BNT MISC

Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior criticized La Liga on Saturday for its inaction toward addressing racist behavior.

"Racists continue to go to stadiums and watch the biggest club in the world up close and La Liga continues to do nothing..." he wrote on Twitter (h/t The Athletic's Jacob Whitehead).

"I will continue with my head held high and celebrating my victories and those of Madrid. In the end it's MY fault."

His comments came after he was the target of racist abuse during a 2-0 win over Real Valladolid on Friday.

La Liga issued a statement to Whitehead defending its handing of racism allegations, saying, "Hate speech has no place in LaLiga."

"We are investigating last night's match and will work with the clubs and appropriate authorities to identify and prosecute anyone guilty of hate speech," the league stated.

"As for yesterday's events, LaLiga is still investigating but has already identified racist insults from some individuals (not groups) in videos uploaded to social media, which will be the subject of an official complaint as in previous cases."

Racist abuse by fans isn't a problem isolated to Spain, but it has remained a persistent issue for years. This isn't the first time Vinicius has been victimized, either. Prior to Madrid's 2-1 win over rival Atlético Madrid in September, Atlético supporters chanted, "Vinicius is a monkey" as they entered Cívitas Metropolitano.

La Liga's approach to addressing allegations of racist abuse also came into sharp focus in April 2021, when Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby said he had been racially abused by Cádiz defender Juan Cala. Diakhaby's teammates walked off the pitch in solidarity, and he didn't return to the match when it restarted.

La Liga said days later it didn't find evidence that Cala used a racist slur toward Diakhaby.

In a statement, Valencia said, "The fact that no evidence has been found does not mean that it didn't happen."

"Our aim is to see a change, to see an appropriate response to such a grave incident, to see a movement to change the regulations and attitudes when facing these types of problems that may arise," the club stated. "It was an unprecedented episode in football, but we are convinced that it will serve to promote a real change in the regulations."

The Athletic's Dermot Corrigan and Adam Crafton laid out how the incident was emblematic of structural issues within La Liga and Spain.

Manny Pacquiao is returning to the boxing ring.

At the Rizin 40 event Saturday, the legendary fighter announced he signed a deal with the promotion that will have him compete in 2023.

"I have agreed with Rizin to fight next year, the date will soon be announced and also my opponent that Rizin will choose," he said (via MMA Fighting's Damon Martin). "I'm open and excited to fight a Japanese fighter."

Rizin has partnered with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2018 and again this past September. Both of those bouts were exhibitions, so that will presumably be the plan for Pacquiao as well.

The 44-year-old hasn't fought professionally since August 2021, when he lost a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas. He had taken a two-year hiatus from boxing before that to focus on his political career in his native Phillipines.

Like Mayweather, Pacquiao has begun pivoting to lucrative exhibitions in lieu of padding his 62-8-2 career record. Most recently, he earned a unanimous decision over DK Yoo on Dec. 11.

The former eight-division world champion has expressed the hope of fighting Mayweather again to avenge his 2015 defeat but questioned whether the feeling was mutual.

"I don't think he will do a rematch with me," he told FightHype.com on Dec. 8 (h/t Bad Left Hook's Wil Esco). "I don't think so. What I thought is that he's scared to death to fight again, and that's my analysis and thought on the rematch with him."

For now, Pacquiao's attention will be diverted elsewhere since he said he'll oppose a Japanese fighter of Rizin's choosing. If the event proves to be a big enough spectacle, perhaps that will pique Mayweather's interest.

Charlotte Flair made her triumphant return to the WWE ring for the first time in nearly eight months and defeated Ronda Rousey in an impromptu match for the SmackDown Women's Championship on Friday.

Rousey had just defeated Raquel Rodriguez with an armbar to retain the SmackDown belt. She stayed in the ring with her partner in crime, Shayna Baszler, to cut a promo before being interrupted by Flair's music and the roars of a stunned crowd.

Flair stormed down to the ring and challenged her foe to a championship bout.

Rousey accepted, but this did not work in her favor as Flair quickly defeated her by countering an armbar and rolling the ex-UFC champion over for a pin to become a 14-time world title-holder.

Flair was last seen in the WWE ring during WrestleMania Backlash on May 8, when she lost to Rousey in an "I Quit" match for the belt.

She suffered a kayfabe fractured radius after Rousey put her in an armbar, but in reality, Flair took time off to get married to fellow professional wrestler Andrade El Idolo.

Flair is back just in time for the Road to WrestleMania in March, however, and things just got very interesting as the WWE calendar starts to heat up.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: profanity).

Sporting KC was reportedly the closest MLS club to signing Cristiano Ronaldo, per multiple reports, before the veteran striker signed with Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr on Friday.

"I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia," Ronaldo said on Friday after making the decision to continue his club career in Saudi Arabia.

The 37-year-old went scorched earth at Manchester United in an effort to depart the club, going so far as to rip ownership and manager Erik ten Hag in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.

Manchester United responded by terminating his contract.

The original belief was that Ronaldo was seeking a move to a Champions League club. But when no such move materialized, likely because of Ronaldo's waning impact but massive wages, he instead joined Al-Nassr on what are reportedly astronomical wages:

"I'm thrilled for a new experience in a different league and a different country, the vision that Al-Nassr has is very inspiring," Ronaldo said. "I'm very excited to join my teammates, and to help the team to achieve more success."

It's somewhat hard to imagine that an MLS club could have offered a similar deal to the one Ronaldo received in Saudi Arabia, though a number of older stars have made their way to the MLS in the past, including David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Wayne Rooney, Kaká, Andrea Pirlo, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, among others.

But none are a global icon the likes of Ronaldo, who has the most Instagram followers among individuals in the world. Without question, he would have been the biggest star in the history of MLS, and would have drawn major attention to the league.

Instead, Ronaldo fans from around the world might have to find ways to stream Saudi Pro League matches to keep up with the Portuguese dynamo.

Longtime TNA/Impact Wrestling announcer and head of merchandising Don West died at age 59 from cancer.

Impact Wrestling announced West's death Friday on Twitter, calling him "one of the defining voices" in the history of the promotion:

West first announced in June 2021 that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma in his brain and would immediately begin treatment.

Scott D'Amore, who is the executive vice president of Impact Wrestling, remembered West with a statement on ImpactWrestling.com, which partially read:

"You can't think about TNA/Impact without thinking of Don West. Don and Mike Tenay provided the soundtrack to so many iconic moments in company history. There was no more cherished member of the TNA/Impact family.

"Don was truly a one of a kind who brightened every room he walked into. He brought out the best in people and was an inspiration to all who crossed paths with him. He was one of the first people I met upon arriving at the TNA Asylum for the first time, and Don instantly made me feel welcome. His warm heart and legendary sense of humor made every day at work something to look forward to."

West joined TNA when Jeff Jarrett founded it in 2002, after a successful stint on the Shop at Home Network.

He served as the color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Mike Tenay and was known for his trademark enthusiasm. Notably, he was part of the commentary team for the first TNA pay-per-view in June 2002.

West later expanded his role by becoming chiefly responsible for merchandise creation and sales in TNA, which drew from his background on the Shop at Home Network.

While West departed TNA in 2012, he returned in 2017 as part of the merchandise department and did some commentary work on special occasions.

Wrestlers such as AJ Styles, Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe are perhaps most synonymous with TNA, but when it comes to non-wrestlers, nobody left a bigger mark on the company than West.