PITTSBURGH — Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph is calling Myles Garrett’s assertion that he used a racial slur a “bold-faced lie,” and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is supporting his quarterback.

“1000% False,” Rudolph tweeted after Outside the Lines aired a new interview with Garrett after the NFL reinstated the Cleveland Browns defensive end. “Bold-Faced Lie. I did not, have not, and would not utter a racial-slur. This is a disgusting and reckless attempt to assassinate my character.”

1000% False.

Bold-Faced Lie.

I did not, have not, and would not utter a racial-slur.

This is a disgusting and reckless attempt to assassinate my character.

— Mason Rudolph (@Rudolph2Mason) February 15, 2020

In the interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes, Garrett said Rudolph used the slur as he was being sacked with eight seconds left in the Thursday night game on Nov. 14.

Tomlin, though, strongly supported his quarterback in a statement issued Saturday morning — an unusual move for a coach who rarely speaks publicly in the offseason.

“I support Mason Rudolph not only because I know him, but also because I was on that field immediately following the altercation with Myles Garrett, and subsequently after the game. I interacted with a lot of people in the Cleveland Browns organization — players and coaches,” Tomlin said in the statement.

“If Mason said what Myles claimed, it would have come out during the many interactions I had with those in the Browns’ organization. In my conversations, I had a lot of expressions of sorrow for what transpired. I received no indication of anything racial or anything of that nature in those interactions.”

Rudolph’s agent and attorney, Tim Younger, said the “defamatory” statements by Garrett exposed him to “legal liability.”

“We waited to hear the entire interview,” Younger said. “Garrett, after originally apologizing to Mason Rudolph, has made the ill-advised choice of publishing the belated and false accusation that Mr. Rudolph uttered a racial slur on the night in question.”

On Friday, Manchester City were hit with a two-year ban from European football for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations. Here, theScore explains what these rules are, what City allegedly did, and what happens next.

What is Financial Fair Play?

UEFA succinctly describes Financial Fair Play (FFP) as a means to prove European clubs “have paid their bills.” These include paying outstanding transfer installments, compensating players, and covering taxes.

After the 2011 inception of FFP, further restrictions were added which were designed to prevent clubs from falling into debt. The independent Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) studies financial figures each season to ensure clubs don’t greatly overspend their revenue over a three-year period.

Punishments for breaching FFP have ranged from warnings to disqualification from UEFA tournaments. UEFA also threatens the “withdrawal of a title or award” but has yet to impose this sanction.

An important aspect of FFP which eventually scuppered Manchester City was its restrictions on how much an owner can put into a club to cover losses.

How did Manchester City get found out?

German magazine Der Spiegel published emails and documents in November 2018 which indicated there was financial misconduct happening behind the scenes at the Etihad Stadium. The records dated back to 2014.

City refuted the evidence and denounced the materials as “leaked or stolen,” but Der Spiegel’s exclusive coverage sparked UEFA’s probe into the club’s finances. The formal investigation began in March 2019.

Which rules did Manchester City breach?

The back-to-back Premier League champions were judged to have falsely inflated their sponsorship revenues to disguise the fact Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, City’s owner and an Emirati royal, was providing most of that income.

Figures from the leaked emails suggest City’s main sponsor Etihad Airways funded just £8 million in 2015-16, while the other £57 million to £59.5 million filed as sponsorship revenue actually came from Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group, the private equity firm which owns the Premier League outfit.

With these inflated revenues, City allegedly deceived the CFCB into thinking the club had the financial wriggle room to pay big wages and large transfer fees without breaching FFP rules.

Are Financial Fair Play rules actually fair?

“The aim of financial fair play is not to make all clubs equal in size and wealth, but to encourage clubs to build for success rather than continually seeking a ‘quick fix,'” UEFA states.

Ensuring clubs are sustainable can’t be a bad thing, but there has been criticism that FFP reinforces teams’ statuses. Financial imbalance had already created a deep fissure in the European game, so imposing restrictions that are aligned to clubs’ revenues ensured the big stay big. With FFP, smaller sides are extremely unlikely to break into the European elite with their tighter budgets.

“Had UEFA introduced regulations like FFP 20 years earlier, I think it would have made a notable difference,” sports writer and broadcaster David Goldblatt said in Miguel Delaney’s “How modern football became broken beyond repair” feature for the Independent. “And I think it would have been a deterrent to more egregious foreign owners who have lots of money and political aims.”

Did Manchester City shoot themselves in the foot?

In some ways, yes.

City were accused of arrogance during UEFA’s investigation. They first described the process as a deliberate ploy “to damage the club’s reputation” and The Guardian’s David Conn reports City were “hostile and confrontational” throughout. They also apparently submitted inconsistent answers during the investigation.

City asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to stop the probe and even lodged a damages complaint against UEFA. But both pleas failed. The first appeal against the investigation was denied and was followed up by the independent investigatory chamber recommending UEFA sanction the club.

The club had previously broken FFP rules. A UEFA investigation in 2014 found City guilty of breaching the regulations, so the European football’s administrative body subsequently restricted the size of Manuel Pellegrini’s squad for the 2014-15 Champions League campaign.

What happens next?

Manchester City have already appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). A City statement described the UEFA investigation as “flawed and consistently leaked” and stressed the need for an impartial judgment on “a case initiated by UEFA, prosecuted by UEFA, and judged by UEFA.”

This could drag on for a while.

Meanwhile, the €30-million fine due from City will be distributed to other European clubs. UEFA’s website says these solidarity payments will follow “an agreed formula,” but admits that formula is yet to be decided on by the organization and its executive committee.

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said Thursday that the Bucs have not gotten any closer to clarity on their quarterback situation and whether Jameis Winston will return in 2020 because they’re waiting to see what’s behind Door No. 2 when it comes to available free agents.

“No, because you don’t know who’s available. You’re just sitting and waiting to see is there someone available? And is he a better option?” said Arians, referring to the possibility that some players could be re-signed on tagged before they hit the open market. “I don’t think there’s that many guys involved. … I’d be shocked if it’s two.”

Looking ahead to the offseason:
• Ranking the top 50 free agents »
• Biggest looming free-agent decisions »
• Top offseason needs for all 32 teams »
• Free agency coverage » More NFL »

One quarterback who will be on the open market is Philip Rivers, whom the Los Angeles Chargers agreed to part ways with this week after 16 years. While Arians did not speak about any quarterback specifically, league sources have told ESPN that Rivers, who just relocated his family to Florida, has piqued the Bucs’ interest. Would he make sense for Tampa Bay?

At 38, he said he wants to keep playing.

“I do feel I have some emotional fire and passion still left,” Rivers told the Los Angeles Times. “I know I have the passion for the game that I think is going to last my lifetime. And I think I have the ability left to go play at a high level.

“Some people might disagree that I can still play. But I would say I definitely can do it. I cleaned up a few of those other things, and if I’m playing consistently, I can still do it physically.”

Here are a few factors for the Bucs to consider when looking at whether Rivers is a fit.

The turnovers

Rivers is coming off statistically one of the worst seasons of his NFL career, producing career lows in Total QBR (48.6) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (1.15). He threw 23 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions, tied for second most in his career and just one off from his career-high of 21 and third most in the league behind Winston (30) and Baker Mayfield (21). Since Winston came into the league in 2015, he has the most interceptions with 88 — but Rivers is second with 76.

If the Bucs’ primary concern is indeed eliminating the turnovers, this would be an issue — although two years ago, Rivers managed to throw just 12 picks with 32 touchdowns, leading the Chargers to a 12-4 record. He threw just 10 picks the year before.

High-volume throwing

It should be noted that Rivers had 591 passing attempts last season, the second most of his career. While Arians’ preference is to maintain a balanced offensive attack, the Bucs didn’t have that last season. Some of that was a function of playing from behind, but it was also the result of not running the ball very well due to a combination of poor blocking at times, missing holes and having negative run plays. The result was Winston having a league-high 626 passing attempts. If Rivers struggled with 591, the Bucs’ high-volume passing might not be an ideal fit.

Many would argue that Rivers needs a balanced attack that the Bucs simply didn’t have last season. Check out the numbers for when he did and didn’t have LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield.

Deep passes

Arians’ “No Risk It, No Biscuit” philosophy also involves taking chances downfield. Rivers attempted 76 passes of at least 20 or more yards downfield, his highest total in the past five years and 23 more than he had in 2018, according to ESPN Statistics & Information research. His efficiency numbers on those deep passes were not very good and showed noticeable drop-off from the 2018 season.

The age issue

While Rivers is 38 and not a long-term solution, it would afford Arians the option of not starting over with a brand-new quarterback. He’s under contract for four more seasons, but many close to him, including inside the Buccaneers’ facility, believe he could retire after three years, giving the Bucs a smaller window under Arians.

Arians not only has developed young quarterbacks but also has worked with veterans, trading for 33-year-old Carson Palmer in 2013. He was enamored with Palmer’s deep-ball ability and his level of experience. In Rivers’ case, the deep ball might not be there, but his durability is remarkable. He has been sacked 160 times since 2015 — nearly as many as Winston’s 169 sacks — but has started all 16 games every season of his career after he took over for Drew Brees in 2006.

play

Stephen A. Smith explains why Philip Rivers should retire after parting ways with the Chargers.

Winston also has been durable, playing this past season with a broken thumb and ankle injury, and fighting through a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder before having to miss three games in 2017.

Does he have the ‘it’ factor?

While Rivers ranks ninth in NFL history with 123 regular-season wins and he has produced 32 game-winning drives, he’s most often remembered for the games he didn’t win. Rivers has lost 63 one-score games, the most in the Super Bowl era, according to ESPN Stats & Info research. But his best days might be behind him after the Chargers finished 5-11 in 2019, although injuries, particularly along the offensive line, certainly played a role in that result.

Every week, theScore’s Anthony Lopopolo will handpick the best stories from the top five leagues and beyond, giving bite-sized accounts of the things you need to know in European football. Welcome to “Inside Europe.”

Possession means nothing

What Barcelona are trying to achieve under Quique Setien – the idealist and purist who replaced the pragmatic Ernesto Valverde – is commendable. The pursuit of style over substance is, after all, what made Barcelona great. But the pitfalls, at least in the interim, are steep.

Barcelona lost 2-0 to Valencia on Saturday and never threatened to make the score much different. Valencia’s low block made it nigh impossible for the Blaugrana to find a way into the penalty area. Barcelona could celebrate 73.5% possession, but nothing else.

It wasn’t an anomaly. Barca had similar difficulties in the Copa del Rey against third-tier Ibiza. It took them until the 62nd minute to register a shot on target, and even that was deflected.

How much time will Setien need to implement his ideas? This squad is already built to play the kind of velvety football Barcelona fans require. In theory, Sergio Busquets, one of the last remaining vestiges of the Pep Guardiola era, should have no problems adjusting to Setien’s demands. But Busquets was one of Barcelona’s worst players on the pitch on Saturday.

The more Barcelona drop points, the less time Setien will have to sell his vision.

No keeping Bayern down

We’ve seen this before. Bayern Munich look dead and buried, their title defense withering, and then all of a sudden, they spring to life as their challengers fall by the wayside.

The same story is playing out again in the Bundesliga, where the Bavarians, struggling with injury, are roaring back to the top of the table. Thanks to Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing of Schalke – one of many unexpected challengers in the German top flight – Bayern are now within a point of first-place RB Leipzig.

Two things are happening right now. Bayern are regaining their form and creating more chances than they did at the start of the season, and the teams that set out to stop the juggernaut are regressing to the mean.

Leipzig lost for the first time since October and looked out of ideas against Eintracht Frankfurt. They picked a bad time to drop points, too. Their next two matches are against Borussia Monchengladbach, the Bundesliga’s other title contender this season, and, of course, Bayern. Leipzig can’t afford to stumble, and if they do, expect Bayern to take over and never let go.

Scudetto race is back on

Juventus could’ve increased their lead in Serie A to six points with a win over Napoli. But a 2-1 defeat to the resurgent Partenopei – no longer direct title rivals but still adversaries all the same – kept the Bianconeri from running away with the Scudetto.

Juventus looked out of sorts the entire match. After what he described as a “bland” display, manager Maurizio Sarri may have further reservations about playing Cristiano Ronaldo with Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala; Sarri had refrained from fielding the trio in the past because of the imbalance it could create. Ronaldo managed to score for an eighth straight match in Serie A and Higuain’s acrobatic bicycle kick could’ve tied it at the death, but Juventus’ overall approach was off against a rejuvenated Napoli side.

Inter and Lazio, Juve’s two closest title rivals, had stumbled themselves, dropping points to Cagliari and Roma, respectively. In fact, the Nerazzurri have been wobbling all month, securing just one win in their last four league matches. Despite the rough patch, Inter are now just three points behind Juventus. The race is very much alive in Italy.

Time to scrap FA Cup replays

The magic of the FA Cup is still around. The moment third-tier Shrewsbury were drawn with Liverpool, the runaway Premier League leaders, it felt like an upset could happen. The fact an upset of sorts did happen is evidence of the FA Cup’s endless charm.

Shrewsbury supporters invaded the pitch after their team came back from 2-0 down to hold Liverpool and force a replay at Anfield. Reds manager Jurgen Klopp said he enjoyed the atmosphere at New Meadow, and how could you not? Some clubs live for games like this.

As a reward for their bullishness, Shrewsbury can now expect to collect a significant chunk of the gate receipts from their replay at Anfield. But because it’s taking place during Liverpool’s scheduled winter break, Shrewsbury will face a team of under-23 players.

Shrewsbury’s players may not care. A night under the lights at Anfield is something to treasure forever. But the optics of the competition have never looked worse. Not even Klopp can be bothered to stay behind and mange the second-stringers. He’s going on vacation as well.

What if the FA allowed teams like Shrewsbury the opportunity to go to extra time and truly punish a team like Liverpool for their complete snobbery? Imagine the scenes then at New Meadow.

Let Joao Felix do his thing

It’s probably a little too early to start questioning Joao Felix. It’s not fair to scold the kid for scoring just two goals in La Liga this season, especially without taking into account the context in which he’s playing. As a team, Atletico Madrid have struggled to produce offense, and Felix is still learning how to adapt to Diego Simeone’s rigid tactics.

Few may recall, but Antoine Griezmann’s first few months at Atletico were just as forgettable. He was substituted in and out of the lineup and stuck on the periphery until the second half of the season. He ended up with 22 goals in the league.

Felix is under a lot more pressure because of the sheer cost involved. Atletico paid €127 million to acquire the 20-year-old and had hoped he’d usher in a new era at the Wanda Metropolitano. He’s started in the vast majority of games so far, but he’s never really found his natural position, splitting time as a winger, striker, and as a No. 10. Life was easier at Benfica, where he could just be himself and play on instinct.