The first edition of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States will be staged from June 15 to July 13, 2025, world soccer's governing body said.
FIFA said the 32-team tournament, which will officially be called Mundial de Clubes FIFA, would be "harmoniously aligned with the International Match Calendar" to ensure there would be enough of a gap between the final and the start of domestic leagues.

Rebecca Welch will become the first female referee in the Premier League when she takes charge of the match between Fulham and Burnley on Dec. 23, the competition said Thursday.
Welch has already worked as the fourth official in the Premier League, for the match between Fulham and Manchester United on Nov. 4, and she was the first woman to referee matches in the second-tier Championship and FA Cup.

The FIFA best men's player award for 2023 will be another contest between Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
FIFA announced the shortlist on Thursday with the same top three in the voting as for the Ballon d'Or prize that Messi won in October.

Women's World Cup winner Spain rose atop the FIFA rankings published Friday after advancing to the final four of the UEFA Nations League.
Spain finished top of a Nations League group this month that included Sweden, which had led the most recent FIFA rankings published in August after the Women's World Cup.

Roma coach Jose Mourinho escaped a touchline ban after cooperating with the Italian soccer federation's disciplinary prosecutor and was instead only fined 20,000 euros ($22,000) on Friday for labeling a referee unstable.
Before a recent match with Sassuolo, Mourinho questioned the abilities of referee Matteo Marcenaro.

Giannis Antetokounmpo erupted for a career-high 64 points as the Milwaukee Bucks avenged last week's in-season tournament exit to the Indiana Pacers with an ill-tempered 140-126 victory on Wednesday.

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green has been "suspended indefinitely" following his clash with Phoenix player Jusuf Nurkic that saw him ejected for the third time this season, the NBA said Wednesday.
The NBA said in a statement that Green had been handed an open-ended ban given his "repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts," adding that he would be "required to meet certain league and team conditions" before he is allowed to return to play.

Giannis Antetokounmpo exchanged heated words with members of the Indiana staff and raced toward the Pacers' locker room Wednesday night as the teams squared off in a hallway in a dispute over the game ball following the Milwaukee star's franchise-record 64-point performance.
After the Bucks' 140-126 victory, Antetokounmpo had an animated discussion with Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton and other Pacers before rushing from the court toward the Indiana locker room in search of the ball.

Australia batter Usman Khawaja wasn't allowed to wear shoes branded with his "all lives are equal" humanitarian message, so he wore a black arm band instead Thursday on Day 1 of the series-opening cricket test against Pakistan.
The International Cricket Council intervened on Wednesday after Khawaja indicated he planned to wear shoes during the match that featured messages to highlight the loss of innocent lives in the Israel-Hamas war.

The Champions League proved too tough for Manchester United and Sevilla. Now, even the consolation Europa League spot is out of reach.
Both teams were eliminated from European competition Tuesday night to finish bottom of their groups.
