Investigators say that former Olympic gymnastics coach John Geddert sexually assaulted a 14-year-old and routinely abused his gymnasts physically and verbally, leading multiple gymnasts to attempt suicide, according to court documents obtained by ESPN.

Geddert was charged with 24 felonies Thursday morning, including multiple counts of human trafficking and sexual assault. Hours later, he was found dead in his car at an interstate highway rest stop. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel confirmed that his death was by suicide. Geddert was 63.

Geddert coached the 2012 Olympic team to a gold medal in London and worked closely with disgraced national team doctor Larry Nassar for more than a quarter century. Among the charges against Geddert was a claim that he lied to police about his knowledge of Nassar's serial sexual abuse, much of which took place in the gym that Geddert owned, Twistars USA Gymnastics Club.

When the news broke of Geddert's suicide, the gymnastics community reacted with a mix of shock and anger, stemming largely from a concern Geddert's alleged crimes would not be revealed in full during his criminal trial and his victims would not have an opportunity to get some form of closure.

"Someone who cannot own up to their actions, especially actions that have negatively affected young children into their adult lives forever, is the biggest coward there is," said Lindsey Hull, who trained with Geddert at Twistars and says she was sexually assaulted by Nassar on hundreds of occasions at the club. "The case is considered done, but we'll never have an actual ending. Only what we can assume." ESPN has obtained a court document, first reported by Detroit News, which reveals at least some of the information that might have come out in open court, had Geddert not taken his own life. The allegations detailed by a special investigator with the Michigan Attorney General's office paint a picture of a coach who routinely terrorized and assaulted young girls at his gym.

In court testimony Wednesday morning, the investigator detailed Geddert's alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old gymnast. Geddert, the investigator said, followed the gymnast into the Twistars locker room after practice and threw her up against the wall. The gymnast was wearing her leotard at the time, which had been pulled down to her waist. Geddert groped her under her bra and then lifted her up while inserting a finger into her vagina, according to the court testimony.

During the assault, Geddert leaned in and told the young gymnast: "This wouldn't be happening if you just completed my assignment at practice like you were supposed to the day before," the court document states.

The investigator told the court Wednesday that when the victim went home after practice she found blood in her underwear, threw up several times and cried herself to sleep.

Multiple women told investigators they attempted suicide after years of trauma from training with Geddert. One of those women said Geddert ignored serious injuries on multiple occasions and forced her to continue practicing. She said at one point Geddert called her a "disrespectful bitch" and told her she "should climb off the top of the rafters of the gym, jump off and kill herself."

Multiple others who were interviewed by investigators reported that they had heard Geddert tell them or other gymnasts to kill themselves.

A different gymnast told investigators that Geddert told her to lie about a suicide attempt because he was worried what it would do to his reputation and her ability to get a college scholarship. That former gymnast said she stopped eating for a while after routinely being criticized by Geddert for her weight. Her experience at the gym led her to suffer from panic attacks. After she attempted suicide, Geddert "required her to apologize to him" and decided that she should tell others that she was just having an allergic reaction, according to the investigator's testimony.

Accounts from other gymnasts in the court documents show a pattern of Geddert downplaying serious injuries, pushing gymnasts to train in unsafe conditions, berating young girls for their weight and their intelligence, spitting in their faces and stomping on their bare feet when he was unhappy with their performance. Geddert's coaching led many of those who were interviewed to develop disordered eating, panic attacks and self-harming behavior like cutting.

Geddert had been investigated by Michigan police as far back as November 2011. The parent of a Twistars gymnast, who also worked at the club, told state police that Geddert followed her into the parking lot after an argument during practice. The woman told police Geddert screamed obscenities at her, among other things calling her "white trailer trash" and assaulted her by stepping on her foot and chest bumping her.

In a second incident, in October 2013, an 11-year-old gymnast, Makayla Johnson, said Geddert grew furious when she failed to execute a routine, followed her into the locker room and proceeded to scream at her before twisting her arm and pushing her into a wall.

When Johnson's grandmother, Jacqueline Hampton filed a report with state police, Larry Nassar sent her a text message on Geddert's behalf, pleading with her to drop the case.

"Just ask to drop it, if you are not 100% sure you want to close John's gym and have him banned from USAG for the rest of his life," Nassar said in a text message, which she shared with ESPN.

Geddert was not charged with a crime after either the 2011 or 2013 incidents but USA Gymnastics did hire a private investigator to look into claims about his coaching behavior. There is no record of Geddert being disciplined by USA Gymnastics at that time.

Johnson is now 18 and goes by Makayla Hampton. She told ESPN she was one of the former Twistar's gymnasts referenced in Thursday's hearing, during which the special investigator detailed Geddert's alleged crimes. When asked about her reaction to Geddert's suicide, Hampton said, "My heart breaks for the family but it doesn't change the fact that I didn't get any closure from it."

Hampton said she's suffered from anxiety for years since leaving Twistars and had steeled herself for the moment she would face Geddert inside a courtroom.

"It was something that I really wanted to do," Hampton said. "There was really no other way I could tell my story than to his face. I thought it would give me the closure so I didn't have to still keep him in my head."

During a Thursday afternoon press conference prior to Geddert's death, Michigan's attorney general declined to go into further detail about the specifics of the case they were planning to present in court. She later called Geddert's suicide "a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved."

Sarah Klein, who trained with Geddert in the early 1990s and is one of the earliest known survivors of Nassar's abuse, said Geddert was a "narcissistic abuser" whose behavior was enabled by USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

"The bravery of Geddert's many victims will stand for all time in stark contrast to his cowardice," Klein said Thursday night. "As a survivor and a mother of two young girls, my only comfort is in the knowledge that I can rest my head on the pillow every night knowing that John Geddert will never terrorize and abuse another child."

ATLANTA -- Real estate investor Larry Gottesdiener was approved Friday as the lead owner of the Atlanta Dream after pressure on former Sen. Kelly Loeffler to sell her share of the WNBA team.

The three-member investor group also features former Dream guard Renee Montgomery and Suzanne Abair, president of Gottesdiener's Northland Investment Corp. in Massachusetts.

Montgomery becomes the first former player to become both an owner and executive of a WNBA team. She sat out the 2020 season to focus on social justice issues and recently announced her retirement from the league after 11 seasons.

The unanimous approval by the WNBA and NBA board of governors means co-owner Mary Brock also sold her share of the team, which will remain in Atlanta.

The sale was expected. The WNBA announced on Jan. 20 that the ownership change was close to being finalized.

Players around the league had called for Loeffler to sell her 49% stake in the Dream after she wrote a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert over the summer objecting to the league's initiatives to advocate for racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.

So proud of this Queen. This is everything we are about! #Morethananathlete @morethanavote https://t.co/7xddvmG8UU

— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 26, 2021

"With the unanimous WNBA and NBA votes, today marks a new beginning for the Atlanta Dream organization and we are very pleased to welcome Larry Gottesdiener and Suzanne Abair to the WNBA," Engelbert said in a statement. "I admire their passion for women's basketball, but more importantly, have been impressed with their values. I am also thrilled that former WNBA star Renee Montgomery will be joining the ownership group as an investor and executive for the team. Renee is a trailblazer who has made a major impact both in the game and beyond."

Montgomery said her new role can set a tone.

"Breaking barriers for minorities and women by being the first former WNBA player to have both a stake in ownership and a leadership role with the team is an opportunity that I take very seriously," Montgomery said. "I invite you to join me as the Dream builds momentum in Atlanta!"

Montgomery is in her first season as a studio analyst on Atlanta Hawks broadcasts for Fox Sports Southeast.

Montgomery won titles with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. She was an All-Star with the Connecticut Sun in 2011, when she set a career high with her average of 14.6 points per game. She was the WNBA's Sixth Woman of the Year in 2012.

Gottesdiener said he considers it "a privilege to join a team of inspiring women who strive for excellence on the court and equity off the court."

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez is re-signing with the Los Angeles Angels on a minor league deal.

Chavez will join the Angels' spring training camp in Tempe, Arizona, after he clears their intake protocols, the team confirmed Friday.

Chavez appeared in 38 games for the Angels in 2017, including 21 starts. He left for Texas as a free agent after one season, and he excelled after being traded in July 2018 to the Chicago Cubs, where he was managed by current Angels skipper Joe Maddon.

Chavez spent the past two seasons back with the Rangers, struggling last season with a 6.88 ERA in 18 appearances.

With experience as a starter, a long reliever and a late-inning reliever, Chavez could provide experience and versatility for the Angels, whose long-struggling pitching staff can use all the depth it can get.

Chavez is a native of the Los Angeles area, graduating from high school in Fontana before pitching in junior college in Riverside. He has also pitched for Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Kansas City, Toronto, Oakland and the Dodgers.

In his latest BBC Wales Sport column, Liam Williams discusses playing England in Cardiff without fans, his old Saracens team-mates and the skills of centurion George North, on and off the field.

It has been strange and not ideal but we recognise it is essential because of the situation we are living in at the moment.

But it will be especially weird this weekend when Wales face England in a Six Nations match in Cardiff and there will be nobody in the stands watching.

Games against the old enemy are always great occasions to be involved in and I am not sure if it is going to be the same with it not being played in front of 75,000 fans.

Playing at the Principality Stadium in front of a capacity crowd is always special but there is always something that little bit extra against England. That is true I assume for the fans as well, but definitely for players.

The motivation will be there from us as you would expect and we will be hoping to deliver a victory for the passionate Welsh fans watching at home on television.

It has been a positive start for us so far with two wins in two games. The Triple Crown is up for grabs but that is not something we are looking towards, our focus is to win a Test match.

We have not clicked totally yet but have come away with the victories. That is all that matters in international rugby.

We have some experienced players like George North, Jonathan Davies, Josh Navidi and Josh Adams coming back for boys who have performed well in the last couple of games and that experience and quality will help us.

Boy George... He's fab-brew-lous

George was with the Scarlets when I first joined there so I have known him a long time. Here was this big young monster of a winger and I also just remember in training him sporting his tight curly hairstyle.

He is a proper man child. He loves playing pranks and has his own unique sense of humour, shall we say. He is a great bloke to be around, especially when he is making the coffee with latte art skills.

Never mind Grand Slams, Lions series victories or 100 caps... you can add best coffee maker in the squad to all those accolades. That's a very important accolade as well!

Reaching 100 caps is an incredible achievement at the age of 28 for George and there is more to come from him. He is a special rugby player and it does not matter where he plays, either centre or wing, he will do a job for us.

Victory will be good to mark and celebrate the birthday weekend of Wyn Jones, who is 29 on Friday.

With George switching to the midfield we also have Louis Rees-Zammit on the wing and he announced himself to the rugby world in spectacular style with his two-try display against Scotland.

We knew what he was capable of. He has those moments of brilliance in him and has so much gas and the skills to go with it.

You can see him moving on and maturing as a player on the pitch. Maybe not off the pitch, but he is still only 20 and there is still time to work on that! Seriously though, he is a great guy to be around.

He actually gave me a try-scoring pass against Scotland, but he did his best to throw me a pie with the ball going behind me and I managed just to keep hold of the ball.

I did have a word with him after the game because I had stuck one on a plate for him in the first-half in the corner at Murrayfield.

As full-back, my job this weekend is to be that link between the centres and the wings and give Louis and Josh Adams the time and space to finish, because they can be deadly.

Seeing as I am getting on and losing a yard of pace I am happy to take on that role! It is just nice to be back at 15 because that is my preferred position.

Josh's return has gone under the radar a little bit this week with George's 100 caps and the emergence of Louis - and that will suit him just fine after what happened with his two-match suspension for a Covid-19 breach.

He has just been getting on with his work and I am sure he will do a focused job this weekend. Remember this guy was the top try scorer at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

England expects

It is always special playing against England and for me it means playing against friends and former team-mates from Saracens.

They form the spine of the England side with Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Maro Itoje and the Vunipola brothers.

They have only played a few games this season because Saracens have not been involved in Premiership matches and there is a perception they are rusty.

But we are expecting nothing less than the best version of England and those six players are world class.

Owen will not listen too much to any outside criticism. He is a strong-minded bloke, a world-class player and that is what we are expecting again.

I have played with him for Saracens and the Lions and he is a born leader who inspires from the front and that will be no different on the weekend.

He will be pumped up for this game. But so will we and we hope to be able to deliver that victory for the Wales fans.

We know the supporters will be there in spirit and we saw the evidence of that in our final training session at the Principality Stadium on Friday.

There were 250 jerseys to commemorate the different aspects of Welsh rugby including shirts to mark each of the players in the team.

My Waunarlwydd jersey was there and that made me proud.

So we all know what and who we will be playing for this weekend.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – A new look for the two entries at Arrow McLaren SP was unveiled Friday morning in Indianapolis, but the attitude has not changed.

“The biggest thing this year for us is race wins,” said second-year driver Pato O’Ward. “We need to get that first win out of the way and then start racking up as many as we can. It’s such a competitive series, we need to take the opportunities that are presented to us every single weekend to the maximum.

“I have lots of faith in this Arrow McLaren SP group. The engineering department has been working tirelessly all year. We don’t need to change too much of what we did last year with the strong results we had. We have to take that next step and that next step is winning races.”

The two-car effort featuring O’Ward and incoming veteran Felix Rosenqvist will have a new look. O’Ward’s Chevrolet will feature the Arrow McLaren colors while Rosenqvist’s will drive the Vuse Chevrolet.

Vuse is part of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and the brand combines tobacco expertise with innovative technology to provide adult vapor consumers with alternatives to traditional tobacco products. Vuse products are marketed in the United States by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co., an operating company of Reynolds American Inc., a member of the British American Tobacco Group.

Although e-cigarette technology has sponsored an IndyCar team in the past, the Vuse sponsorship hopes to capitalize on the booming vaping industry.

“I think both cars looking amazing,” Rosenqvist said. “I think obviously mine looks the best. I like how they kept it clean and similar to last year, but now you can separate the two cars. That is something the fans asked for and it will be easier for our spotters to relate to a specific car.

“It’s all in the details this year. The gains are much harder to find but with an offseason we have with two days of testing, you have to dig into everything you did last year, and every little rock has to be turned. That is what we have done really well. I’m pretty sure we are better than last year and that is where we have to be.

“Then, we will see where we add up.”

Rosenqvist moves over to Arrow McLaren SP after two years at Chip Ganassi Racing.

“Joining the team has been fantastic so far,” Rosenqvist said. “I spent a lot of time here getting to know everyone. It’s a fantastic organization, it feels very natural, and I feel part of the team already.

“We’ve done two tests so far. We have one more at Laguna and one more at Indy and then the season starts.”

O’Ward is hoping to eliminate mistakes in what he believes will be very competitive, large fields.

“I think we have a real chance to compete for wins and challenge for the championship,” O’Ward said. “That is why we do this.

“We put everything we have into this and it’s logical to know that everybody on this team has the drive to win. I think it will be a good year for us.”

Two fierce drivers, racing against each other, should make for an exciting season at Arrow McLaren SP.

“I know when I am racing against Felix, he is going to give me the room,” O’Ward said. “I wish I could say that about everybody, but I can’t. We both have respect when we race each other and now that we are teammates, we can work together.”

NEW WESTON, Ohio — Berneice Baltes, known by many as the first lady of Eldora Speedway, died Feb. 24. She was 93 years old.

A fixture at the half-mile Rossburg, Ohio, dirt track from the time her husband, Earl, built it in 1954, she was married to the master racing promoter for 67 years. Earl Baltes died in 2015, also at the age of 93.

Berneice Moeller met Earl Baltes when she was 17 years old and the couple married in 1947.

Berneice Baltes was side by side with her husband as he built the track in rural Western Ohio into one of auto racing’s most prestigious facility’s

The Baltes family owned and operated the track for 51 years before selling it to Tony Stewart following the 2004 season.

She is survived by their daughter Starr and husband Joe Schmitmeyer, son Terry, six grandchildren, and a host of great grandchildren.

AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic criticized LeBron James and others on Thursday for their activism in what the former LA Galaxy star called "politics."

Speaking in an interview for UEFA for Discovery+ in Sweden on Thursday, the outspoken striker said while he admired James' talent, it's a "mistake" when athletes step out of their lane and get involved socially and politically.

- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
- Stream Serie A games on ESPN+

"[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time," Ibrahimovic said. "Do what you're good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I'm the best at playing football.

"I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn't look good."

James has been a force for social change and political action. His More Than a Vote organization drew more than 42,000 volunteers to work at polling stations for the November election, helped some earn back their voting rights and pushed for turnout among Black and young voters.

He has also focused on his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

The I Promise School he opened in 2018 now has over 450 students in third through sixth grades. When the pandemic shut down the school, James and his team ensured students got hot meals delivered to their homes -- even complete Thanksgiving meals. An affordable housing project for 50 families broke ground this year. And this month, plans for House Three Thirty (a nod to Akron's area code) were announced, detailing how James is going to offer things like accessible family financial health programming, job training and a community gathering space.

"I still know what I do on the floor, and obviously, I give everything to the game," James told The Associated Press in December. "But I can make a greater impact off the floor right now, more than I can on the floor. And I want to continue to inspire people with the way I play the game of basketball. But there's so many more things that I can do off the floor to help cultivate people, inspire people, bring people together, empower them."

His outspokenness hasn't always been well-received, however. In February of 2018, a prominent conservative commentator famously told him to "shut up and dribble" in response to his "talking politics."

Ibrahimovic has made headlines for acrobatic goals, bombastic boasts and on-field controversy throughout his wildly successful soccer career.

In January, he faced accusations of racism following a clash with Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku during a Coppa Italia quarterfinal clash. Ibrahimovic, who often refers to himself in the third person, was accused of having used offensive language during his spat with Lukaku and later posted a message on social media reiterating he is against racism, with his coach later backing his claims.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

The BCCI has again expressed its unhappiness at the ICC's new bidding policy to find hosts for its global events in the 2023-20131 cycle. The reservations are not new but were reiterated at a meeting for ICC members on Wednesday.

The meeting wasn't a formal ICC Board meeting, but one with relevant members with a single point on the agenda - the events hosting process from 2023. The BCCI was represented by its current president Sourav Ganguly, the first big meeting he has attended since he was hospitalized twice recently after suffering a heart attack in January.

The decision to get members to bid to host events was a marked departure from how event locations were decided upon in the previous eight-year cycle: all the major global men's events were essentially divvied up by the Big Three of Australia, India and England between themselves. On the surface, it would seem none of those three boards are especially happy.

In February last year the ICC sent out an email to all members, Full, Associate and Affiliate, asking them to tender expressions of interest for any of the 20 global tournaments - in both men's and women's cricket - listed in the 2023-31 cycle. To lobby interest Manu Sawhney, the ICC's chief executive officer, went on a whistle-stop tour visiting a number of countries but not India. The objective, Sawhney told countries, was to make cricket a more global sport. A number of members have expressed interest, including the PCB, who have said in the past they would put in joint bids with the Emirates Cricket Board. However, none of the BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia expressed any interest.

Issues with the bidding process are part of a broader battle between the Big Three and ICC management, and some of the other Full Members; the BCCI, ECB and CA are also opposed to the ICC plan for an extra global event in the next cycle, which will ensure one global tournament is played every year from 2023 to 2031.

The BCCI's main objection has been that when the original decision approving the extra set of events was taken, during an ICC Board meeting in October 2019, the Indian cricket board did not have an elected administration. That meeting, though, was attended by former BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhury, who did not have the consent from the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators, which was supervising the BCCI until October 2019.

Nonetheless, at the time the BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri, sent out an email to the ICC stating the final decision on an extra event in the 2023-31 cycle should be put on hold until an elected administration took seat. As for the number of events including the extra world tournament, Johri noted that it would have "wide ranging" repercussions on the bilateral calendar and should not be taken in a rush.

Ganguly's administration has carried forward that objection. Before Ganguly, Arun Dhumal, the BCCI treasurer, too, is understood to have raised similar objections at the ICC chief executive committee meeting recently. Although Ganguly was unavailable, a senior BCCI official confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that India remained opposed to the ICC decision.

The root of the BCCI's objection does not lie completely in a potential expansion of the hosting market, though that is part of it. But there is also an objection to being asked to bid. They would prefer for events to be allocated, as they have been before. According to the official India, Australia and England should have been given priority for the marquee events. "Why should one bid?," the official asked. "Why is there a bidding process when India, England and Australia have not even bought the bid document? Cricket is not like Olympics or football where 100 countries are vying for the interest? Out of the top 10 countries there are just three who have the infrastructure and skillsets to host it. It has to come by rotation. You cannot ignore these three countries and think of hosting it in smaller countries."

At the negotiation table Ganguly has been more open to potential expansion, to explore both old and new markets. The BCCI, for instance, would be supportive of a men's World Cup held in Africa, co-hosted by a number of countries including South Africa. It also is backing a global T20 event in the Americas. But it does want to ensure that some of the marquee events are hosted in old and established markets like India.

The official also pointed out that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the wider economic landscape across the globe and that would have an impact on smaller countries bidding for an event. The biggest challenges, the official pointed out, would be paying a hosting fee to the ICC, creating the infrastructure and sustaining it. Even bigger countries like the USA might struggle where cricket remains a minority sport despite the large diaspora.

Despite strong reservations from the BCCI, an ICC Board member said that the differences were not insurmountable. Another person, privy to the developments, said that the ECB had not bought any bid document also because it was said to be concerned by one pre-condition which called for total government support in hosting a world event. The ICC has not been satisfied with financial returns from the three world events hosted in England: the 2017 Champions Trophy and the women's ODI World Cup and the 2019 men's World Cup.

India's own position as a potential host is not straightforward, given that a long-running tax dispute between the board and the ICC is yet to be resolved.

Discussions are expected to continue until the next ICC board meeting in March.

AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic criticized LeBron James and others on Thursday for their activism in what the former LA Galaxy star called "politics."

Speaking in an interview for UEFA for Discovery+ in Sweden on Thursday, the outspoken striker said while he admired James' talent, it's a "mistake" when athletes step out of their lane and get involved socially and politically.

- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
- Stream Serie A games on ESPN+

"[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time," Ibrahimovic said. "Do what you're good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I'm the best at playing football.

"I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn't look good."

James has been a force for social change and political action. His More Than a Vote organization drew more than 42,000 volunteers to work at polling stations for the November election, helped some earn back their voting rights and pushed for turnout among Black and young voters.

He has also focused on his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

The I Promise School he opened in 2018 now has over 450 students in third through sixth grades. When the pandemic shut down the school, James and his team ensured students got hot meals delivered to their homes -- even complete Thanksgiving meals. An affordable housing project for 50 families broke ground this year. And this month, plans for House Three Thirty (a nod to Akron's area code) were announced, detailing how James is going to offer things like accessible family financial health programming, job training and a community gathering space.

"I still know what I do on the floor, and obviously, I give everything to the game," James told The Associated Press in December. "But I can make a greater impact off the floor right now, more than I can on the floor. And I want to continue to inspire people with the way I play the game of basketball. But there's so many more things that I can do off the floor to help cultivate people, inspire people, bring people together, empower them."

His outspokenness hasn't always been well-received, however. In February of 2018, a prominent conservative commentator famously told him to "shut up and dribble" in response to his "talking politics."

Ibrahimovic has made headlines for acrobatic goals, bombastic boasts and on-field controversy throughout his wildly successful soccer career.

In January, he faced accusations of racism following a clash with Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku during a Coppa Italia quarterfinal clash. Ibrahimovic, who often refers to himself in the third person, was accused of having used offensive language during his spat with Lukaku and later posted a message on social media reiterating he is against racism, with his coach later backing his claims.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

In a shift from years past, the NBA league office will require college seniors to petition the league for inclusion on the NBA early-entry list in order to become draft-eligible in 2021.

Last October, due to disruptions caused by the pandemic, the NCAA granted an additional year of eligibility to winter athletes, meaning every senior in college basketball is eligible to return for an additional season in 2021-22.

While the NBA is requiring players to opt in to the draft, the NFL took the opposite stance last month, requiring graduating college seniors (who played four years) to opt out by March 1 if they intend to return to college for their additional year of eligibility.

The NBA's move is expected to result in a record-breaking number of players on the draft's early-entry list, which last year had 163 college underclassmen.

Garth Glissman, vice president of basketball operations for the NBA, told ESPN that this was the right approach for NBA teams and for college basketball players.

"If you think about all that college students across the world and college basketball players have been through -- they are in this situation through none of their doing," he said. "They didn't want the pandemic to abruptly end [play] last season. They certainly didn't want to play through a pandemic this season. This entire situation has occurred by virtue of circumstances beyond their control. So we didn't think it was appropriate to add on to their plate an additional layer of responsibility that they have to affirmatively opt out. We're essentially taking on the administrative burdens at a time that these players have enough on their plates and are in this situation for reasons that are completely beyond their control."

According to the NBA collective bargaining agreement, graduating college seniors -- meaning those who have exhausted their four years of NCAA eligibility -- are automatically eligible for the NBA draft and do not need to declare themselves eligible via the early-entry list.

The wording is: "The player has graduated from a four-year college or university in the United States, and has no remaining intercollegiate basketball eligibility."

With the NCAA granting all players an extra year, the second part of that rule is no longer applicable, as every player in college basketball has "remaining intercollegiate basketball eligibility."

The language required the NBA to consult with the NBA players' association and the NCAA to determine whether to automatically include all seniors in the draft "unless they elect not to avail themself of the fifth year of college eligibility," as the NFL stated, or instead require players to opt in to the NBA draft this spring.

According to ESPN Stats & Information data, 19.7% of players drafted over the past five years have been NCAA seniors.

In terms of the timetable for when players must declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft and begin the process of "testing the waters" to determine their likelihood of being selected, quite a bit of uncertainty still exists.

In normal years, the NBA requires underclassmen (and non-automatically-eligible international players) to declare their eligibility by the middle to latter part of April, consistent with CBA language stating that the NBA early-entry deadline is 60 days before the NBA draft (normally held the third week of June). Although it's still unknown when the 2021 NBA draft will be held, it is typically conducted in the week after the NBA Finals, which would be late July this year based on the current NBA calendar.

The deadline for when college basketball players must decide whether to keep their names on the early-entry list -- a separate date from the NBA's withdrawal deadline -- is also still up in the air. NCAA guidelines identify the early-entry withdrawal deadline as being 10 days after the conclusion of the NBA combine. The date for the 2021 combine, as well as the format, remains undecided. In 2020, the NCAA pushed the deadline to Aug. 3 due to the NBA calendar shift.

Given the current state of NBA safety protocols around the coronavirus pandemic, and the stress that has put on its 30 teams logistically, it appears unlikely that draft prospects will be able to start their pre-draft process or have contact with NBA teams in terms of conducting workouts or interviews until late May or possibly June. Any modifications to the 60-day period between the release of the NBA early-entry list and the draft would have to be collectively bargained with the NBA players' association. The NBA regular season is currently scheduled to conclude on May 16, about a month later than normal.

The situation would also lead to a significant amount of uncertainty for college basketball teams regarding the construction of their rosters until deep into the summer. A one-time transfer waiver provision is expected to be passed by the NCAA, which would allow all college basketball players the ability to switch schools one time without sitting out a season.

Players testing the NBA draft waters will likely want to first get an accurate gauge of their professional prospects before deciding on whether to return to school, and then on which school to play for. The possibility of receiving payments under name, image and likeness legislation -- which might be resolved this spring or summer -- could further complicate their decision-making process.

The NFL's decision to force college seniors to opt out of the NFL draft to take advantage of the extra year of NCAA eligibility created a hard deadline that currently does not exist for college basketball.

With the season ending for most college basketball players in the next three weeks, a long dead period lasting until at least the end of May before players are permitted to communicate with NBA teams will likely cause significant uncertainty.

To account for that void, the NBA says it will ramp up its education of players through its Undergraduate Advisory Committee.

The UAC was formed in 1997 to assist players in the NBA draft decision-making process, and in recent years it has played a larger role -- especially last year due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Before the early-entry deadline, the UAC sends NBA executives a series of emails with a list of names of players who are seeking feedback, requesting their team's assessment of players' draft stock. Players are then informed of the consensus reached by weighing the NBA executives' responses and offering feedback on whether the player is likely to be a lottery pick, a first-rounder, a second-rounder or undrafted.

"We are going to work diligently to enhance our communications to the college basketball community," Glissman said. "We, both the NCAA and the NBA, recognize the need for education on an ongoing basis throughout this year's draft process. There's more uncertainty this year than in a normal year. So we have mutually committed to trying to do our best to provide that ongoing education to college players, coaches and family members, with the full intention of helping young men make an informed decision at an important time in their life. We have a track record that we built up a relationship with the NCAA in recent years to really hit on this educational theme, and we intend to really ramp it up this year.

"This is a continuation of something that we've been working hard at in the last few years. For the third year now, we are providing student-athletes written feedback, first prior to the early-entry deadline, so they get that initial feedback prior to deciding whether they want to enter the draft. And then if they do enter, and they're contemplating whether to stay in or return to school, they get a second round of written feedback."

The NCAA will now need to decide when to require players to withdraw from the NBA draft, as well as any deadlines it might put in place for when players must opt in or out of their extra year of eligibility. Some of that will likely depend on the dates the NBA decides on for its draft and combine.