Ex-Matildas midfielder Heather Garriock to take over as Football Australia interim CEO

SYDNEY (AP) — Long-time Matildas midfielder Heather Garriock will take over as Football Australia’s interim chief executive officer after James Johnson resigned from the role on Thursday.

Garriock played 130 games for the women’s national team in a career spanning 15 years, including Olympic campaigns in 2000 and 2004 and World Cups in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Garriock, 42, joined the board of Football Australia in 2021 and was inducted into the sport's national Hall of Fame the following year for her work as a player, coach, media analyst and administrator.

During a five-year tenure, Johnson guided Football Australia through the COVID-19 pandemic and the co-hosting of the 2023 Women’s World Cup with New Zealand.

“As someone who is immensely passionate about Australian football, this decision has not come easy, but I believe the time is right to step down," Johnson said in a Football Australia statement that also confirmed Garriock's interim role as CEO.

Johnson's resume in soccer include spells working for the Australian players' union, the Asian Football Confederation, and world body FIFA in Zurich, working on regulatory issues including the transfer market. He then represented Manchester City's parent operation City Football Group in international soccer politics.

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FILE - In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, Australia's Heather Garriock (7) vies with China's Zhou Feifei during their qualifying match of the 2012 Olympic women's soccer tournament in Jinan, China, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Xu Suhui, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

“A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

The president, when asked about the package by reporters, said, “I know nothing about it.”

Trump left his Palm Beach, Florida, club, Mar-a-Lago, around 6:20 p.m. for the roughly 10-minute drive to the airport, but took a circular route around the city to get there.

During the drive, police officers on motorcycles created a moving blockade for the motorcade, at one point almost colliding with the vans that accompanied Trump.

Air Force One was parked on the opposite side of the airport from where it is usually located and the lights outside the plane were turned off.

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

President Donald Trump departs Trump International Golf Club in the presidential limousine, known as The Beast, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)