The player had never punched his girlfriend, failed his twice-a-year piss tests, or taken a tree limb to a preschool child – and by the Grand Guignol mores of the National Football League, that made him a prince and a scholar. Granted, he hadn't lived up to his billing out of college or his mammoth signing bonus, but he was a plug-and-play starter for a perennial winner, a lunch-pail type on time for team meetings and off-season training.

A Brazilian court on Friday ordered FIFA to introduce mandatory breaks for players in World Cup matches played in high temperatures. A labor court in the capital of Brasilia issued a temporary injunction saying the breaks are required near the 30th minute of each half so players can get hydrated.

Toward the end of each half of a soccer match, the fourth official on the sideline hoists an illuminated sign over his or her head that displays a number. This magic number indicates how much injury time (or "stoppage time," depending on your vernacular) the head referee has decided to add to the 45 minute half. But how is this calculated?

Lazio midfielder Joseph Minala is free to resume his career after an official investigation rules he did not lie about his age.

Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington has been suspended for at least the entire 2014 season without pay for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse, the NFL announced on Friday. Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 AM in Arizona first reported the news, citing an anonymous player.

Barcelona were reeling last night after being hit with a transfer ban for the next two windows for repeatedly flouting rules designed to prevent child trafficking in football. The tarnished reputation of Europe’s most successful club of the 21st century suffered its biggest blow yet following the outcome of a 12-month Fifa investigation into their acquisition of a host of under-18 players between 2009 and 2013.

The NFL Competition Committee has discussed experimenting this preseason with a longer - much longer - extra-point try. According to one member, the committee's meetings this weekend included preliminary talks about placing the ball at the 25-yard line for the extra-point kick - which would make it a 42-yard attempt - rather than the 2-yard line, where it is currently placed.

For the first time in the history of college sports, athletes are asking to be represented by a labor union, taking formal steps on Tuesday to begin the process of being recognized as employees. The president of the National College Players Association, filed a petition in Chicago on behalf of football players at Northwestern University, submitting the form at the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board.

PHILADELPHIA -- A federal judge denied preliminary approval of a $765 million settlement of NFL concussion...