Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has criticised his former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho over comments made following an alleged racist incident involving teammate Vinicius Jr.

The controversy came during last week’s Champions League match in Lisbon against Benfica, where Vinicius claimed he was racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni. The match was briefly halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius initially walked off in protest.

After the game, Mourinho suggested that Vinicius’s celebration after scoring might have provoked the abuse. Courtois, who played under Mourinho at Chelsea from 2013 to 2015, strongly rejected this view.

“The only thing that disappointed me in Mourinho was using Vini’s celebration as an excuse,” Courtois said. “You cannot justify racism over a celebration.”

Courtois also revealed that the Real Madrid team was ready to walk off the pitch in solidarity. “It was Vinicius who decided we should continue playing. If he decided to walk out, we would all have walked out,” he explained.

The goalkeeper expressed full support for Vinicius. “I believe Vini 100 per cent. He never, ever accused any rival player of racism in the past. He 100 per cent heard him say it. Racist insults, homophobic insults, and any offensive insults have no place in the football stadium or anywhere.”

Meanwhile, Prestianni has been given a provisional one-match ban by UEFA and will miss Wednesday’s return game. The Benfica player denies the racism claim, reportedly stating he used a homophobic slur instead, while the club says he covered his mouth during the incident.

Mourinho, who was sent off during the first leg, will also miss the return fixture at the Bernabeu and will not attend pre-match media duties.

The scarcity of fitting three-year-old events has trainer Peter Moody directing two stayer hopefuls to the Australian Guineas, much to his chagrin.

Nominations for Victorious Spirit and Bingi cover the 1600m Group 1 at Flemington Saturday, plus a matching benchmark 66 at Cranbourne Friday against veterans.

At Cranbourne, the Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman stablemates would bear 61.5kg and 60kg, yet Moody prefers the Saturday path.

“I probably don’t need to be butting heads with those horses but it’s the race that will take me to where I want him to be and Bingi is a bit the same,” Moody said.

“I’m nearly forced to run them because there’s no three-year-old race at a mile on a Wednesday meeting, or anything like that, and really there’s only the Guineas, and if you want to go to 2000 (metres) at your next start, it doesn’t help.

“He (Victorious Spirit) went well first-up and there may be worse than him there, but it would be nice to find something easier, and it would be cheaper than running in a Group 1.

“Hopefully he can finish in the top five to pay for the day.”

A field of 12 is nominated to the Australian Guineas, featuring Observer and Planet Red – victors of one-two in the Autumn Stakes (1400m) over Victorious Spirit in third – and Flemington C S Hayes conqueror Sixties.

Australian Derby dreams fuel Moody’s plans for Victorious Spirit, son of Ghaiyyath who sired Victoria Derby champ Observer, though timing concerns linger; co-trainer sees Bingi thriving at 2000m.

“He’s the right horse for the Derby, but whether he’s mature enough,” Moody said of Victorious Spirit.

“We’ve got three Derbies still left, so there’s a chance he could run in one of them.

“The Australian Derby is the only one I haven’t won.

“I’ve won over in Perth, I’ve won the Northern Territory Derby as an owner, I’ve won in Tasmania, I’ve won a few in Queensland, as well Victoria and South Australia.

“I’ve been placed in the Australian Derby, so it’s an itch I want to scratch.”

Fans can find competitive racing betting markets for the upcoming Australian Guineas.

Ryan Gerard looks for his second career win on the PGA Tour when he competes at this week’s Cognizant Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He enters as the favorite at +1600, with Shane Lowry at +1700 from FanDuel Sportsbook. Gerard, 26, has three professional wins, including his lone PGA Tour victory at Barracuda Championship last July. Last week at the Genesis Invitational, Gerard tied for 28th, 12 strokes back.

This year’s Cognizant Classic gets underway at 6:45 a.m. ET on Thursday from the PGA National – Champion Course at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The tournament with a $9.6 million purse will be played on a par-71 course measuring 7,223 yards. Besides Gerard and Lowry, other favorites include Nicolai Hojgaard (+1900), Rasmus Hojgaard (+2200), Michael Thorbjornsen (+2200) and Keith Mitchell (+2700). Joe Highsmith is the defending tournament champion, winning the 2025 event by two strokes over Jacob Bridgeman and J.J. Spaun. Highsmith is +15000 this year in the PGA odds. 

Before making any 2026 Cognizant Classic picks or entering any Cognizant Classic one and done picks, you need to see the 2026 PGA Cognizant Classic predictions and best bets from golf expert Brady Kannon. 

Kannon is an elite golfing betting handicapper with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. He’s hit eight major outright winners since 2013, and hit six PGA winners, including 110-1 longshot Harris English at the Farmers Insurance Open, in 2025. In the fall of 2022, he hit outright winners in three consecutive weeks: Russell Henley (40-1), Tony Finau (18-1) and Adam Svensson (150-1). 

Last season, he hit Hideki Matsuyama (22-1), Harris English (110-1), Ludvig Aberg (25-1), Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak (25-1) in New Orleans, Tommy Fleetwood at the Tour Championship (14-1) and Hideki Matsuyama (20-1) at the Hero World Challenge. Additionally, he’s 25-17-4 on head-to-head bets since joining SportsLine.

New users can also target the DraftKings promo code, which offers $200 in bonus bets if your first $5+ bet wins:

Now, Kannon has focused his attention on the 2026 Cognizant Classic field and locked in his best bets sleepers and golfers to avoid. You can only see them here. 

Top 2026 Cognizant Classic expert picks

One of Kannon’s 2026 Cognizant Classic predictions: He’s completely fading Gerard, the favorite, avoiding him in outright bets and advises to go against him in head-to-head bets as well.

“We saw a 26-year old born in the latter half of 1999 win last week at Riviera but I am not banking on yet another ‘Party like it’s 1999’ happening again for a second straight 26-year old this week in Palm Beach Gardens,” Kannon told SportsLine. “Gerard is a very good player who notched his first PGA Tour win in his rookie year last season. He began this year red-hot, with two straight runner-up finishes but now in this watered-down field, he is at the very top of the board as the betting favorite — being priced the same if not lower than Shane Lowry. It is a very different world, going from 30-40-50-to-1 longshot to lone favorite and now being “expected” to win the golf tournament.” See who Kannon is backing at SportsLine.

New users can check out the latest Kalshi bonus code CBSSPORTS to get a $10 cash bonus after making $10 in trades:

How to make 2026 PGA Cognizant Classic picks

Kannon has revealed his best bets, and his top outright pick is a surprising golfer going off at higher than 45-1. He’s a perfect course fit, and anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see who it is at SportsLine.

What are the best bets for the 2026 PGA Cognizant Classic, and which overlooked golfer shoulder you target? Check out the 2026 PGA Cognizant Classic odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Brady Kannon’s top picks for the 2026 PGA Cognizant Classic, all from the expert who nailed four outright winners last season. 

2026 PGA Cognizant Classic odds, field

See the full PGA Cognizant Classic picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds from FanDuel and subject to change)

Ryan Gerard +1600
Shane Lowry +1700
Nicolai Højgaard +1900
Rasmus Højgaard +2200
Michael Thorbjornsen +2200
Keith Mitchell +2700
Daniel Berger +2700
Brooks Koepka +3000
Aaron Rai +3300
Alex Smalley +3300
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +3300
Davis Thompson +3300
Will Zalatoris +3500
Max McGreevy +3500
Richard Hoey +4000
Johnny Keefer +4000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +4000
Haotong Li +4000
Thorbjørn Olesen +4000
Nico Echavarria +4000
Max Homa +4500
Kristoffer Reitan +4500
Michael Brennan +4500
Jordan Smith +4500
Mac Meissner +4500
Mackenzie Hughes +4500
Chris Kirk +4500
Sami Valimaki +5000
John Parry +5500
Tom Kim +5500
Stephan Jaeger +5500
Ricky Castillo +5500
Seamus Power +6000
Garrick Higgo +6000
Matt Wallace +6000
Doug Ghim +7000
Kris Ventura +7000
Jesper Svensson +7000
Kevin Yu +7000
Zecheng Dou +7500
Austin Eckroat +7500
S.H. Kim +7500
Joel Dahmen +7500
Kevin Roy +7500
Eric Cole +7500
Gary Woodland +7500
David Ford +8000
Dan Brown +8000
Billy Horschel +8000
Adrien Dumont de Chassart +8000
Dylan Wu +8000
Luke Clanton +8000
Emiliano Grill +8000
Vince Whaley +8000
David Lipsky +10000
Mark Hubbard +10000
Chandler Blanchet +10000
Davis Riley +10000
Keita Nakajima +10000
Sudarshan Yellamaraju +10000
Takumi Kanaya +10000
Beau Hossler +10000
Taylor Moore +10000
Austin Smotherman +10000
Lee Hodges +10000
Erik van Rooyen +10000
Matt Kuchar +10000
Karl Vilips +10000
Isaiah Salinda +10000
Blades Brown +10000
Steven Fisk +10000
Andrew Putnam +10000
Matti Schmid +10000
Chad Ramey +10000
Adrien Saddier +10000
Sam Ryder +10000
Adam Hadwin +10000
Jackson Suber +10000
Chan Kim +10000

The U.S. men’s hockey received a heroes’ welcome back to the United States on Monday after defeating Canada in the gold medal game of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The team partied in Miami later that night and some traveled to Washington, D.C., to visit President Donald Trump and attend his State of the Union address to the nation. Those players were given a standing ovation in the House chamber. The president announced goaltender Connor Hellebuyck would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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On Wednesday, it’s back to work.

The NHL will return to regular-season action with the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the horizon. Each Team USA player will be back to work at some point this week. Read below for how fans can support the players as the puck drops on the second half of the 2025-26 season.

Jeremy Swayman, Charlie McAvoy – Boston Bruins

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman and defenseman Charlie McAvoy return to the Boston Bruins this week. The team is 32-20-5 and in fifth place in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins return to the ice on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m. ET.

Jackson LaCome – Anaheim Ducks

Jackson LaCome was the only Anaheim Ducks player on the U.S. team this year. The team is in fourth place in the Pacific Division with a record of 30-23-3. The Ducks will welcome the Edmonton Oilers into California on Wednesday night at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson – Ottawa Senators

 Brady Tkachuk (7) of Team United States and Matthew Tkachuk #19 of Team United States celebrate after their game against Team Canada during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Feb. 22, 2026. (Geoff Burke/Imagn Images)

Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson may play in Canada but return to their team in the Canada’s capital city of Ottawa. The Senators are 28-22-7 and in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa will play the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Zach Werenski – Columbus Blue Jackets

Zach Werenski #8 and Dylan Larkin #21 of Team United States celebrate winning the gold medals after the team’s 2-1 overtime victory in the Men’s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States on day 16 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Zach Werenski assisted on Jack Hughes’ golden goal that gave the U.S. the gold medal against Canada. The Columbus Blue Jackets are in the thick of a playoff race and sit in fourth in the Metropolitan Division. They are 29-20-7. He will take on his Team USA brothers on Thursday as the team plays the Bruins at 7 p.m. ET.

Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin – Vegas Golden Knights

Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin return to Las Vegas as gold medalists. The Vegas Golden Knights are on top of the Pacific Division with a 27-16-14 record. The team is in action on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET against the Los Angeles Kings.

J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck – New York Rangers

There hasn’t been much to cheer about with the New York Rangers this season as the team sits at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with a record of 22-29-6. But fans will be cheering them on when they get back to Madison Square Garden. The Rangers will welcome the Philadelphia Flyers into the Big Apple on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET.

Matt Boldy, Brock Faber – Minnesota Wild

United States’ Matt Boldy, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during a men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.  (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Matt Boldy and Brock Faber played crucial roles in the U.S. win over Canada. Boldy scored Team USA’s first goal against Canada in the Olympics. The Minnesota Wild are 34-14-10 and are in second place in the Central Division. The Wild are back in action against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

HOCKEY OFFICIALS REJECT CANADIAN COACH’S COMPLAINTS OF 3-ON-3 OVERTIME RULES AFTER OLYMPIC LOSS

Matthew Tkachuk – Florida Panthers

Matthew Tkachuk has spent a lot of time at the White House over the last couple of years. He’s been a major part of the Florida Panthers’ back-to-back Stanley Cup title wins. Tkachuk and the Panthers return to action on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

In pursuit of a third title, Florida will need a big push to make the playoffs this season. They sit in last place in the Atlantic Division with a 29-25-3 record.

Dylan Larkin – Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings will need Dylan Larkin to help maintain their position in the Atlantic Division. The Red Wings are third in the Atlantic Division with a 33-19-6 record. Detroit will play Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson’s Senators on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

Brock Nelson – Colorado Avalanche

Brock Nelson has helped keep the Colorado Avalanche on top of the Central Division. The Avalanche are 37-9-9 this season. The team will take on the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET.

Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars

Jake Oettinger was among the goaltenders the U.S. could have used during the Olympics. He’s been the netminder for the Dallas Stars since the 2020-21 season. The Stars are 34-14-9 this season, sitting in third place in the Central Division.

Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs

United States’ Auston Matthews, right, celebrates after scoring his side’s fifth goal during a preliminary round game of men’s ice hockey between the United States and Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Auston Matthews is in the same boat as some of his other Team USA compatriots. He will return to Canada to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. As one of the best players in the NHL, Matthews’ next task will be to end the Canadian Stanley Cup drought. The Maple Leafs are 27-21-9 and are just above the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division. Toronto will play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET

Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor – Winnipeg Jets

It’s been a whirlwind for Connor Hellebuyck and Kyle Connor the last few days. They will head back to Winnipeg, Canada, to join their Jets teammates for the rest of the season. The Jets are 22-26-8 and in seventh place in the Central Division.

Jake Guentzel – Tampa Bay Lightning

Jake Guentzel and the Tampa Bay Lightning are one of the best teams in the NHL. The Lightning have the best record in the Eastern Conference with a 37-14-4 record in the Atlantic Division. The Lightning will take on the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Tage Thompson – Buffalo Sabres

Tage Thompson will return to the Buffalo Sabres, who are in the thick of a fight in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres are 32-19-6 and are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. The team will take on the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Jaccob Slavin – Carolina Hurricanes

Jaccob Slavin and the Carolina Hurricanes are pushing to win the Metropolitan Division and get back into contention for the Stanley Cup title. The Hurricanes lead the Metropolitan with a 36-15-6 record. The Hurricanes take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Jack Hughes – New Jersey Devils

United States’ Jack Hughes (86) poses with teammates after a men’s ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.  (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Jack Hughes will likely never have to pay for a beer in New Jersey, or anywhere else in the States, again after he delivered the game-winning goal against the Canadian team. He will have to make a big push for the team to get into playoff contention as the team is 28-27-2 in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils play Wednesday night against Thompson’s Sabres on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

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Clayton Keller – Utah Mammoth

Clayton Keller was the lone representative on the upstart Utah Mammoth squad. The NHL’s newest team is in fourth place in the Central Division with a record of 30-23-4. The Mammoth take on the Avalanche at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Related Article

Tuesday night featured a TGL double-header, with two-time major champion Xander Schauffele’s New York Golf Club playing both matches. But the strangest incident came from the first match, when Schauffele was officially awarded a mulligan.

In a critical moment in the match, a bizarre situation and a rare ruling led to the mulligan. The good news for Schauffele was that the mulligan gave him a chance to replay a horrible bunker shot. The bad news is that his mulligan went horribly wrong, too, and may have cost his team the match.

Here’s what you should know.

Xander Schauffele squanders rare TGL mulligan opportunity

In the first TGL match on Tuesday night, Schauffele’s New York team faced off against the Bay Golf Club. The Bay Golf Club got off to a hot start, winning the first three holes.

But New York fought back and tied up the score 3-3 at the 11th hole.

When the match reached 13, Schauffele went up against Ludvig Aberg in singles. Schauffele’s tee shot ended up in a right greenside bunker, which is where things started going sideways fast.

As Schauffele set up to hit his bunker shot, Bay Golf Club’s Wyndham Clark decided to throw down the Hammer. If New York accepted the Hammer, the hole would be worth two points. If they rejected it, they’d have to forfeit the hole and give Bay Golf one point.

With Aberg sitting pretty on the green, Schauffele’s teammates declined the Hammer. But it was too late. Schauffele went ahead and hit his bunker shot, and it didn’t go well at all. His ball failed to escape the sand.

That’s when a rules official intervened to give Schauffele a redo.

After video review, the official determined that Schauffele had already addressed his ball when the Hammer was thrown. Teams are not allowed to use the Hammer once an opponent has set up to the ball.

So the official ruled that the Hammer would be wiped out (as well as New York’s decision to decline it). Instead of forfeiting the hole, Schauffele would get a mulligan on his bunker shot.

But Schauffele failed to escape the bunker again with his second attempt. The end result? New York forfeited the hole anyway.

“Yeah, it netted out terrible for us. We were going to decline it anyways, and then I hit such a bad shot, they didn’t even have an opportunity to throw a hammer, so it actually worked out worse,” Schauffele explained after the round. “Maybe if I hit it a third time, it would be better.”

In his own post-match press conference, Clark put the blame on the ref.

“So Derek [Stafford], our ref, he normally puts his hand out, like there’s a signal he does, and you can’t throw it anymore. I look at him, and he hadn’t done it, and he kind of nodded saying you could do it. Granted, Xander was standing over the ball. I could see why they called it that way, but at the same time, the ref that was there gave us the okay,” Clark argued. “It could have been really controversial.”

Stafford, the referee in question, used to officiate NBA games. Clark’s teammate Shane Lowry suggested that had he made that mistake in an NBA game, it would have worked out very differently.

“If he made that call in his NBA days, I’m not sure the players would have been as nice,” Lowry said. He continued. “If we had have tied the hole, I would have been…” before Clark cut him off to complete his thought.

“I would have been pissed,” Clark said. “Or even if we lost it. Oh, my gosh, we might have gotten thrown out for charging.”

Of course, Bay Golf Club did win the hole despite the mulligan ruling. Better yet, they went on to defeat New York 5-3.

Unfortunately for New York, the second match was not kind to them either. They took a 9-2 whooping at the hands of Keegan Bradley’s Boston Golf Club to conclude the night’s entertainment.

Shakur Stevenson’s super-lightweight world title win has seen him rise up the pound-for-pound rankings but when asked his own opinion, Stevenson offered a surprise pick for the man who rivals him as the best fighter in the sport.

Stevenson dominated Teofimo Lopez to claim the WBO super-lightweight crown last month, becoming the third-youngest four-division champion in boxing history in a coming of age display that has forced the world of boxing to take notice of his skills.

Following the retirement of Terence Crawford, fans are beginning to deliberate as to whether Stevenson can challenge Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue for the spot as boxing’s pound-for-pound number one.

Although, without an undisputed title to his name, it will be difficult for the Newark southpaw to penetrate the top two.

Yet, when asked which fighter could be his main rival in the sport, Stevenson told ‘Inside The Ring’ that the man who can compete with him is one whom he will never fight, good friend and former WBO lightweight champion, Keyshawn Davis.

“What’s sad is the guy that you’re looking for, that you’re talking about, is somebody that I came up with. We been helping each other for years.

“Me and Keyshawn Davis are the best boxers in the sport right now, if you ask me. It’ll never happen, but honestly if you’re asking for the other guy, that’s the guy.”

Davis currently sits as the number one super-lightweight contender with the WBO, but champion Stevenson has maintained that it would take half a billion dollars for him to take on ‘The Businessman’.

The WBO are unlikely to order that contest anytime soon, given Lopez fulfilled a mandatory defence of the title when he defeated Arnold Barboza Jr. last May.

Modern narratives on Autumn Glow inevitably link back to Winx somehow.

This piece follows suit.

Chris Waller’s most recent beaten mare could emulate the great Winx exclusively by reaching 10 successive wins in the 2026 Doncaster Mile at Randwick.

Tuesday’s weights for the $4 million Group 1 assigned The Autumn Sun’s daughter 56.5kg.

Higher marks went only to Ceolwulf (59kg), Gringotts (58.5kg), Sir Delius (58kg), Antino (57.5kg), Buckaroo (57kg) and Pericles (57kg) ahead of the 1600m handicap on April 4.

Thirty-one of 139 Doncaster hopefuls scored the 49kg minimum, including Group 1 champions Apocalyptic, Ole Dancer, Vinrock and Nepotism, alongside standout Victorian filly Sheza Alibi and key Australian Guineas prospect Sixties.

Such weight mirrors Winx’s from a decade ago when she won, the enduring high for four-year-old mares.

Merely four mares won Doncasters carrying more – Cuddle’s 59kg equivalent in 1936 stands out – yet every one was five-plus years old.

Sunline joined that list with a 58kg success in 2002, though beaten at four carrying 57.5kg in 2000, outpaced late by Over, a three-year-old on 51.5kg.

Just three four-year-old mares have entered a Doncaster since 2000 with 56.5kg minimum, all outside top 10 placings.

More Joyous managed 11th in 2011 under 57kg, Typhoon Tracy 14th and Alizee 17th both at 56.5kg.

Autumn Glow’s 2kg increase from last year’s Epsom Handicap win sets her up potentially as the 10th horse to snag both races same season.

The lone mare before? You guessed it, Winx.

Check online bookmakers for Doncaster Mile betting markets.