LIV Golf moved swiftly on April 15-16, 2026 to counter widespread reporting that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to cut backing for the breakaway circuit. Chief executive Scott O’Neil sent staff and players a memo saying the 2026 season will proceed “exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” as the tour prepared to stage its Mexico City event. Multiple outlets including the Financial Times and New York Times had reported the PIF was reconsidering support after a new 2026-30 PIF strategy and mounting scrutiny of expensive overseas sports investments. Sources and LIV representatives pushed back, noting stronger ticketing, sponsorship and broadcast revenue and saying funding would cover the remaining nine events on the 14-tournament calendar. Players say they were earlier told funding extended through 2032, but recent exits (Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed) and multibillion-dollar losses — reported at more than $1.1 billion internationally since 2021 — have intensified uncertainty. The episode unfolds against broader Saudi reallocation of capital and geopolitical pressures that PIF officials cite as reasons to reassess some sports investments.

Aston Villa crushed Bologna 4-0 on April 16, 2026, completing a 7-1 aggregate win to reach the Europa League semi-finals, while Nottingham Forest beat Porto 1-0 at the City Ground to win their tie 2-1 on aggregate. Ollie Watkins opened Villa’s rout with a 16th-minute finish that marked his 100th goal for the club; Emiliano Buendía, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa added further strikes as Unai Emery’s side asserted control. Emery, a four-time Europa/UEFA Cup winner, is widely regarded as the competition specialist and will target a fifth title. Forest’s victory was shaped by an early red card for Porto defender Jan Bednarek and Morgan Gibbs-White’s deflected 12th-minute winner; Chris Wood was forced off injured following the challenge. The semi-final first leg will be at Nottingham’s City Ground on April 30, with the return in Birmingham on May 7, setting up a high-profile, all-Premier League last-four tie. The results left English clubs well represented in the latter stages of European competition, alongside other quarter-final survivors in UEFA’s two club tournaments.

Nottingham Forest advanced to the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday after a 1-0 home win over Porto gave them a 2-1 aggregate victory in the quarter-final tie. Morgan Gibbs-White’s 20-yard strike, which took a deflection off Pablo Rosario, proved decisive after Porto were reduced to 10 men when Jan Bednarek was sent off in the eighth minute following a VAR review. The result sets up an all-English last-four clash with Aston Villa, with the winners likely to travel to Istanbul for the May 20 final. The achievement is Forest’s first European semi-final since 1984. The joy was tempered by multiple injury concerns: Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Murillo all went off injured, raising doubts ahead of a crucial Premier League run-in that includes a make-or-break match against Burnley. Vítor Pereira fielded a near-strongest side despite the club’s turbulent season — which has featured several managerial changes — and reiterated the priority of Premier League survival even as Forest dream of continental silverware and a potential Champions League berth for next season’s winners.

The New Jersey Devils have named Sunny Mehta, 48, as their new general manager, the team announced in mid-April 2026. Mehta returns to the Devils after previously serving as the NHL’s first director of hockey analytics from 2014-18 and most recently spent six seasons with the Florida Panthers, where he was assistant GM and head of analytics for the back-to-back Stanley Cup winners in 2024 and 2025. Owner David Blitzer said Mehta’s familiarity with the organization and championship experience will help the Devils “be a perennial playoff team.” Mehta replaces Tom Fitzgerald, who was dismissed earlier in April after New Jersey missed the playoffs. The hire gives Mehta full oversight of hockey operations; the team said other front‑office and coaching roles, including the future of head coach Sheldon Keefe, will be evaluated. Mehta, a Wyckoff, New Jersey native, has a varied background that includes stints in finance, professional poker and music. New Jersey enters the off‑season with key decisions on player contracts and roughly $12.18 million in projected salary cap space.

Barcelona have lodged a second formal complaint with UEFA over refereeing and VAR decisions in their Champions League quarter-final tie with Atletico Madrid (tie decided on aggregate), saying a series of incorrect applications of the Laws of the Game and a lack of appropriate VAR intervention across both legs “had a direct impact on the course of the matches and on the final outcome of the tie.” Barca finished both matches with 10 men after Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia were sent off — each red emerging after a pitchside VAR review upgraded earlier cautions — and have highlighted at least one handball by Atletico’s Marc Pubill that did not trigger a VAR review or penalty. The club says the accumulation of errors caused “significant sporting and financial harm.” Barcelona president-elect Joan Laporta has pressed the issue directly with UEFA leadership, reportedly speaking to president Aleksander Ceferin, while players including Raphinha publicly condemned the officiating as a “robbery.” UEFA previously declared the club’s initial protest inadmissible; it has not yet publicly responded to the refiling.

Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points — including an 11-point fourth-quarter burst — to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 109-97 play-in victory over the Orlando Magic on April 16, securing the East’s No. 7 seed and a first-round series against the No. 2 Boston Celtics beginning Sunday. Philadelphia finished 45-37; Orlando, also 45-37, lost the tiebreaker and must host the Charlotte Hornets Friday for the final Eastern playoff spot. Joel Embiid, recovering from an emergency appendectomy last week, surprised teammates by returning to the locker room before the game and watched from the bench, with no timetable for his playing return. Desmond Bane led Orlando with 34 points. Later the same night in Inglewood, Stephen Curry scored 35 points — 27 in the second half — and the Golden State Warriors rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-121 in the West 9/10 play-in. Al Horford hit four fourth-quarter 3s and Kristaps Porziņģis added 20. Golden State will travel to Phoenix on Friday for the West’s final seed; the winner there would meet top-seeded Oklahoma City in the first round. The Clippers’ loss ends their bid to reach the postseason.