Karl Ravech, one of the lead voices on ESPN for more than three decades, is expected to be let go as part of a new round of layoffs, sources briefed on the move told The Athletic.

On Monday, ESPN laid off NFL analyst Ryan Clark as part of the latest round of layoffs, which will also affect behind-the-scenes personnel, as most of the dismissals are expected at NFL Network, according to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

ESPN declined comment. Reached by phone on Tuesday morning, Ravech had yet to be told, as ESPN is planning to inform employees later in the morning.

Ravech, 61, has been the lead play-by-play voice on ESPN’s Major League Baseball coverage, hosted “Baseball Tonight,” called college hoops and was a longtime “SportsCenter” anchor. Ravech, who joined the network in 1993, called Monday’s Phillies-Dodgers game in Philadelphia.

While Ravech is the biggest-name on-air personality expected to be let go, the most severe layoffs are expected behind the scenes at NFL Network. ESPN officially purchased the network in late January in a series of agreements with the NFL that gave the league a 10 percent stake in ESPN. ESPN has spent the past six months sorting out how to make all the pieces from its bases in Bristol and New York coordinate with NFL Network’s Los Angeles operation.

ESPN’s parent company, Disney, is also expected to conduct a round of layoffs.

ESPN has had several rounds of layoffs since 2015. Before that, the network that once billed itself as “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” was considered the most idyllic place to work, as it had been immune to much of the rest of the media industry that crumbled with layoffs.

The network has retained quite a portfolio of events, including next February’s Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the College Football Playoff, and it is still arguably the top platform in sports. However, the ground beneath employees’ feet has become regularly shaky in Bristol.

Three years ago, ESPN laid off a slew of big-name on-air personalities, including Jeff Van Gundy, Keyshawn Johnson and Jalen Rose.

ESPN had planned to let Clark go on Tuesday but moved up its plan after receiving media inquiries on Monday. Clark was taken off of “NFL Live” Monday and told of his dismissal as ESPN felt it was better for him to hear it directly from an executive rather than reading it online.

On Tuesday morning, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro was expected to explain in a memo why ESPN was making the moves, with a focus on the NFL Network portion of the moves as the two networks consolidate.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has called for Fifa president Gianni Infantino to step down, claiming the world governing body is “destroying the football industry”.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, external, the head of the Spanish league also criticised World Cup hydration breaks, the final’s lengthy half-time interval, the postponement of a suspension for United States striker Folarin Balogun, and the future possibility of a 64-team summer tournament.

When asked if Infantino should quit, Tebas said: “In my opinion, yes, I think his time is up.”

However, he stated that the 56-year-old has the support of national federations, and claimed Fifa’s election system is “rotten at its core”.

“There’s no opposition candidate, nobody wants to stand just to lose,” Tebas said.

“He shouldn’t stay, but the current state of affairs means he won’t leave.”

The head of Spain’s top flight was in the US to see his country win the 2026 World Cup.

“These past few days here in America, I’ve heard many people who are against Infantino, who disagree with what he’s doing,” Tebas said.

“They say it, but then they do nothing. I don’t know what’s worse, the silence or the complicity, because those who stay silent are perfectly aware of the damage football is suffering.”

Infantino is expected to be re-elected for a fourth term at Fifa’s March congress, although Tebas believes Infantino could have been brought down as a consequence of his involvement in the case around Balogun.

The 25-year-old US player escaped a suspension for his side’s last-16 tie with Belgium following an intervention from US President Donald Trump.

“The suspension of the American player’s ban was absolutely serious. They were lucky that Belgium eliminated the USA, because otherwise a case could have arisen that might have cost Infantino his job,” Tebas said.

“Since Belgium won, they managed to bury the matter. But these things are just the tip of the iceberg.”

European football’s governing body Uefa criticised Fifa’s decision at the time, calling it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”, and the decision was a factor in the organisation’s president Aleksander Ceferin not attending the World Cup final.

Infantino opened the door to a 64-team global tournament during this year’s event, but Tebas argued that “not everything can revolve around the World Cup”.

“Increasing the number of national teams makes no sense. The football industry isn’t just the World Cup,” Tebas said.

“It’s the national competitions that sustain this sport. They are destroying the football industry, which generates tens of thousands of jobs, for an event that lasts 40 days and involves a minority of players.

“Are the best players there? Clearly, but they are also in our leagues. We need fewer international matches and more protection for national football, at all levels. They don’t realise they are making irresponsible decisions.”

Fifa brought in mandatory three-minute hydration breaks for the World Cup, regardless of conditions, for all matches played at stadiums in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The governing body said they were brought in as a commitment to player welfare, but critics have pointed to broadcasters using the breaks as a way to cash in with commercials.

Meanwhile pop music giants Madonna, BTS, Shakira and Justin Bieber were among the acts to perform in the World Cup final half-time show, which extended the usual 15-minute half-time break to 27 minutes 22 seconds.

“Fifa arranges things as it pleases, for what it wants, for its own interests, certainly not for football,” said Tebas. “So, if they need a 27-minute half-time break, they’ll have it.

“Hydration breaks are a lie. We have them in La Liga, but only when it’s genuinely hot.

“Here, the pitches in Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta had air conditioning; I had to put on a jumper in the stands. It was a lie, a break for advertising.

“It’s proof that we are governed by an institution that does and decides what it wants, when it wants, following only its own interests without considering the rest of football. And in many cases, it acts to the detriment of football.”

BBC Sport has contacted Fifa for comment.

LAS VEGAS — The Houston Rockets came to the Las Vegas Summer League hoping to find an answer to one simple question: Is Bruce Thornton ready?

While most of the headlines at this year’s summer league were about the incredible class of 19-year-old rookies entering the league, Houston’s attention was devoted to a first-year player who will be 23 on Opening Night.

During last month’s NBA Draft, the Rockets traded up from No. 39 to No. 31 to acquire Thornton, who played four seasons at Ohio State and left as the school’s all-time leading scorer, with the first pick of the second round.

Given Houston’s consecutive 52-win seasons with a relatively young nucleus, the Rockets didn’t need to target another developmental project at the end of the bench. In this year’s draft, there were a ton of high-potential, four-year college players available after Round One. Although the Rockets will be adding two crucial veteran pieces to the backcourt with Fred VanVleet returning from a torn ACL and Marcus Smart joining the team on a two-year, $13 million deal, Thornton could add even more juice on the perimeter and fill a specific role.

Thornton lived up to all the internal expectations almost immediately, dropping 27 points in his summer-league debut, while displaying the skill to score at all three levels.

In five games with the summer-league Rockets, Thornton averaged 18.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.6 steals while shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from 3-point distance. He led Houston to the semifinals of the Las Vegas tournament, where the Rockets lost 101-90 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.

Thornton’s numbers would’ve been even more impressive if he didn’t struggle through a brutal 2-of-12 shooting performance in his final outing against Memphis. Despite his lack of scoring, he still contributed eight rebounds and seven assists.

“He’s amazing. … He was making all the right plays for us,” said Rockets summer-league coach Will Dunn. “He made some huge, huge plays offensively for our group. Defensively, he was solid. Pressuring the ball. Helping his teammates. Being a leader out there.”

Thornton showed he has the poise, shotmaking and defensive versatility to be a first-year NBA contributor. But will he do it with this Rockets team?

It won’t be easy battling with Smart and third-year guard Reed Sheppard for backup point guard minutes. Rockets coach Ime Udoka also has a reputation for bringing younger players along slowly as they adjust to his defensive demands.

This will be where Thornton has the most to prove. Although he’s got a 223-pound frame that will make it easier for him to defend bigger perimeter players, he still has to make the right reads at the right times, especially for a Rockets defense that tends to be very switch-heavy.

Josh Okogie, Aaron Holiday and JD Davison played a combined 2,353 minutes last season, and while a big chunk of those minutes will go to Sheppard and Smart, there will be opportunities for Thornton to show what he can do.

If Houston can find one more reliable contributor on the bench, it’ll be a huge win for a team that needs all the young, cost-controlled assets it can find on a roster that’s going to be really expensive in the near future once Amen Thompson gets his extension.

Although Thornton looked impressive in Las Vegas, no one should expect him to be a Rookie of the Year contender. But if Udoka trusts him enough to give him some extended run, it’ll provide Houston some much-needed lineup flexibility with the two- or even three-guard groupings they can throw out.

With VanVleet, Smart and Thornton all being bigger, bulkier guards, it should help Houston fight against some of the mismatch hunting teams do against those guard-heavy units.

There’s a lot of work ahead, but all signs point to Thornton being a steal for Houston with the 31st pick.

What’s going on with the two-way guys?

Houston has only two players signed to two-way deals: rookie forward Quadir Copeland and second-year guard Tristen Newton.

Both had some impressive moments during Houston’s five-game run in Vegas, but Copeland stood out for his attitude as much as anything he did on the floor.

Copeland caught my attention from the moment he stepped on the floor because he brought so much energy with his constant trash-talking and his willingness to take on different matchups defensively.

That’s the kind of stuff that would make him a perfect fit with the culture Udoka is building in Houston.

Dunn told reporters that he pulled Copeland aside before the team’s first day of practice ahead of their trip to Las Vegas and presented the undrafted rookie out of NC State with a specific challenge. Dunn explained to Copeland that he loves his aggression and how much that infectious energy rubs off on his teammates. The key was to ensure that energy remained positive, even when things weren’t going well for him or the team.

“I told him, basically, we have a lot of dudes who play really, really hard, but you’re the only one in our main group here who has that kind of edge to him,” Dunn said. “He brings that juice. He’s talking trash. He’s getting in scraps and altercations out there. That’s a little bit of our Houston Rockets identity.”

Copeland was thrilled to hear his coach embrace the way he approaches the game.

“It was amazing,” the 6-foot-6 guard said. “The way I am, you can’t really put me on a leash or try to hold me back because my intensity just gets to a certain level. I’m trying to raise everybody up. Hearing him come up to me and tell me, ‘I want you to be Q,’ that’s all I needed to hear.”

Although Copeland averaged only 11.8 points during his time in Vegas, he racked up 13 steals in five games and knocked down six of his 11 3-point attempts. Copeland’s development will be centered around making him the next 3-and-D experiment for a Rockets franchise that’s repeatedly found success stories with players fitting that archetype.

It’ll be interesting to see how much Copeland’s defense can improve in the G League once he’s tasked with guarding different types of players on the perimeter. And it may sound trivial, but for a team that dealt with a whole bunch of weird vibes in the locker room last year, it won’t hurt to have a guy like Copeland around who can bring some energy and intensity, even if he is a rookie on a two-way deal.

Newton, who has only nine games of regular-season experience during his two years in the NBA, shot the ball with confidence during summer league and had some impressive moments creating 3-point looks off the dribble.

However, the 6-5 guard from UConn also got outmuscled at times while trying to defend bigger players. His lack of switchability will make it tough for him on a Houston team that relies so much on switch-heavy schemes.

Having a second full season to learn under Udoka and find his role within the team will be a big opportunity for Newton. He may be able to stick around. But don’t be surprised if Rockets general manager Rafael Stone still has a few more moves up his sleeve to bring in more young talent with those two-way roster spots.

Davison and Isaiah Crawford both played some important minutes for Houston during the final few months of last season as Udoka looked for answers on his bench. Davison even earned a standard contract after he temporarily carved out a spot in the rotation.

The smart teams are always finding interesting ways to take advantage of those two-way spots.