Reuters Sports News Summary

The swap took place at Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, Russian news agencies said. Soccer-England midfielder Phillips ready if needed for France game England midfielder Kalvin Phillips's World Cup debut remained on hold with Declan Rice back in training on Thursday and ready for the Three Lions quarter-final showdown with France on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

NBA roundup: Jazz top Warriors on last-second dunk

Rookie Simone Fontecchio made a last-second, game-winning dunk just after Malik Beasley hit a 3-pointer as the Utah Jazz scored five points in the final 7.8 seconds to earn an improbable 124-123 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday in Salt Lake City. Jordan Poole led all scorers with 36 points in a game in which both teams were missing key players.

'She is coming home': WNBA players cheer Griner's release

Brittney Griner's Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team mates and fellow athletes cheered her release from Russian custody on Thursday, months after she was first detained in a Moscow airport. The twice Olympic champion pleaded guilty to the charges of possessing and smuggling illegal drugs but insisted she had made an "honest mistake". In November she was moved to a penal colony elsewhere in Russia.

Boxing-World amateur body IBA accuses Olympic organisers of persecution

Amateur boxing's Russian-led world governing body accused Olympic organisers of persecution on Thursday in a hard-hitting response to its continued suspension over governance and finance issues. The International Boxing Association (IBA) asked how it could "quench the IOC's continued thirst to persecute our organization and its athletes" and said "significant progress" had not been recognised.

Tennis-ITF increases women's tournaments in first quarter of 2023 season

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has increased the number of women's tournaments it will organise during the first quarter of 2023 to 114, with a record $3.3 million on offer for players as part of its push for gender parity. Women's events on the schedule from Jan. 1 to March 30 are up 15 on 2022, with a new W40 level of competition worth $40,000 in prize money that increases tournaments above the $15,000 and $25,000 entry category to 150.

Rugby-South African Rugby continues to break new ground in Europe

History will be made this weekend when South African clubs enter European Rugby’s Champions Cup for the first time, another sign of the country’s push into more lucrative markets and the increasing shift away from the global south. The Durban-based Sharks will make South Africa’s bow when they host English side Harlequins on Saturday afternoon and in the evening the Bulls from Pretoria welcome French club Lyon. Cape Town’s Stormers visit another French side, Clermont.

Soccer-Messi or Ronaldo? Football's hottest debate rages on in Qatar

It may have been a rest day at the World Cup on Thursday but there was no stopping the football discussion that never ends - who is the better player, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? With no games in the Qatari capital for the second straight day, fans streamed to the Souk Waqif to shop and see the sights, and the decade-long debate about who is the GOAT - the "greatest of all time" - continued in the cafes and restaurants.

Soccer-Spain coach Luis Enrique fired, De la Fuente takes over

Luis Enrique was sacked as Spain coach on Thursday after the team's elimination in the last-16 at the World Cup with the country's under-21 manager Luis de la Fuente named as his replacement by the Spanish football federation (RFEF). Spain were beaten on penalties by Morocco after a goalless draw on Tuesday in an upset result after failing to turn their dominance into a victory.

NHL roundup: Tage Thompson ties Sabres' record with 5 goals

Tage Thompson scored five goals in a six-point performance to power the visiting Buffalo Sabres to a 9-4 rout of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. Thompson's five goals matched the Sabres' franchise record set by Dave Andreychuk in 1986 at Boston. Thompson roared out of the gate, registering his third career hat trick in the opening 12 minutes.

Brittney Griner released from Russia in prisoner swap with Viktor Bout

U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia and is on her way back to the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, ending what he called months of "hell." The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former arms dealer. The swap took place at Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates, Russian news agencies said.

Soccer-England midfielder Phillips ready if needed for France game

England midfielder Kalvin Phillips's World Cup debut remained on hold with Declan Rice back in training on Thursday and ready for the Three Lions quarter-final showdown with France on Saturday. After playing every match at Euro 2020, helping England to the final where they lost to Italy on penalties, Phillips was expected to play a defensive midfield role at the World Cup but has yet to get off the bench after a long-term shoulder injury.