BASKETBALL

Koreas begin friendlies in latest peace gesture — The rival Koreas began two days of friendly basketball games in Pyongyang in their latest goodwill gesture amid a diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear standoff with North Korea. Women from North and South Korea were mixed into two teams that competed against each other Wednesday at Pyongyang’s Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium. A game between the men’s mixed teams were held later in the day. The South Koreans will play against the North Korean men’s and women’s teams on Thursday before returning home on Friday. The games will precede a planned three-day visit to North Korea by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for meetings over the future of the North’s nuclear program.

SOCCER

FIFA rebukes Maradona — FIFA’s patience with Diego Maradona’s World Cup antics finally ran out on Wednesday. Soccer’s world body said it “strongly rebukes” comments by the Argentina great criticizing American referee Mark Geiger’s handling of England’s win against Colombia in the World Cup round of 16. It was yet another controversial moment involving Maradona —an official FIFA ambassador and figurehead of its “Legends” program celebrating former players — at a World Cup he has mostly attended as a VIP guest of FIFA. FIFA hit back at Maradona for telling Venezuelan broadcaster Telesur the outcome of Tuesday’s game in Moscow was a “monumental theft.” England advanced to the quarterfinals in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in a feisty game slowed by stoppages and players arguing with Geiger. FIFA said Maradona’s “insinuations” were “entirely inappropriate and completely unfounded.” “FIFA is extremely sorry to read such declarations from a player who has written the history of our game,” it said in a statement. FIFA had tolerated previous incidents by Maradona at games in Russia, which the 1986 World Cup winning captain was left to explain on his Facebook page.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

Holloway out of UFC 226 title bout — UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway’s representatives say he is dropping out of his title defense against Brian Ortega at UFC 226 this weekend due to apparent concussion symptoms. Holloway’s management team announced the decision in a statement issued Wednesday night, three days before the bout. The UFC didn’t immediately confirm any changes to the penultimate bout on its biggest show of the summer. The statement from Holloway’s camp indicates the champion stayed overnight in an emergency room Monday before he had even started his weight cut for the bout. Holloway was taken to an emergency room again Wednesday after awakening groggily from a nap following an open workout for fans at the MGM Grand. Holloway (19-3) has been pulled from three prospective bouts this year due to health problems.

MOTOR SPORTS

Racing director Eric Boullier resigns from McLaren — Struggling Formula One outfit McLaren has accepted Eric Boullier’s resignation as racing director and announced a restructure of its leadership. Boullier, who joined the British team in 2014, had overseen its worst run across its 52-year history. McLaren has not won a race since 2012 and hasn’t landed a podium position in more than four years. McLaren says in a statement that former IndyCar champion Gil de Ferran has been appointed to the new role of sporting director. Simon Roberts will oversee production, engineering and logistics, and Andrea Stella has been promoted to performance director, responsible for trackside operations. Stella had joined McLaren with Fernando Alonso from Ferrari. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown says the team’s performance this year “has not met the expectations of anyone at McLaren” and that “the causes are systemic and structural, which require major change from within. With today’s announcement, we start to address those issues head on and take the first step on our road to recovery.”

— From wire reports