Lebanon has been eliminated as Canada, Latvia, Montenegro, Lithuania and Germany all headed to the round of 16 of the Basketball World Cup.

Debutants Latvia beat Lebanon in their opening game and sent heavyweights France crashing to a shock Basketball World Cup first-round exit on Sunday, while Canada underlined their title credentials in a blowout win over Lebanon.

When Billie Jean King won the U.S. Open in 1972, she didn't make the usual remarks about hoping to win again. Instead, she threatened to not play at all the next year — and added that no other women would, either.

That's because she earned $10,000 for her championship, $15,000 less than what Ilie Năstase won for his.

Facing his possible removal from office, the president of the Spanish football federation refused to resign Friday despite an uproar for kissing a player on the lips without her consent after the Women's World Cup final.

Luis Rubiales defiantly told an emergency general assembly of the federation "I won't resign" four times in quick succession and claimed he was a victim of a witch hunt by "false feminists."

Saudi Arabia will host the men's tennis tour's Next Gen ATP Finals in Jedda through 2027 under an agreement announced Thursday, the latest foray into sports by the kingdom.

The end-of-season tournament for the ATP's leading 21-and-under players will be held this year at the King Abdullah Sports City on an indoor hard court from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2.

Latvia turned its first FIBA World Cup game into an easy 109-70 win over Lebanon on Friday despite a late-game surge by the Lebanese team.

Rolands Smits had 17 points for Latvia, which had a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter and kept pulling away.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has downplayed speculation that Mohamed Salah could move to Saudi Arabia.

Sections of the British media reported Thursday that Al-Ittihad wanted to buy the 31-year-old Salah, who has two years left on his deal at Liverpool.

Lionel Messi had two assists and converted in a shootout to lead Inter Miami over MLS-leading Cincinnati 5-4 on penalty kicks after a 3-3 draw on Wednesday night and into a U.S. Open Cup final against Houston.

Miami remained unbeaten in eight matches with Messi heading into his Major League Soccer debut on Saturday at the New York Red Bulls. The 36-year-old, a seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, joined the team last month and led it to the title of the Leagues Cup.

Jude Bellingham's promising start with Real Madrid has quickly helped quell some of the disappointment prompted by Karim Benzema's departure and the club's failure to bring in Kylian Mbappé.

Madrid's top signing so far this year got off to a red-hot start, scoring once in the team's 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league opener and twice in the 3-1 win at Almeria last weekend. Bellingham will be attracting all the attention again when Madrid visits Celta Vigo on Saturday to try to stay perfect.

FIFA opened a disciplinary case against Spanish football president Luis Rubiales on Thursday for his behavior at the Women's World Cup final.

The footballbody's disciplinary committee will weigh if Rubiales violated "the basic rules of decent conduct" and "behaving in a way that brings the sport of football and/or FIFA into disrepute."

The coach of Spain's Women's World Cup champion football team is facing scrutiny after footage emerged showing him touching the chest area of a female assistant while celebrating the only goal of the final.

The incident comes amid a national uproar against the president of the Spanish football federation after he kissed a player on the lips without her consent during the award ceremony after the 1-0 victory over England in Sydney, Australia.