CNN
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The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX guarantees against sex discrimination when it allowed a transgender woman to compete on its women’s swimming team.

The university was found to have denied “women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, won the 2022 NCAA championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. The government’s Monday edict did not mention Thomas by name.

The Department of Education gave Penn 10 days to wipe out Thomas’ records. The school also was ordered to ban transgender athletes from women’s teams and issue apology letters to female athletes whose “educational experience in athletics (was) marred by sex discrimination.”

Penn has stated that it complied with all applicable Ivy League and NCAA rules regarding participation in women’s sports.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” on February 5, stating that the administration would halt federal funding to elementary, secondary and post-secondary institutions that permitted transgender girls or women to compete on girls or women’s teams.

The administration also launched Title IX investigations into Penn, San Jose State (which reportedly had a transgender player on its women’s volleyball team last season) and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

A number of other related actions have followed, including the Justice Department suing the state of Maine in an effort to stop transgender participation in girls and women’s sports.

In March, the White House cut off $175 million in federal funds for Penn related to the transgender athlete issue.

CNN
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Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal exclusively told CNN Sports he completely trusts that world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is innocent, as the Italian prepares to return from a doping suspension.

Sinner is approaching the end of a three-month ban having twice tested positive for banned substance Clostebol, an anabolic steroid, in March last year.

The three-time grand slam champion previously escaped a ban when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) ruled that he wasn’t at fault for the positive tests, accepting that the contamination was caused by a physio applying an over-the-counter spray.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) subsequently lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), leading to Sinner accepting a suspension from February 9 to May 4.

In a February statement, Sinner said that he has “always accepted that I am responsible for my team” but has always denied knowingly taking a banned substance.

“I don’t have a clear opinion, first of all, because I don’t have the whole information,” Nadal told CNN after being honored with the Sporting Icon Award at this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards.

“First of all, I 100% believe that Jannik is innocent. I don’t think at all that Jannik wanted to do something that is not allowed, so I 100% believe in Jannik.”

The saga around Sinner has shone the spotlight on the current anti-doping protocols in tennis, with several players raising concerns about possible preferential treatment for the top stars.

Sinner, for example, won’t miss any grand slam events during his ban.

Recently, Serena Williams said she would have been banned for “20 years” and “gotten grand slams taken away” if the same thing had happened to her. She did, though, describe Sinner as a “fantastic personality” and “great for the sport.”

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic said that the whole case was “not a good image for our sport.”

But Nadal, who retired from tennis last year following a historic career, said he has full trust in the current anti-doping system.

“From my point of view, I really don’t believe that Jannik, because he’s the No. 1 in the world, received different treatment than another person, from my perspective and from my understanding,” the 22-time grand slam singles champion said.

“I really believe in the process, I have been there going through all the tests for 20 years, how the things are strict on every single movement … and I believe in the process.

“I can’t say another thing and I can’t think another way because, if not, I will think that we are not in a fair world, and I really believe that we are in a fair world in this matter.”

Despite his ban, Sinner will be one of the favorites to win his first French Open title when the tournament starts at the end of May.

Nadal, who won a record 14 Coupes des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros, said he hopes a potential Sinner win won’t be tarnished by questions around his eligibility to play.

However, for Sinner to claim the title, he will first have to find a way past the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, who many have compared to Nadal.

Not only are both from Spain, but both are formidable on clay with Alcaraz winning his first French Open title last year.

Nadal, who retired with 22 grand slam singles trophies, said the comparisons are only natural and holds high hopes that the 21-year-old can reach the very top of the sport.

“All of us received the pressure from the media and from the hope that people have about you, but I think at the end, we are humans and we know how to handle that,” Nadal told CNN.

“I don’t think for Carlos it’s a big deal holding that pressure. He’s a great player and has a great family behind (him).

“I think he’s doing great and he’s having an amazing career and he’s going to win much more if he stays out of injury – that’s the most important thing. I wish and I really believe that he’s going to have one of the best careers of all time.”

Nadal said he occasionally messages Alcaraz but would always be on hand to provide some advice – not that he thinks the youngster needs it.

It’s an invitation that the 38-year-old extends to all players on the tour who might want to casually learn from his own experiences.

However, Nadal has so far resisted following the likes of Andy Murray, who has gone into coaching after retiring from a playing career.

“I mean in this life you can never say never,” he said, adding he was enjoying spending more time with family without all the travel that comes with being on tour.

“It’s difficult to imagine myself now doing this kind of thing … it’s not my moment, at all. I am in a different moment of my life and I don’t see myself traveling now with a player.”

Instead, Nadal is happy to continue developing his tennis academy which is starting to breed success across the game, adding to the Spaniard’s already impressive tennis legacy.

And, even in retirement, Nadal has not stopped picking up trophies. In addition to being given the aforementioned Laureus Sporting Icon Award, the Spaniard will also be honored in a ceremony at this year’s French Open.

“The results are the results, you know. I won what I won, I lost what I lost, that’s the results and nobody can change that,” Nadal said when asked what he wants to be remembered for now that his playing days are behind him.

“Of course, I will be remembered as a good tennis player, but for me, it’s important to be remembered as a good person, a player who fights as hard as possible but with positive values, being always fair and correct with everyone on court.

“Trying to respect every single moment, for me that’s the most important thing.”

New York
AP
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Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he discussed Pete Rose with President Donald Trump at a meeting two weeks ago and he plans to rule on a request to end the sport’s permanent ban of the career hits leader, who died in September.

Speaking Monday at a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred said he and Trump have discussed several issues, including Manfred’s concerns over how Trump’s immigration policies could impact players from Cuba, Venezuela and other foreign countries.

Manfred is considering a petition to have Rose posthumously removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. The petition was filed in January by Jeffrey Lenkov, a Southern California lawyer who represented Rose prior to the 17-time All-Star’s death at age 83.

“I met with President Trump two weeks ago, I guess now, and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,” Manfred said. “He’s said what he said publicly, I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.”

Trump posted on social media Feb. 28 that he plans to issue “a complete PARDON of Pete Rose.” Trump posted on Truth Social that Rose “shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.” It’s unclear what a presidential pardon might include — Trump did not specifically mention a tax case in which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.

The president said he would sign a pardon for Rose “over the next few weeks” but has not addressed the matter since.

Rose had 4,256 hits and also holds records for games (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series winners.

An investigation for MLB by lawyer John M. Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. Rose agreed with MLB on a permanent ban in 1989.

Lenkov is seeking Rose’s reinstatement so that he can be considered for the Hall of Fame. Under a rule adopted by the Hall’s board of directors in 1991, anyone on the permanently ineligible list can’t be considered for election to the Hall. Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997 and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s request. Manfred in 2015 denied Rose’s application for reinstatement.

Manfred said reinstating Rose now was “a little more complicated than it might appear on the outside” and did not commit to a timeline except that “I want to get it done promptly as soon as we get the work done.”

“I’m not going to give this the pocket veto,” he said. “I will in fact issue a ruling.”

Rose’s reinstatement doesn’t mean he would automatically appear on a Hall of Fame ballot. He would first have to be nominated by the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee, which is picked by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall’s board. Manfred is an ex-officio member of that board and says he has been in regular contact with chairman Jane Forbes Clark.

“I mean, believe me, a lot of Hall of Fame dialogue on this one,” Manfred said.

If reinstated, Rose potentially would be eligible for consideration to be placed on a ballot to be considered by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era committee in December 2027.

Manfred added he doesn’t think baseball’s current ties to legal sports betting should color views on Rose’s case.

“There is and always has been a clear demarcation between what Rob Manfred, ordinary citizen, can do on the one hand, and what someone who has the privilege to play or work in Major League Baseball can do on the other in respect to gambling,” he said. “The fact that the law changed, and we sell data and/or sponsorships, which is essentially all we do, to sports betting enterprises, I don’t think changes that. It’s a privilege to play Major League Baseball. As with every privilege, there comes responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is that they not bet on the game.”

Manfred did not go into details on his discussion with Trump over foreign-born players other than to say he expressed worry.

“Given the number of foreign-born players we have, we’re always concerned about ingress and egress,” Manfred said. “We have had dialogue with the administration about this topic. And, you know, they’re very interested in sports. They understand the unique need to be able to go back and forth, and I’m going to leave it at that.”