Each of the 32 national teams in the 2023 FIBA men’s World Cup will receive “financial encouragement,” according to a report. A total of 3.2 million euros will be distributed among the participants, and the top 16 teams will receive an additional 100,000 euros each.

The report caught the attention of Belgium national player Emma Meesseman, who lamented the prize money – or lack thereof – allocated for the 2022 FIBA women’s World Cup.

“One year after the Women’s World Cup Championship, where nobody got any ‘financial encouragement.’ Thanks FIBA,” Meesseman wrote sarcastically on X.

The United States defeated China, 83-61, in the 2022 final, for its fourth consecutive championship. A’Ja Wilson scored 19 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals against China.

“This is why you sacrifice,” Wilson told reporters then. “My teammates hold me accountable. They put me in the best situation so I didn’t really feel tired. This is what we live for. This is honestly my job and I love my job. I love what I do and now I can go to sleep. I’m so excited. My bed is literally calling my name.”

Meesseman’s tournament ended in the quarterfinal, when Australia beat Belgium, 86-69.

In the men’s final, Germany will play Serbia on Sunday morning.

Sug Sutton’s WNBA career got off to an inauspicious start.

After a four-year college career at Texas, during which she averaged 8.4 points per game, Sutton was selected with the 36th overall – and final – pick of the 2020 WNBA Draft. She has bounced around the league ever since.

On Friday, though, Sutton, now on the Phoenix Mercury, shone like never before.

The guard recorded the first triple-double in Mercury history, posting 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Phoenix lost to the Las Vegas Aces, 94-73, but Sutton’s performance provided a bright spot in a disappointing campaign for the franchise.

“What a special performance and a special opportunity for a special young lady – someone who hasn’t gotten a shot in the league,” Mercury head coach Nikki Blue told reporters.

“She had a shot in Washington once, but jumped from team to team and has finally got her opportunity. We knew from training camp how special of a player Sug was. It’s taken all season for her to really start believing in herself and showing what she can do, and for her to come out and get a triple-double is extremely special.”

Sutton, who is averaging 8.1 points, 4.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game, became the first player drafted after the first round to record a triple-double in WNBA history.

The Mercury wrap up the regular season Sunday on the road against the Aces.

“We didn’t have a really good season, but there are still positives that came out of it,” Sutton told reporters. “We still had really great fans. We still had that bond within the team. I think we grew a really great relationship with each other regardless of the year, regardless of our record. I am just taking in everything with this last home game.”

Few teams will enter the 2023 WNBA Playoffs with as much momentum as the Connecticut Sun.

Connecticut has won four of its last five games, and at 27-12 has the third best record in the league. Forward Alyssa Thomas has been the team’s engine, averaging 15.7 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists per game.

But Thomas’ spectacular season with the Sun almost didn’t happen, she revealed on a recent episode of the Queens of the Court podcast. The day after Connecticut lost to the Las Vegas in the WNBA Finals, Thomas was on a plane to Australia for the FIBA World Cup pondering her future.

After the Suns’ second finals loss in four years, Thomas conceded she was “thinking about” moving on to another team.

“I was super overwhelmed, didn’t get to process the loss in the finals, which was tough to make it that far. I felt like I was stuck in a cycle of doing the same thing over and over again,” she said.

Thomas ultimately decided to return to Connecticut, in part because of an overhaul in the team’s coaching staff: The Sun hired Stephanie White to be the new head coach in November, and then White brought on Abi Olajuwon and Briann January as assistants, both of whom are first-time WNBA coaches.

“At times, it’s teaching them as well, and bringing them along, and showing them the different things about teams, just the ins and outs and things you pick up over the years,” Thomas said of Olajuwon and January. “For me, it’s been a lot of fun, like I said. It’s been extremely refreshing. I love our offense. I love the energy that they bring. I love this team.”

The Sun have the third best record in the league at 27-12 entering their final game of the regular season, Sunday against the Chicago Sky,

On Saturday, the Las Vegas Aces suffered a rare defeat.

The Aces lost to the Mystics 78-62 in what was just their fifth loss of the season. Late in the contest, coach Becky Hammon could sense what was coming and made a strategic move, pulling her starters with 3:04 remaining.

“We didn’t have any legs,” Hammon told the media after. “We weren’t winning that game.”

Hammon said she had considered resting some key players before the game, acknowledging that the Aces are “just tired.”

Las Vegas went into halftime with a slim 30-27 lead. Things began to unravel in the second half, as the Mystics outscored the Aces 25-18 in the third quarter. Las Vegas couldn’t put up a counter effort in the fourth quarter, and so Hammon made the move.

Guard Kelsey Plum scored 21 points on 46 percent shooting for the Aces, but the rest of the team struggled. Las Vegas shot a season-low 30.8 percent from the field and 20.7 percent from long range. A’ja Wilson, who tied a WNBA single-game record with 53 points last week, scored just 14 points on 4 of 12 shooting.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do to win this game,” Plum said. “Give credit to them, but we’ve got to pack this one up and move on.”

Plum added: “This is not the end of our season, you know what I’m saying?”

The Aces (30-5) remain the top team in the WNBA with five games remaining in the regular season. Hammon’s team can get back on track Monday against the New York Liberty on the road.

It didn’t take long for Abby Dahlkemper to make an impact in her return to the field.

Dahlkemper, who had been out of action since undergoing back surgery last October, scored on Friday in what was her third game back for the San Diego Wave. Dahlkemper scored in the seventh minute of what turned into a 2-1 win for the Wave over the Orlando Pride.

“Well that felt good!!” Dahlkemper wrote afterward on X. “Huge 3pts on the road – so proud of the team. We keep going!”

On a Wave corner kick, one of Dahlkemper teammates’ shots was blocked by a Pride defender and ricocheted off her chest. Dahlkemper promptly rocketed a right-foot shot into the top right corner of the goal.

San Diego assistant coach Louis Hunt said afterward that Dahlkemper has been a “huge breath of fresh air” since her return.

“She’s been incredible over the last few weeks or so since she was cleared to be in training,” Hunt said. “She’s been bright, she has been confident, you can see the quality oozing out of her.

“So for her to get that nice little bonus of a goal as well and helping us win is brilliant because her performance in the last two games, two 90-minute matches back-to-back, you would never have thought she’d been out for a year or so. So just showing her professionalism and showing her quality.”

San Diego returns to the pitch next Sunday on the road against Houston. The team is 8-3-6, and is second in the league in points (27) this season.

Men’s and women’s soccer teams across Spain are uniting to condemn Luis Rubiales.

Rubiales, president of the Spanish soccer federation, has been under fire since he kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips during Spain’s World Cup celebration. The kiss was non-consensual, Hermoso said, and though Rubiales has been provisionally suspended by FIFA for 90 days, he has refused to resign from his post.

Soccer players across Spain are now showing their support for Hermoso.

Two men’s teams showed their support. Before Cadiz’ match against Almeria, players held up a banner saying “We Are All With Jenni.” Then, Sevilla’s players donned T-Shirts that read “This is over,” before a match against Girona, echoing Alexis Putellas’ social media message condemning Rubiales.

Women’s players have gotten involved in Spain, too. After Leicy Santos scored the game-winner for Atletico against Milan on Saturday, she celebrated by holding up Hermoso’s jersey and pointing to Hermoso in the crowd.

Hermoso broke her silence of Rubiales’ actions in a statement released Friday.

“I have been under continuous pressure to make a statement that could justify Mr. Luis Rubiales’s’ actions,” she said in the statement. “Not only that, but in different ways and through different people, the RFEF has pressured my surroundings (family, friends, teammates, etc.) to give a testimony that had little or nothing to do with my feelings.

“I do not have to support the person who has committed this action against my will, without respecting me, at a historic moment for me and for women’s sports in this country,” she wrote. “Under no circumstances can it be my responsibility to bear the consequences of conveying something I do not believe in, which is why I have refused the pressures received.”

Luis Rubiales has lost a powerful ally.

Spain coach Jorge Vilda on Saturday broke with Rubiales, president of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF), condemning Rubiales’ “inappropriate behavior.”

Rubiales gave Spain star Jenni Hermoso an unsolicited kiss during the team’s World Cup medal ceremony, sparking mass criticism for the global soccer community. Rubiales in recent days has resisted calls to resign and has instead said Hermoso is lying.

“The events that have taken place since Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time in its history and to this day have been a real nonsense and have generated an unprecedented situation, tarnishing a well-deserved victory for our players and our country,” Vilda said in a statement. “I regret deeply that the victory of Spanish women’s football has been harmed by the inappropriate behaviour that our until now top leader, Luis Rubiales, has carried out and that he himself has recognised.”

Last year, 15 players criticized Vilda’s management style in a letter written to the RFEF. Rubiales decided then to back Vilda, but now, Vilda has turned on his boss after he was provisionally suspended for 90 days by FIFA.

Following the suspension, Rafael del Amo, RFEF’s vice president, resigned, and so did four assistants for Spain’s senior team, two from the women’s youth teams and five staff members across the senior and youth women’s team.

“There is no doubt that it is unacceptable and does not reflect at all the principles and values that I defend in my life, in sport in general and in football in particular,” Vilda said in the statement.”I condemn without doubt any macho attitude, [which should be] far from an advanced and developed society. A clearly undesirable climate has been generated, far from what should have been a great celebration of Spanish sport and women’s sport.

“I reiterate my unwavering commitment to promoting a sport that is a model of equality and respect in our society.”

This could be Coco Gauff’s moment – finally.

Ever since defeating Venus Williams in the opening round of 2019 Wimbledon, Gauff has been touted as the United States’ next big thing. Now, after winning the Washington Open, her first WTA 500 singles title, she enters the U.S. Open with plenty of momentum.

Can the 19-year-old capture her first Grand Slam championship? Just Women’s Sports breaks down what the path could look like, taking the top possible seed for each matchup.

Laura Siegemund

Siegemund punched her ticket to the main draw with a qualifying win on Friday. She defeated Oceane Dodin, 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. Siegemund advanced to the Warsaw Open final in July, but lost to Iga Swiatek.

Mirra Andreeva

Gauff will likely challenge Andreeva, ranked the No. 63 player in the world. Andreeva plays Olivia Gadecki in her opening match. In her last action, Andreeva, who is unseeded, was defeated by Sloane Stephens, 3-6, 3-6, in the Round of 16 of Tennis in the Land.

Danielle Collins

Gauff could end up against Collins, another American, in the third round. The world’s No. 34-ranked player, Collins is also unseeded for the U.S. Open. She recently won her first WTA doubles title, alongside Desirae Krawczyk, at the Charleston Open. Collins was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Jessica Pegula.

Petra Kvitova

Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledown champion, could provide Gauff a stiff test in the fourth round. In April, she won the Miami Open, defeating Elena Rybakina in straight sets, the 30th title of her career. The victory earned Kvitkova a top-10 ranking for the first time since September 2021, and she enters the U.S. Open ranked No. 11 in the world.

Iga Swiatek

This could be the turning point of Gauff’s tournament. In this round, she would be likely to play Swiatek, the world’s top-ranked player and the defending U.S. Open champion. Swiatek is also a three-time French Open winner (2020, 2022, 2023).

This would be a rematch of the Cincinnati Open semifinal earlier this month, when Gauff beat Swiatek for the first time after seven previous defeats. Gauff had lost all 14 sets she’d played against Swiatek entering the most recent match.

Elena Rybakina

Rybakina has had a strong 2023 season, with titles at the Indian Wells Open and the Italian Open. This would be her first matchup against Gauff. Ranked No. 4 in the world, Rybakina did not compete in the Cincinnati Open because of some nagging injuries she attributed to poor scheduling.

Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka, the world’s No. 2 player, enters the U.S. Open with high expectations. She kicked off the year with an Australian Open singles title, and with a victory over Gauff, would solidify herself as the top player on the tour. Gauff will look to atone for her loss to Sabalenka earlier this year at Indian Wells.

Despite Luis Rubiales’ denial of wrongdoing for his unsolicited kiss of Jenni Hermoso, a wave of support is forming for Hermoso.

During Spain’s celebration of its World Cup win, Rubiales, president of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) kissed Hermoso on the lips. Rubiales has said it was consensual, which Hermoso denies.

Now several more in the soccer community are chiming in to offer support for Hermoso.

“Gotham FC stands with Jenni Hermoso and the Spanish Women’s National Team players. We celebrate their spectacular play and monumental achievement of winning the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup,” NJ/NY Gotham FC said in a statement. “Mr. Rubiales has tainted and overshadowed the Spanish Women’s National Team’s moment by his unacceptable conduct. We condemn him and the inaction of those in power who fail to hold him accountable. We join the global soccer community in using our voice to help end abuse in the women’s game.”

Spain defeated England, 1-0, in the World Cup final. The English national team issued a statement condemning Hermoso.

“Unacceptable actions allowed to happen by a sexist and patriarchal organisation. Abuse is abuse and we have all seen the truth,” the statement read. “The behaviour of those who think they are invincible must not be tolerated and people shouldn’t need convincing to take action against any form of harassment. We stand with you, Jenni Hermoso and all players of the Spanish team.”

Christen Press, the USWNT veteran and Angel FC star, offered a terse, but impactful statement.

“Women should not have to win to have our voices heard,” Press wrote on X.

Luis Rubialies is refusing calls to resign from his post as president of the Spanish soccer federation, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune from disciplinary action.

On Saturday, FIFA provisionally suspended Rubiales from all soccer-related activities for 90 days. Hermoso has come under fire for kissing Spain star Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the team’s World Cup medal ceremony. Hermoso has said the kiss was non-consensual.

“The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, Jorge Ivan Palacio (Colombia), in use of the powers granted by article 51 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), has decided today to provisionally suspend Mr. Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities at national and international level,” FIFA said in a statement. “This suspension, which will be effective as of today, is for an initial period of 90 days, pending the disciplinary proceedings opened against Mr. Luis Rubiales on Thursday, Aug. 24.

“Likewise, the RFEF and its officials or employees, directly or through third parties, are ordered to refrain from contacting the professional player of the Spanish national team Ms. Jennifer Hermoso and her close environment.”

The federation issued a statement in response to the suspension.

“Luis Rubiales has stated that he will legally defend himself in the competent bodies, he fully trusts FIFA and reiterates that, in this way, he is given the opportunity to begin his defense so that the truth prevails and his complete innocence is proven.”

In another statement from RFEF released Saturday, the federation doubled down on its condemnation of Hermoso.

“The facts are what they are and, no matter how many statement you put out to distort reality, it is impossible to change what happened,” the statement read. “The peck was with consent. Consent is given at the moment with the conditions of the moment. Afterwards you can think that you have made a mistake, but you cannot change the reality.”