Major League Baseball canceled the first week of spring training games through March 4 in the first public acknowledgement of the disruption caused by the lockout. The announcement Friday came with the work stoppage in its 79th day, and a day after talks on economics between management and the Major League Baseball Players Association lasted just 15 minutes. Negotiators are set to resume bargaining on core economics on Monday, and MLB said members of the owners’ negotiating committee will attend the session, just the seventh on the central issues of the dispute since the lockout began Dec. 2. Spring training was to have started this week, and the exhibition schedule on Feb. 26. There were 16 games set for that day. “We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of spring training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5,” MLB said in a statement. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, pictured, has said the lockout decision was made to control timing and prevent a late-season strike in the absence of a labor contract.

IOC President Thomas Bach, pictured, joined the global bandwagon of support for Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva on Friday, criticizing her entourage and questioning whether 15-year-old athletes should be put under such pressure at the Olympics. His tone surprised Olympic observers — accustomed to hearing Bach defend Russian athletes despite the massive 2014 doping scandal — and drew a quick rebuke from Moscow. Valieva’s emotional breakdown after a mistake-strewn skate and unforgiving questioning by her coach made millions of viewers cringe, especially after a week-long drama over her positive drug test. Bach said he felt the same way, spending much of his news conference taking rare swipes at Russia. “I was very, very disturbed yesterday when I watched the competition on TV,” Bach said at an Olympics that began with Vladimir Putin sitting in the VIP section at the opening ceremony despite a Russian troop buildup near the Ukraine border. Bach had direct criticism of Valieva’s entourage, saying they showed “a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this.”

Phil Mickelson has told a journalist writing a biography on him that he recruited three other “top players” for the Saudi-backed golf league and they paid attorneys to write the operating agreement for the league. In another inflammatory moment for the six-time major champion, Mickelson said his end game is more about a chance to reshape the PGA Tour than for the Saudi league to succeed. His comments came from an interview with Alan Shipnuck, whose book on Mickelson is due in May. Shipnuck posted a story based on the phone interview on “The Firepit Collective” website. “They’re scary mother (expletive) to get involved with,” Mickelson says. “We know they killed (Washington Post reporter Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.” Mickelson said the PGA Tour has been used “manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics” because players had no recourse. —AP