UEFA have opened a disciplinary investigation after AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic was subjected to racist abuse in last week's Europa League match against Red Star Belgrade in Serbia, European football's governing body said on Wednesday.

Serbian media reported that Ibrahimovic, who has Bosnian roots, was insulted by an individual seated in the Red Star stadium's VIP box during the Feb. 18 clash..

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"An Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed today to conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding incidents which occurred during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match," UEFA said in a statement.

No fans attended the match because of COVID-19 restrictions and Ibrahimovic was seated in the stadium's west tier behind the dugouts along with other Milan substitutes and staff.

Red Star apologised to Ibrahimovic in a statement last week and said they would work with authorities to identify the offender.

Red Star drew 2-2 with Milan in the first leg of the round-of-32 clash, with Ibrahimovic an unused substitute for Milan.

New Zealand pace bowler Lea Tahuhu has been ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series against England with a hamstring injury and is in doubt for the T20Is that follow.

Tahuhu was helped off the ground late in the opening match in Christchurch on Tuesday. She will have an MRI scan this week to determine the full extent of the injury. Her replacement in the squad is the uncapped Canterbury seamer Gabby Sullivan.

"It's unfortunate news for Lea and a big loss for the team," New Zealand coach Bob Carter said. "We wish her the best of luck with her recovery and know she'll be doing everything to get back on the park as soon as possible.

"The flipside of this is a great opportunity for Gabby who's been impressive for Canterbury and deserves the call up."

It is the second significant injury Tahuhu has suffered this season after the side strain she picked up against Australia in Brisbane last October which led to her missing a large portion of the WBBL with Melbourne Renegades.

New Zealand lost the opening match of the series by eight wickets although there was an impressive debut from Brooke Halliday who hit 50 off 54 balls. The next two matches take place in Dunedin.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Dez Bryant wants to play two more seasons, but it apparently won't be with the Baltimore Ravens.

In a series of tweets Tuesday night, the wide receiver explained why he never broke out of a limited role with the Ravens last season.

"I realized quick Baltimore wasn't the place for me," Bryant wrote. "No bad blood. That's their way of doing things so you gotta respect it."

Bryant, 32, returned after sitting out two seasons and totaled six catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns in six games with Baltimore.

A three-time Pro Bowl selection during his time with the Dallas Cowboys, Bryant lacked explosiveness with Baltimore and never got consistently open. He finished as the No. 4 wide receiver for the league's worst passing attack, ranking below Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin and Willie Snead IV on the depth chart. Bryant managed a total of 129 snaps, or 21.5 per game.

Responding to a fan's comment that he should've been given a better opportunity, Bryant wrote: "It's hard. I've been off almost three years. I flashed my abilities to the point [Ravens coach John] Harbaugh asked was I ready to play because he thought I was ready ...You have to learn the playbook ... chemistry with the QB have to be on point."

Asked whether his chemistry was off with quarterback Lamar Jackson, Bryant wrote: "Our chemistry was good on and off the field. But it was guys there before me who understood the offensive concepts better than me. You can't jeopardize that."

Bryant became the second Pro Bowl wide receiver to miss two full seasons and return to the NFL since the 1970 merger, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Josh Gordon was the first.

The Ravens first worked out Bryant in August, but he left without a contract because he was told to improve his conditioning. Baltimore brought him back and signed him to the practice squad on Oct. 28.

After being elevated off the practice squad twice, Bryant was signed to the 53-man roster on Nov. 28. He never eclipsed more than 28 yards receiving in a game and was held without a catch in the Ravens' two playoff games.

"I wasn't bothered about playing time," Bryant wrote. "I enjoyed myself. I met some great teammates, guys I feel like I will be keeping in contact for a long time. I'm thankful for the opportunity Baltimore gave me."

The Ravens weren't expected to bring back Bryant. Upgrading the wide receiver group in free agency and the draft was considered one of Baltimore's priorities.

Bryant, the No. 24 overall pick of the 2010 draft, played eight seasons for the Cowboys. In 113 games, he caught 531 passes for 7,459 yards and a Cowboys-record 73 touchdown catches before his release after the 2017 season.

When asked whether he plans to play in 2021, Bryant wrote: "I plan on playing 2 more years and that's it for me."

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash said he expects Kevin Durant, who has missed five consecutive games with a strained hamstring, to return before the NBA All-Star break.

"We're just trying to monitor and be cautious," Nash said before Tuesday's 127-118 win over the Sacramento Kings. "We definitely have kind of slowed things down in that respect: not putting any pressure on him, not trying to rush him back in any capacity and just make sure that we give him the right amount of time to be more than healed, to be strong and conditioned to come back to the team."

The Nets have four games remaining before the break begins on March 5. Their final game of the first half of the season is on March 3 at the Houston Rockets.

Durant was selected to be a team captain out of the pool of Eastern Conference All-Star starters. Nash said he hasn't discussed with Durant how his hamstring injury would affect Durant's availability or minutes in the All-Star Game on March 7.

"I'm not sure how the league would approach that," Nash said. "So, I probably couldn't say anything on how to approach that one."

Durant did some shooting and on-court work in Barclay's Center ahead of the Nets' game Tuesday.

The Nets stretched their winning streak to seven with the victory over the Kings.

Durant has played in just 19 of the Nets' 33 games this season. He has missed two weeklong stretches in the league's health and safety protocols after being exposed to people who tested positive for COVID-19. The Nets' Big Three of James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Durant have played just seven games together since Harden was traded from Houston to Brooklyn in January.

Durant is averaging 29 points, 5.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game this season.

The Nets have three All-Stars: Durant, Irving and Harden.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour says winger Teuvo Teravainen is sidelined with a concussion.

The 26-year-old Teravainen has two goals and seven assists in 12 games, though he took a hard hit from Chicago defenseman Nikita Zadorov in Friday's win and missed the last two games. Brind'Amour said Tuesday that Teravainen won't travel with the team for a five-game road trip that begins with games at Tampa Bay on Wednesday and Thursday.

Brind'Amour said he is unsure on the timeline for a potential return by goaltender Petr Mrazek, who had surgery on his right thumb earlier this month. Mrazek has been skating and doing some practice drills, though he worked without his stick Tuesday.

Brind'Amour said Mrazek is "still a ways away" and added: "Until he puts a stick in his hand, he's not really there."

At the time of his surgery, Mrazek led all NHL goaltenders with a 0.99 goals-against average as well as a .955 save percentage. He had two shutouts in four appearances.

BRADENTON, Fla. – Tuesday is normally an intense work day for players on-site at a tournament, but that focused grind was shattered with the shocking news of Tiger Woods’ serious rollover crash in Los Angeles.

Justin Thomas had learned of the news only about 10 minutes before he joined a virtual news conference ahead of play here at the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession. After a few questions about his match-play success and the state of his game, Thomas seemed to be bracing himself for the question.

Then he was asked about Woods – about his reaction to hearing that his boyhood hero and one of his closest friends on the PGA Tour had been hospitalized with “multiple” leg injuries after being involved in a single-car crash on Tuesday morning.

“I’m sick to my stomach,” Thomas said, fighting back tears. “It hurts to see one of my closest friends get in an accident. Man, I just hope he’s all right. I just worry for his kids, you know. I’m sure they’re struggling.”

By then, the breaking news had quickly spread at The Concession.

Tony Finau and Jon Rahm were playing a practice round when Finau glanced at his phone and saw a message from his manager. He quickly scoured the internet, looking for more concrete answers, of which they were few. By the time Finau finished his practice session at 5 p.m. ET, all that was known – definitively – was that Woods was undergoing surgery and was considered to be in stable but “serious” condition, with injuries to both legs, per a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department spokesperson.

“I saw the condition of his car,” Finau said, “and to me, you just hope that he’s OK – that’s the biggest reaction, really.”

Said Rahm: “As if his body hasn’t suffered enough. Just hoping out of a bad situation for the best possible outcome, and I hope he can recover from it and we can see him on the golf course as early as possible.”

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said Woods’ management team did not want to release an update on his condition as of 6 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Because there was a dearth of information about Woods’ injuries, some players declined to speak to the media. The few who stood in front of the microphone did so briefly, expressing the emotions one would expect in this situation: Shock at the news. Horror at seeing the images of Woods’ badly damaged vehicle. Concern about Woods’ health and outlook.

What gave many relief was the LASD statement that Woods had sustained “serious” injuries to both legs but that they were considered “non-life-threatening.”

That allowed some players to look ahead, cautiously, to yet another recovery.

“I’m sure he’ll do everything in his power to come back; I’m sure he will,” said Bryson DeChambeau. “I will say that, whatever’s happened, he’s always come back from it in a pretty amazing way. He’s an amazing human being that has done incredible things.

“I have no doubt in my mind he’ll be back. It might take him a little longer, I’m sure, but from my perspective, he’s one of the most impressive human beings I’ve ever met and I think that he’ll come back just fine.”

Goalkeeper Jan Oblak has denied Atletico Madrid are facing a "crisis" after a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Chelsea on Tuesday saw the La Liga leaders lose back-to-back games for the first time this season.

The round-of-16 first leg result in Bucharest -- which saw Olivier Giroud's overhead kick give the Premier League team the advantage ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 17 -- followed Atletico's domestic loss to Levante on Saturday.

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"I don't think it's a crisis," Oblak said. "Yes it's different to what we've experienced over the rest of the season, but [football] is like that. This team is strong. We'll get through this. We weren't perfect in December and January and we aren't bad now."

Atetico have now failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight games in all competitions, their worst defensive run during coach Diego Simeone's decade in charge.

"We'll work on it," Simeone said. "We have an important game with Villarreal on Sunday. We aren't getting the results... Seeing the effort of the team, and knowing the explanation for the moment we're in, I feel good. I trust in the team that we have.

"If you'd said to me in September that we'd lose this first leg 1-0 and be top of the league, I'd have taken it for sure. We'll deal with it. It's clear that this isn't a good moment."

Atletico's lead over Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table was cut to three points -- with a game in hand -- when they were beaten by Levante, and the Chelsea loss is another blow to morale.

"Defeats are difficult, but we always get back up," captain Koke said. "We're the same team that went on a run of eight wins in the league... We've had a bad week, that's the reality, but we have to keep fighting. Atletico Madrid always get back up. We have to go out to win the second leg."

He refused to blame Atletico's need to play their "home" leg in Bucharest -- due to restrictions on UK flights arriving in Spain -- for the performance, which saw the team fail to land a single shot on target.

"We know how the world is right now," he said. "We didn't get to play at home, but it doesn't matter. We have to adapt. We have to go to London and win. If we score twice, we'll go through."

Seven West Media are entitled to a broadcast rights fee discount of as little as A$5 million from Cricket Australia due to changes in the schedule due to Covid-19, according to the independent arbitrator demanded by the free-to-air network.

In a draft outcome understood to have been delivered to the warring parties on Tuesday night, the arbitrator Justin Jameson, of Venture Consulting, concluded that Seven should get only a tiny portion of the A$70 million reduction the debt-laden network had been chasing. The figure would rise to around A$8 million if the rescheduled Test match between Australia and Afghanistan does not go ahead next summer prior to the Ashes.

While Jameson's formal finding is still to be tabled, the heads-up was a source of some relief to CA, after an ugly and protracted campaign by Seven for massive cuts to their A$82 million-a-year share of the A$1.18 billion deal signed alongside Foxtel in April 2018.

Led by their chief executive James Warburton, Seven have mounted all manner of arguments for a greater discount, from complaints about the quality of the BBL to allegations of a vast conspiracy between CA, the BCCI and Foxtel to move this summer's limited-overs fixtures from January to November.

Seven had embarked upon ambitious cost-cutting campaigns last year, designed in part to raise the long-sinking stock price of Seven West Media. Cricket's presence appears to have helped lift the network's value significantly over summer: shares valued at just 13 cents in October are now trading at a relatively princely 54 cents - Seven's highest share price since 2018.

Ironically, the finding for an A$5 million discount to Seven's fee would give it significantly less of a saving than the A$20 million believed to have been handed to Foxtel last year, an effective reduction of A$5 million a season for the remainder of the rights deal. CA has attempted to avoid slinging public mud back at Seven, particularly as the two organisations continued their operational relationship during the international and BBL schedules, but there has undoubtedly been a corrosive effect on relationships.

The dispute reached arguably its lowest point in November, when Seven lodged a legal affidavit as part of "pre-discovery" action aimed at targeting schedule changes as being the result of convenience for India, CA and Foxtel rather than Covid-19. Private exchanges between CA's head of commercial and broadcast, Steph Beltrame, and Seven's head of sport Lewis Martin, were printed in the document and widely reported.

That court action remains in play, although it remains to be seen how Seven's multibillionaire chairman Kerry Stokes reacts to the underwhelming outcome of Warburton's push for independent arbitration.

Either way, the successful completion of the international home schedule, with vastly improved audiences for both Seven and Fox Cricket relative to India's previous visit in 2018-19, plus the staging of the BBL in its entirety, left the free-to-air network's protests largely in the realm of impressions and assertions rather than legally binding volumes of content.

"With so much positivity around Australian cricket, it is disappointing that Seven West Media has again chosen to use the media to talk our wonderful game down," CA's acting chief executive Nick Hockley said in November after the affidavit's release. "CA has maintained all along our commitment to delivering a thrilling summer of cricket and on behalf of all involved, be that governments, partners, players and staff, I'm proud to say we are doing just that. We remain confident in our contractual position.

"We continue to have tremendous respect for the hardworking people across Channel 7's cricket and news broadcast teams and congratulate them on the substantial increase in ratings cricket has delivered them to date this season. We have, and will continue to, fulfil our obligations to our partners and supporters by scheduling a brilliant summer of cricket, despite the cost and complexity of doing so given the current public health situation."

The NBA announced the reserve selections for next month's All-Star Game in Atlanta on Tuesday night, a list headlined by Brooklyn Nets star James Harden as well as center Rudy Gobert and guard Donovan Mitchell from the league-leading Utah Jazz.

Harden, the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2018, is representing Brooklyn for the first time in what will be his ninth consecutive All-Star appearance. The previous eight came with the Houston Rockets, who traded Harden to Brooklyn as part of a four-team deal last month. Since the trade, Harden has averaged 24.9 points and 11.4 assists per game in 18 games with Brooklyn. He will join teammates Kevin Durant -- one of two captains, alongside Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James -- and Kyrie Irving, both of whom were voted in as starters last week.

In addition to Harden, the six other selections from the Eastern Conference were: guard Jaylen Brown and forward Jayson Tatum from the Boston Celtics; New York Knicks forward Julius Randle; Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons; and Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic.

Brown, the front-runner for the NBA's Most Improved Player Award this season, is averaging career highs across the board for the Celtics, including points (25.5), assists (3.9) and all three shooting percentage categories: field goal (49.7), 3-point (40.9) and free throw (76.6), helping him earn his first All-Star selection. Tatum, meanwhile, is averaging a career-high 26.4 points per game, and is making his second straight appearance in the league's midseason showcase.

Vucevic will make his second All-Star appearance, having made his first two seasons ago, and is averaging a career-high 24.1 points per game and shooting a career-best 40% from 3-point range. Simmons, meanwhile, will make his third consecutive All-Star appearance; the well-rounded guard is, alongside starter Joel Embiid, a huge reason the Sixers entered Tuesday with the Eastern Conference's best record.

They will be joined by a pair of first-time All-Stars from two of the league's flagship franchises in Randle and LaVine, both of whom are having career years. Randle, who has helped lead the 15-16 Knicks into surprising contention for a playoff berth, is averaging career bests in virtually every category playing under Tom Thibodeau, while LaVine is averaging career highs of 28.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

Over the past few weeks, there has been intense debate over who would merit the final couple of spots in the East, with a deep pool of candidates garnering support. Ultimately, though, the league's coaches wound up leaving off several of them, including: Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo and forward Jimmy Butler; Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton; 76ers forward Tobias Harris; Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet; Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon and forward Domantas Sabonis; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young; and Charlotte Hornets forward Gordon Hayward.

Out West, Gobert and Mitchell were the headliners, as they were the two representatives for the streaking Jazz, who go into Wednesday's showdown versus the Lakers on ESPN with the NBA's best record, and having won 20 of their past 22 games. Gobert, who is positioned to win his third Defensive Player of the Year award, makes his second straight All-Star appearance this season after a couple of near misses in previous seasons. It also is the second straight appearance for Mitchell, who is averaging career highs of 24.5 points and 5.2 assists this season.

They were joined by: Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard; LA Clippers forward Paul George; Lakers forward Anthony Davis; Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul and New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.

Lillard easily could've been a starter, as he's having another stellar season, averaging 29.8 points and 7.7 assists and keeping Portland in the playoff picture even though guard CJ McCollum and center Jusuf Nurkic are out with long-term injuries. George, meanwhile, is back in the All-Star Game for the seventh time after missing it last year, his first in Los Angeles, after injuries delayed the start of his season. Davis, on the other hand, is all but certain to be replaced by someone ahead of the All-Star Game because of the calf strain that currently has the Lakers star sidelined.

The final two spots out West went to one of the league's oldest stars in Paul and one of its youngest in Williamson. Paul, whom Phoenix acquired before the season, makes his 11th All-Star appearance and his second in a row after making the roster last year for Oklahoma City. Williamson, the top overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, makes his first appearance after averaging 25.1 points and shooting over 60% from the field.

Those two beat out a field of candidates for the final couple of spots that included: San Antonio Spurs forward DeMar DeRozan; Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; Jazz guard Mike Conley, who continues to hold the unofficial title of best player never to make an All-Star team; Suns guard Devin Booker; and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram.

Like in recent seasons, the NBA will combine the All-Stars into one pool, which will be divided into two teams by captains James and Durant. Jazz coach Quin Snyder will coach James' team, while Sixers coach Doc Rivers will helm Durant's squad.

The game will also, like last year, feature the Elam Ending, in which the teams play to a final score as opposed to a timed fourth quarter. Like last year, that final score will be determined by taking the combined score of the team that's ahead through three quarters and adding 24 points -- in honor of the late Kobe Bryant -- to that total.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Add Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to the growing list of major leaguers who have sounded off on the way some MLB teams think internally about players in the wake of former Mariners president Kevin Mather's inflammatory comments about service-time manipulation and free agency.

Speaking Tuesday afternoon after finishing pitchers and catchers workouts, Cole urged every player in the league to "wake up and read the news on the guy in the Mariners."

"It's just tired," said Cole, one of eight players on the MLB Players Association's executive subcommittee."It's tired, man, and I think players are over it. And if they haven't been awakened to that type of behavior, that's what goes on."

Mather, who resigned Monday, apologized for remarks made to a Rotary Club this month that surfaced when the video was posted online. In his wide-ranging comments, Mather criticized the English-speaking capabilities of two members of the organization, and he also spoke about some of the Mariners' top prospects not starting the season with the team as a way to manipulate their major league service time.

"Those conversations are being had, and unfortunately that's the kind of way a lot of clubs are acting," Cole said Tuesday afternoon after finishing pitchers and catchers workouts at the Yankees' minor league complex. "That's just not productive for anyone. It's not productive for the product. You're not putting the best players on the field for people to see. This guy's talking about players that are making him money. The product is the people that he's talking poorly about."

The players' association released a statement in which they described Mather's comments as offensive and as a "highly disturbing yet critically important window into how players are genuinely viewed by management."

"Not just because of what was said, but also because it represents an unfiltered look into club thinking," the statement read. "It is offensive, and it is not surprising that fans and others around the game are offended as well."

Finding ways to gain a financial advantage is part of the fabric of baseball, as much as it is for any industry. And more control tends to equal more financial return, which is why teams have been known to hold back a player in the minors to manipulate service time and push back his eligibility for free agency.

"I'm fortunate to be in an organization where we don't do that or play that. When guys are ready, or we feel like they're ready to impact the club, that's that. And that's how we treat things around here," said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who spent 12 years in the big leagues. "If somebody is truly being held down, I think that's terrible. There are certain times where it's a little more gray, but purposely holding a guy down I don't think should have a place in our game."

Yankees All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge, who is two years away from free agency, also spoke out strongly about service-time manipulation, one of the topics poised to be front and center as the MLBPA and MLB negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. Their current CBA will expire on Dec. 1.

"It's tough to hear because, as a player, I've always wanted to have the best product out there on the field. This is about winning this championship. And it doesn't matter if you're 40 years old, if you're 18 years old, if you're the best player at that position, you should get that opportunity," Judge said after the Yankees' first full-squad workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

"It's saddening to hear those comments coming from a guy in that position. It's sad to see, and I'm kind of looking forward to seeing what comes out of this. It's tough. It's your dream to play professional baseball and play in the major leagues, and getting cut out of that based on certain manipulations, I don't think that's right."