In brief: 2016 World Cup of Hockey schedule announced

Hockey: The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association announced Wednesday the schedule for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

From Sept. 17 to Oct. 1, 2016, eight teams – Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden, Team USA, Team Europe and Team North America – will compete in a best-on-best international hockey championship.

All tournament games will be played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

The eight teams are split into two Groups, Group A and Group B, for the Preliminary Round (Sept. 17-22), when each team will play its three Group opponents in a round-robin format.

Placed in Group A are Team Canada, Team Czech Republic and Team USA, plus Team Europe, a pan-European roster of players from birth countries outside of the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden.

The four teams in Group B are Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden and Team North America, a selection of the top players from Canada and the United States who are 23 or under as of Oct. 1, 2016.

• Bettman hasn’t talked to Kane: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says he has not talked to Patrick Kane while the Chicago Blackhawks star is being investigated about a sexual-assault allegation.

Bettman said “nobody is going to talk to us” when asked if he has attempted to contact Kane.

A person familiar with the investigation says Kane is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his offseason home near Buffalo. Kane has not been charged.

Prince Ali of Jordan will seek FIFA post

Soccer: Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan is running for FIFA president, saying he will fight “deep-seated corruption and political deal-making” and make soccer’s scandal-scarred governing body more transparent.

The prince spoke before a select crowd of about 300 young Jordanians, including school-age soccer teams, with a Roman amphitheater serving as a backdrop.

He said if elected, he would shift some decision-making powers from FIFA headquarters in Zurich to national football associations. He promised to invest more in soccer development, make sure each member association has a dedicated national stadium in the next four years, do more for women’s soccer and tackle the “plague of match-fixing.”

• Australia calls off U.S. tour: A players’ union says Australia’s two-match tour against the Women’s World Cup champion U.S. team has been called off as negotiations continue over a new collective bargaining agreement.

Beau Busch of Professional Footballers Australia, a union representing both male and female players, said the tour had been called off after players on the Matildas women’s team refused to show up at a practice session in Sydney. The union is seeking an increase in wages, international match payments and improvements in accommodation and other benefits for the women’s team.

Canada advances to qualifying semis

Basketball: Gustavo Ayon scored 16 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and Mexico overcame a 15-point deficit to hand Argentina its first loss of the Olympic qualifier, 95-83 in the last game of the second round.

Mexico earned the No. 2 seed and will face Argentina again Friday night in the FIBA Americas semifinals.

Earlier, Canada beat the Dominican Republic 120-103 to finish first and will play Venezuela in the other semifinal.

Canada won its seventh straight game as Cory Joseph scored 17 points to lead a balanced attack.

Former Gonzaga players Kelly Olynyk and Robert Sacre had 13 and eight points, respectively. Olynek had nine rebounds.

Canada handed Mexico its first loss on Tuesday, 94-73, as Andrew Wiggins scored 17.

• Cavs sign backup center: The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed backup center Sasha Kaun, who has spent the past six seasons playing in Russia.

Kaun, who played college ball at Kansas, averaged 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 142 career games for CSKA Moscow.

• Marshall signs with 76ers: The Philadelphia 76ers signed point guard Kendall Marshall.

Marshall was the 13th overall pick by Phoenix in 2012 and has played for the Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee.

He has averaged 5.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 130 games.

• Brazilian joins Lakers: The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Brazilian point guard Marcelo Huertas.

The 32-year-old Huertas has spent nearly his entire professional career in Spain. He played the past four seasons with FC Barcelona in the top Spanish league, winning two national championships.

• Pacers buy Fort Wayne team: The Indiana Pacers have become the 10th NBA team to buy their D-League affiliate.

The Pacers now own the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, last year’s runner-up in the NBA Development League.

Dumoulin regains red jersey in Spain

Cycling: Tom Dumoulin of Netherlands won the individual time-trial in the Spanish Vuelta to reclaim the race leader’s red jersey on the 17th stage.

The tall, 24-year-old Giant-Alpecin rider clocked 46 minutes, 1 second, over the 24-mile course in and around the northern city of Burgos. He beat Maciej Bodnar of Poland by 1 minute, 4 seconds, while Spain’s Alejandro Valverde was third fastest, trailing the leaders by 1:08.