Sports Express | September 26, 2026 — Manchester City Found Guilty on 114 of 115 Financial Charges

1. Manchester City Found Guilty on 114 of 115 Charges in Premier League Financial Case

Source: theScore

Manchester City have been found guilty of all but one of 115 Premier League charges for breaching financial regulations, according to reports on Friday, a ruling set to send shockwaves through English football. No sanctions have been decided yet, and the club is understood to be set to appeal. The Premier League declined to comment when contacted.

City were charged by the Premier League in 2023 following an investigation into alleged breaches between 2009 and 2018, and a hearing by an independent commission began in September 2024. The charges included failing to provide accurate financial information, failing to disclose details of payments to players and coaches, breaches of financial sustainability rules and failing to cooperate with the investigation. The club strongly denied all charges at the time, and a club spokesperson said Friday its position had not changed.

If the breaches are upheld, sanctions could range from a severe points deduction to possible expulsion from the Premier League. Everton and Nottingham Forest were both hit with points deductions in the 2023/24 season for single breaches of profit and sustainability rules. Backed by the Abu Dhabi United Group, which bought the club in 2008, City have won eight Premier League titles and a Champions League over the past 15 years, and under new boss Enzo Maresca they sit top of the table after a perfect start.

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2. Curry Takes a Discount, Signs Two-Year Extension With Warriors

Source: SFGATE

Stephen Curry has reportedly agreed to a two-year, $116 million extension with the Golden State Warriors, the team announced Friday night shortly after a report from ESPN's Shams Charania. The extension will start in the 2027-28 season and gives Curry a player option for 2028-29. Curry is taking a discount to remain with the only franchise he has ever known.

Curry is set to make a little more than $62.5 million in the upcoming season and could have signed for as much as $136.7 million if he had pursued every last dollar. The $58 million average salary over the two new years still means he is leaving more than $20 million on the table. If Curry plays out the 2028-29 season, it will be his 20th with the franchise, making him just the fourth player in NBA history to play 20 or more seasons with a single team.

"We couldn't be more excited about reaching an agreement with Stephen and extending his historic career with the Warriors," Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said in the team's announcement. Golden State opens the new season Monday with a Media Day in San Francisco before flying to Hawaii for a week of training camp on Oahu.

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3. Canadian Pair Stun World No. 1 as Internationals Lead Presidents Cup 7-3

Source: CBC

Ryan Fox and Canadian Nick Taylor each delivered clutch moments Friday that carried the Internationals to another sweep in foursomes at the Presidents Cup, giving them a 7-3 lead going into the weekend as they look to end more than two decades of losing. At Medinah Country Club in Illinois, International captain Geoff Ogilvy called it an incredible day. It was the second straight time the Americans were shut out in foursomes.

Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor were 1 up over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns going to the 18th when Taylor went into the trees and Conners could only punch back to the fairway. Taylor then hit a cut 9-iron from 151 yards to a foot from the cup for a par, and Burns's birdie putt to halve the match rimmed out. "Maybe I bailed myself out after that drive," Taylor said. "When it mattered most, it was nice to hit a close one in there and apply the pressure back to them."

It is the Internationals' largest lead after two sessions since Royal Melbourne in 1998, the only year they won the tournament. Saturday is pivotal in this format, with four matches of fourballs in the morning and four matches of foursomes in the afternoon. Two years ago in Canada, the Americans won six of eight matches and sailed to another win.

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4. Guerrero Jr. Apologizes Over $500-Million Contract Comments

Source: Sportsnet

TORONTO — Three-and-a-half hours before game time Friday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stood before the media backdrop outside the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse and tried to make amends. For roughly 12 minutes he apologized before a throng of media, saying the tone-deaf comments he made Wednesday to Veronica Batista of Noticias Telemicro about receiving his $500-million deal for what he had already done were not what he meant to say.

"I was surprised at the reaction, but that's the reason that I'm here, because I probably didn't understand what I was trying to say, or maybe I didn't explain what I wanted to say," Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron. "I'm here to apologize to everyone and letting them know that I am going to go into the off-season, I'm going to work very hard, I am going to be ready, I will be focused to make that contract a great one."

Given the scale of the club's investment in him, Guerrero's attempt to pay penance is significant in a season gone sour for him and his team, which was eliminated from post-season contention. During Friday's 6-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds, a crowd of 42,535 gave him a lukewarm welcome each time he stepped to the plate: mostly cheers, some boos. The 27-year-old has battled a back issue that first popped up in mid-June and helped set internal standards for the team.

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5. NBA Legend Bob Pettit Dies at 93

Source: Bleacher Report

NBA legend Bob Pettit died Wednesday at the age of 93, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced Thursday. Pettit starred for LSU before joining the NBA, where he won MVP awards in 1956 and 1959 and helped lead the St. Louis Hawks to the 1958 title.

A native of Baton Rouge, Pettit led LSU to the program's first Final Four appearance in 1953. He was selected by the Hawks, then located in Milwaukee, as the No. 2 pick of the 1954 draft. The Hall of Fame credits him with revolutionizing his position by becoming one of the first big men to play facing the basket. After winning Rookie of the Year in 1955, he earned the NBA's first MVP award the following season.

Pettit capped his third season with the Hawks by setting what was then an NBA single-game record with 50 points in his team's championship-clinching victory over the Boston Celtics. He was celebrated as an NBA All-Star in all 11 of his seasons with the Hawks. He retired following the 1964-65 campaign with career averages of 26.4 points and 12.4 rebounds in 792 games, becoming the first player in NBA history to record 20,000 career points.

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6. Grizzlies Release Former All-Star D'Angelo Russell

Source: NBA.com

The Memphis Grizzlies waived guard D'Angelo Russell on Friday ahead of training camp and signed Brendan Hausen as the franchise continues its latest rebuild with young players. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, Russell landed in Memphis when he was included by Washington in a six-team, 11-player trade in July.

Russell, 30, has played in 655 games over 11 NBA seasons with Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Golden State, Minnesota and Dallas. Hausen went undrafted in June and started 33 of 120 games in college with Villanova, Kansas State and Iowa.

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7. Cubs and White Sox Clinch Playoff Spots on the Same Day, Two Minutes Apart

Source: Block Club Chicago

In more than a century of Chicago baseball, the Cubs and White Sox had never clinched a playoff berth on the same day. On Thursday, they did it in the time it takes to microwave a burrito. At 3:45 p.m., the White Sox recorded the final out in a 9-1 rout of the Kansas City Royals. At 3:47 p.m., the Cubs eked out a 2-1 win over the Miami Marlins at Wrigley Field.

Both teams are limping into the playoffs, though: the Cubs are 9-11 since Sept. 1, while the White Sox are 9-12. Fans were undeterred, with some on social media joking about an all-Chicago "Red Line World Series."

Thursday's Cubs game was also historic: Pete Crow-Armstrong, the favorite for the National League MVP, stole his 40th base, making him just the seventh player in MLB history to swipe 40 bags and hit 40 homers. As for the White Sox, no team in baseball history had ever gone to the playoffs after back-to-back 100-loss seasons — they lost 101 games in 2023, 121 in 2024 and 102 last year.

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8. F1 Azerbaijan GP: Russell Dominates to Take Pole

Source: Autosport

Mercedes driver George Russell beat Charles Leclerc to take a dominant pole at Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while team-mate and title favourite Kimi Antonelli is set to start from 16th after crashing in Q1. At the 6km Baku City Circuit, Antonelli tagged the barriers on the inside of the Turn 1 left-hander during Q1 and could not limp back home with terminal front-left suspension damage.

Russell, who had already proven rapid all weekend, capitalised with a lap of 1m42.526s to take his fifth pole of the campaign. Leclerc found another tenth to secure second, with Oscar Piastri third, though a sobering eight tenths behind Russell. Isack Hadjar celebrated his return from injury with fourth on the grid, while Lando Norris slipped up on his final attempt and settled for fifth ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

Pierre Gasly secured seventh for Alpine, while Max Verstappen could only manage eighth after having to slow for yellow flags caused by Norris on his final lap. Carlos Sainz made full use of Williams' upgraded car to claim ninth, with Franco Colapinto qualifying 10th.

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9. Sharks Name Macklin Celebrini 11th Captain in Franchise History

Source: Sportsnet

Macklin Celebrini was picked as captain of the San Jose Sharks, becoming the youngest player ever to fill that role for the team at the age of 20. He was presented the captain's jersey at a team meeting by former captain Joe Thornton before practice Friday. "It's a huge honor," Celebrini said. "It's just something that I can't really take lightly. Obviously, there's a responsibility that comes with that. But at the same time I'm not really going to change who I am or what I do."

Celebrini takes over the spot that had been vacant since Logan Couture went down with a career-ending injury, becoming the 11th full-time captain in Sharks history. He is also the youngest current captain in the NHL, edging out 21-year-old Connor Bedard, who was named captain in Chicago earlier this month. Last season he had 45 goals and 70 assists, his 115 points breaking Thornton's franchise record of 114 set in 2006-07.

Celebrini signed a five-year, $94 million extension this summer and is under contract through the 2031-32 season. He has 178 career points, the fifth-most ever for a teenager, and his 70 career goals are seventh best for a player before turning 20. The first overall pick in 2024 was the leading goal scorer at the Olympics with five goals to help Canada win silver, and served as captain of Team Canada at the World Cup in the spring.

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10. Canada's Leylah Fernandez Upsets Mirra Andreeva at Singapore Open

Source: Sportsnet

Canada's Leylah Fernandez seems to be at her best against Mirra Andreeva. The Canadian notched her second upset of the Russian in the past two months, beating the top-seeded Andreeva 6-2, 7-5 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Open.

Fernandez, seeded sixth and ranked No. 31 in the world, also beat Andreeva in the third round of the National Bank Open in Toronto this summer. The latest win marked her ninth career victory against a top-10 opponent. Andreeva, the world No. 5, won her first career Grand Slam at the French Open this year and then reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open.

On Friday, Fernandez converted six of 11 break points against Andreeva. Fernandez, from Laval, Que., will face No. 5 seed Maja Chwalinska in the semifinals of the WTA 500 event, her first semifinal appearance this year.

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