FIFA has canceled a news conference scheduled with President Sepp Blatter without explanation, fueling the sense of turmoil surrounding football's embattled governing body.

Blatter was scheduled to meet international media at FIFA headquarters after a two-day session chairing the executive committee.

Japan's sports minister said Friday he had tendered his resignation over abandoned plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics's main stadium which carried a $2.0 billion price tag that angered the public.

Hakubun Shimomura will stay in the job until a cabinet reshuffle expected next month, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has accepted the resignation, Shimomura said.

World champion Lewis Hamilton warned Thursday that the technical problems that forced him to retire from last week's Singapore Grand Prix could yet resurface in this year's title run-in.

Though he still leads the Formula One championship by 41 points with six races remaining, the Briton said in Suzuka that Mercedes needed to stay wise to the dangers after an off-weekend gave Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel a glimmer of hope.

FIFA insisted Thursday they were "committed" to helping any investigation following the suspension of secretary general Jerome Valcke as Swiss prosecutors demanded access to the French official's emails.

Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber has requested access to all Valcke's emails while the former right-hand man of president Sepp Blatter worked at football's world governing body.

Britain's Jenson Button said Thursday that his sense of joy had disappeared from Formula One amid rumors the former world champion is set to retire from the sport.

Refusing to be drawn on the speculation that he had failed to secure a contract extension with underperforming McLaren, Button told reporters in Japan: "I don't like finishing 14th, I don't like finishing 10th. That's not what excites me."

Iconic New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, an athlete as beloved for his folksy sayings as for his legendary baseball career, has died, the Yogi Berra Museum said early Wednesday. He was 90.

The Hall of Famer and three-time Most Valuable Player died of "natural causes" late Tuesday, the museum said in a statement.

Formula One will make an emotional return to the scene of Jules Bianchi's fatal crash this week in what promises to be a sombre Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi died in July, nine months after suffering severe head injuries in a collision with a recovery vehicle in rain and fading light, and the race at Suzuka is set to be a difficult occasion for drivers and team officials.

Catalonia may not be a state, but it can count on a small and symbolic red and blue army in the form of European football champions Barcelona.

Despite their international projection, Barca remain a banner for Catalan nationalists who are now seeking independence from Spain.

Robert Lewandowski admitted he had little idea how fast his goals flew in after scoring five times in nine minutes to write Bundesliga history in Bayern Munich's 5-1 rout of Wolfsburg.

The 27-year-old scored all five goals within an official time of eight minutes, 59 seconds after coming off the bench at half-time with Bayern 1-0 down at the Allianz Arena.

Mario Balotelli scored the first goal of his second spell at AC Milan as the Serie A giants held on for a hard-fought 3-2 win at Udinese on Tuesday.

In his first start for the Rossoneri since moving back to the club on loan from Liverpool at the start of this season -- having left Milan a year earlier to sign a permanent deal with the Premier League outfit -- the controversial Italy international forward needed just five minutes to open his account.