ACL at the end of the 2024 season and was on maternity leave in 2025.

The Spirit have shut out four straight opponents, winning three and drawing against Denver 0-0.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer