Reuters Sports News Summary

08/26/2016 12:58

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Lochte signs new endorsement deal, legal woes persist in Brazil

U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte landed a new endorsement deal on Thursday days after losing all his major sponsors even as the fallout from the Rio Olympics continued as Brazilian police recommended he be charged with falsely reporting a crime. Pine Bros Softish Throat Drops, which makes cough drops, said it had signed Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, for a television commercial and print ads.

Dodgers land Ruiz in catcher swap with Phillies

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired Carlos Ruiz from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for A.J. Ellis, the teams announced on Thursday. The Dodgers also received $1 million while the Phillies got one minor league pitcher along with a player to be named later or cash considerations in the deal.

Red Bull's Verstappen fastest in Belgian GP practice

Max Verstappen was fastest on the opening day of practice for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo as world champions Mercedes chose to focus on race preparation. Verstappen set a benchmark time of one minute 48.085 seconds, 0.256 quicker than Ricciardo on a hot and sunny day at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. That was faster than Nico Rosberg's session-topping time in Friday's morning session which he set while trialing the 'halo' cockpit safety device on his Mercedes.

Guardiola excited about Barcelona reunion

Pep Guardiola is excited about the prospect of returning to his former club Barcelona, though he acknowledges that Manchester City have their work cut out to advance from a testing Champions League group. City have been drawn in Group C alongside Barca, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Celtic, with Guardiola set to return to the club where he began his career and managed with distinction for four seasons.

FIFA ethics investigator seeks to ban, fine Qatar official

A FIFA ethics investigator has recommended that a senior Qatari official should be banned from the game for at least two-and-a-half years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,676) over allegations he failed to cooperate with a inquiry. The recommendation, announced by the global soccer body's ethics watchdog on Friday, did not give details on the inquiry. And the official it named - Saoud Al-Mohannadi, vice-president of the Qatar Football Association (QFA) - was not immediately available for comment.

Ranieri urges Leicester players to deliver in Champions League

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri wants more from his title-winning squad this season and is eager to see how his team will compete against Europe's top clubs in their Champions League debut. Ranieri led the 5,0000-1 outsiders to a historic league title last season and they have been drawn in Group G along with Porto, Club Bruges and FC Copenhagen.

Schweinsteiger unlikely to play for Man United: Mourinho

German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is unlikely to play for Manchester United this season, manager Jose Mourinho said on Friday. Mourinho has used Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini and Spaniard Ander Herrera this season and the signings of Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have pushed Schweinsteiger further down the pecking order.

Golf: Reed and Laird set pace at Bethpage, Day two back

Patrick Reed gave his Ryder Cup hopes a timely boost as he charged into a share of the first-round lead at The Barclays on Thursday with defending champion Jason Day in hot pursuit, two strokes back. American Reed opened with a sizzling five-under-par 66 in the first of the PGA Tour's four lucrative FedExCup playoff events, finishing level with Scotland's Martin Laird on a sunny but breezy day at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.

Judge rejects prosecutor request to appeal Pistorius sentence

A South African judge dismissed on Friday a request by state prosecutors to appeal Oscar Pistorius' six-year murder sentence, the latest twist in a trial that has captured global headlines. The multiple gold medal-winning Paralympian, serving six years for murdering his girlfriend on Valentine's Day 2013, was not in court on Friday when the judge ruled that the state's petition had no reasonable prospects of success on appeal.

Kvitova advances, Vinci ousted in Connecticut Open

Petra Kvitova moved closer to a third straight Connecticut Open crown after defeating Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-1 to reach the semi-finals on Thursday. Kvitova, who won this event the last two years as well as in 2012, stormed past her Russian opponent as she looks to join Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki as a four-time winner in the tournament. To do that she will have to take down top seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who had little trouble winning her quarter-final match, topping Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-4.

08/26/2016 12:58