BASKETBALL

The debut of John Calipari at Arkansas will come in a charity exhibition game against Kansas next month.

The schools announced Wednesday that their men’s basketball teams would meet Oct. 25 at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Proceeds from the game will be split between the Fore the Kids Foundation, which is based in Overland Park, Kansas, and promotes mental health among children, and the Arkansas Children’s Hospitals.

Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas after 15 seasons, which included four trips to the Final Four and the 2012 national title. He said at the time the Wildcats’ program “needs to hear another voice,” and Calipari headed to SEC-rival Arkansas to replace Eric Musselman, who left for the same job at Southern California.

Calipari is also close to the Kansas program. He worked as an assistant under Ted Owens and Larry Brown in the 1980s.

NBA: The Philadelphia 76ers have a new teammate in their bid to build a new $1.3 billion arena downtown.

Mayor Cherelle Parker announced she has forged a deal with team owners to keep the NBA franchise in town and will send it to city council. The decision comes despite objections from nearby Chinatown residents and just weeks after New Jersey’s governor offered $400 million in tax breaks to build the site across the river in Camden.

WNBA: The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon’s biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026.

The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They paid $125 million for the franchise.

It’s the third expansion franchise the league will add over the next two years, with Golden State and Toronto getting the other two. The Golden State Valkyries will begin play next season and Toronto in 2026.

Portland had a WNBA team, the Fire, from 2000 until 2002 when it folded. That franchise averaged more than 8,000 fans when games were played at the Rose Garden. The new franchise will play at the Moda Center — home of the NBA’s Trail Blazers.

SOCCER

ARSENAL: Captain Martin Odegaard has sustained “significant” ankle ligament damage that will keep him out of action for “a while” Manager Mikel Arteta said.

The midfielder was injured playing for Norway this month and scans have confirmed the extent of the damage.

Arsenal plays Atalanta in the Champions League on Thursday and Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.

Odegaard is a key figure for Arsenal, which finished runner-up to City in each of the last two seasons.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Sparta Prague, playing on the main stage of the competition for the first time in 19 years, brushed aside Salzburg 3-0 after taking the lead in less than two minutes.

Bologna had to wait 60 years and held Champions League veteran Shakhtar Donetsk to a 0-0 draw in Italy.

They were the two early kickoffs on the second evening of the new format that replaces the traditional group stage. Now, 36 teams each play eight different opponents through January and are ranked in a single league table to decide which teams advance to the knockout phase.

Manchester City and Inter Milan played to a 0-0 draw in their rematch of the 2023 final.

Paris Saint-Germain and competition debutant Girona also were heading for a blank until the French champion’s defender Nuno Mendes’ effort ended up in the net in the first minute of stoppage time for a 1-0 win.

Borussia Dortmund needed late goals from substitutes Jamie Gittens, twice, and Serhou Guirassy with a stoppage-time penalty to win 3-0 at Club Brugge.

FIFA: FIFA made a high-profile signing from UEFA, hiring one of the most respected executives in European soccer.

Kevin Lamour, currently UEFA’s deputy general secretary, will join FIFA as chief operating officer on Nov. 1, soccer’s world body told staff in an email seen by The Associated Press.

The 44-year-old French official has worked at UEFA in two different spells since 2007 and gained a reputation as an advocate for good governance in soccer bodies.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: Bubba Wallace signed a multiyear contract extension with 23XI Racing, the team announced.

Wallace, who failed to make the Cup Series playoffs this season, heads to Bristol Motor Speedway winless on the year and ranked 19th in the standings for Saturday night’s elimination race.

MEDIA

ESPN: ESPN NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski is retiring from broadcasting to return to his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, to take over the newly created position of general manager of the men’s basketball program, the Atlantic 10 school announced.

Wojnarowski will oversee a wide range of responsibilities while working alongside Coach Mark Schmidt and his staff. His duties will include focusing on name, image and likeness opportunities, transfer portal management, recruiting and alumni player relationships..

Wojnarowski graduated from St. Bonaventure with a journalism degree in 1991 and received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2022. The 55-year-old has worked at ESPN since 2017, and his decision to retire came even while he was still under a contract he signed with the broadcaster in 2022.