The Trump administration said Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated laws guaranteeing women equal opportunities in athletics by letting a transgender swimmer compete on the school’s women’s team and go into team facilities.

The administration’s statement does not name Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022 and was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title that year — an award Thomas now faces losing.

But the investigation opened in February by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights focused on Thomas, who became a leading symbol of transgender athletes and a prominent political target of Republicans and President Donald Trump.

The department said Penn violated a law barring sex discrimination in schools and colleges, called Title IX, by “denying women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

Penn had no immediate comment Monday, but Penn has said in the past that it always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams, both when Thomas swam and currently.

The department said Penn has 10 days to voluntarily resolve the violations or risk prosecution.

The department wants Penn to issue a statement saying that it will comply with Title IX; effectively strip Thomas of any awards or records in Division I swimming competitions; and apologize to each female swimmer “whose individual recognition is restored expressing an apology on behalf of the university for allowing her educational experience in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination.”

The Trump administration in March suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for Penn over its decision to let Thomas compete, the White House has said. The Ivy League school’s federal money came from the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.

In 2022, the NCAA used a sport-by-sport approach to allowing transgender athletes to participate, deferring to an individual sport’s national governing organization, international federation or prior established International Olympic Committee criteria.

Thomas competed under those guidelines, which allowed female transgender swimmers who had completed one year of hormone replacement therapy to compete.

The NCAA changed its policy the day after Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 5 that was intended to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports. That ended its sport-by-sport practice in favor of a blanket policy that only allows athletes assigned female at birth to participate in women’s sports.

The Education Department also opened reviews of San Jose State University volleyball, Denver Public Schools, Portland Public Schools, Oregon School Activities Association and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

It also sued the state of Maine to force it to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports or face prosecution.

A federal judge dismissed an antitrust lawsuit that had been brought against the NCAA by several former college basketball players, including Kansas standout Mario Chalmers, after ruling its claims fell outside the four-year statute of limitations.

The lawsuit, which included 16 total players who played before June 16, 2016, claimed that the NCAA had enriched itself by utilizing their names, images and likenesses to promote its men’s basketball tournament. That date in 2016 is the earliest date for players to be included in the House v. NCAA antitrust settlement awaiting final approval from a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer pointed toward a four-year statute of limitations for federal antitrust violations, despite the lawsuit contending that the law continues to be breached by the NCAA’s use of the players’ NIL in March Madness promotions.

NFL

Washington’s NFL franchise is set to return to the nation’s capital as part of an agreement between the organization and the District of Columbia government to build a new stadium as part of a project totaling nearly $4 billion. The Commanders and Mayor Muriel Bowser announced their deal to construct a new home for the football team in the city at the site the old RFK Stadium, the place the franchise called home for more than three decades.

The new stadium would open in 2030, with groundbreaking expected next year, pending approval of the Council of the District of Columbia.

The Commanders are contributing $2.7 billion, with the city investing roughly $1.1 billion over the next eight years for the stadium, housing, green space and a sportsplex on 170 acres of land bordering the Anacostia River. The stadium, which is expected to seat 65,000 and have a roof to make it a year-round venue for concerts and other events, will take up just 16 of those acres.

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Cleveland Brown, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The move was first reported by NFL Network.

Cleveland will be the fourth team that Johnson has been on in a year. He began last season with Carolina before being traded to Baltimore in late October. Johnson — who led the Panthers with 30 receptions and 357 receiving yards at the time of the trade — had only one catch in four games for the Ravens when he refused to enter a Dec. 1 contest against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Johnson was suspended one game and then waived by the Ravens on Dec. 21. He was claimed by Houston and had three receptions, including one for 12 yards in the Texans’ wild-card playoff win over the Chargers.

Tom Brown, the two-sport star whose interception sealed the 1966 NFL title game for Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, has died. He was 84. Both the Packers and Brown’s alma mater the University of Maryland announced his death on Monday. The Packers said he died last Wednesday.

Brown played six seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the second round by the Packers in 1963. He joined Green Bay the following year after playing one season of Major League Baseball with the Washington Senators.

Brown was part of Green Bay’s three straight NFL title-winning teams from 1965-67 under Lombardi, starting in the secondary and playing a key role on one of the most important plays during that dynasty.

With the Packers protecting a 34-27 lead in the final minute of the 1966 NFL title game, Dallas drove down to the 2-yard line with a chance to tie the game. But on fourth down, Don Meredith’s desperation pass was intercepted by Brown in the back of the end zone to seal the win. The Packers went on to win the first Super Bowl two weeks later against Kansas City.

basketball

Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to become the general manager of the men’s basketball program at Sacramento State under new coach Mike Bibby.

A person familiar with the situation said that O’Neal will take the voluntary job for the program that his son, Shaqir, recently joined as a player. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school hadn’t made an announcement. ESPN first reported the news.

Bibby, the former NBA star for the Sacramento Kings, was hired as head coach for the Hornets last month.

Jimmer Fredette was announced as the first managing director of USA Basketball’s 3x3 men’s national team, the same role that Grant Hill has with the senior men’s national team. Fredette — the former NBA lottery pick and 2011 AP college player of the year who retired as a player last week — will essentially oversee the selection of players and coaches for major international competitions such as the FIBA World Cup, FIBA AmeriCup, the Pan American Games and ultimately the Olympics.