Sports briefly: Tutor alleges academic misconduct at Missouri

The University of Missouri is investigating a former tutor's allegations of academic fraud in the athletic department less than a year after the school sanctioned its men's basketball team for violating NCAA rules.

The university announced the investigation Tuesday evening, hours after former tutor Yolanda Kumar wrote on her private Facebook account that she took entrance exams and completed entire courses for athletes at the school.

Missouri's statement did not mention any specific programs or the scope of the alleged misconduct, but Kumar gave some details on her Facebook page.

She acknowledged the authenticity of the post to the Kansas City Star on Tuesday but didn't immediately respond to messages from the Associated Press on Wednesday.

"I have knowingly participated in academic dishonesty in my position as a tutor at the University of Missouri-Columbia Intercollegiate Athletic department, which is not limited to assistance with assignments. I have taken and assisted with entrance assessment, completed entire courses, and I been present to provide assistance with online assessments," Kumar wrote.

She said at least two academic coordinators for athletes in revenue-generating sports encouraged, promoted and supported those activities.

Olympic organizers in Rio de Janeiro are trying to hand over almost $3 million in ticket refund payments due to 13,000 people.

"We are hunting after people," Rio spokesman Mario Andrada said Wednesday. "We have the money but don't know how to get it to them."

Rio organizers allowed buyers to return tickets, which were resold.

"Instead of selling them to scalpers, they gave the tickets back to us, and we resold them," Andrada said.

Andrada said 140,000 people returned Olympic and Paralympic tickets for resale, a value of $23.5 million.

About 90 percent have been reimbursed. But incorrect bank details and faulty credit card numbers are hampering the remaining refunds that total about $2.7 million.

"We will pay everybody, there is no question about it," Andrada said. "But we're not there yet."

The former top-ranked female administrator for the Iowa athletic department has taken her lawsuit against the school from state to federal court.

Jane Meyer filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing the school, athletic director Gary Barta and the Iowa Board of Regents of violating her First Amendment and Title IX rights.

Meyer said that discovery and deposition testimony in her state-level case led her to believe that Barta's decision to remove her from the athletic department was made only after Meyer had presented Barta a memo in which she complained about gender equity, equal pay and retaliation against her and others.

Doping: Kazakhstan weightlifter Ilya Ilyin, one of the sport's biggest names, was stripped of his two Olympic gold medals because steroids turned up in retests of his urine. The International Olympic Committee stripped Ilyin of the gold medals he won in 2008 and 2012.