JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers searched for a Spanish soccer coach and his three children on Saturday after a tour boat carrying 11 people sank overnight near Padar Island, a popular destination within Komodo National Park, officials said.
The boat was carrying a family of six, four crew members and a local guide when it went down on Friday evening after suffering engine failure on a trip from Komodo Island to Padar, said Fathur Rahman, who heads the Maumere Search and Rescue Office.
He said three people were rescued by a passing vessel, and four others were picked up by a search and rescue team. The survivors included the Spanish mother and one daughter. The father, two sons and another daughter were missing, he said.
The Spanish soccer club Valencia said that a coach for its women's reserve team, Fernando Martín, and three of his children were among the victims. In a statement on X, Valencia CF expressed condolences, saying their deaths were confirmed by local authorities. Real Madrid CF also offered condolences on the death of Martin, 44, and his three children.
However, Rahman said the search was suspended Saturday evening because of bad weather and poor visibility and will resume early Sunday.
“Our teams have been combing the northern waters of Padar Island until dusk,” Rahman said. “We are determined to find the victims.”
Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site famed for its rugged landscapes, pristine beaches and the endangered Komodo dragon. The park attracts thousands of visitors for diving, trekking and wildlife tours.
The survivors were treated at the port office in Labuan Bajo city as strong waves up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high and darkness hampered emergency responders overnight, Rahman said.
The search involved multiple rescue units in inflatable boats, a navy vessel with diving equipment and a rescue ship, with the assistance of local fishermen and residents. It was centered on a 5-nautical-mile (9-kilometer) radius of the sinking site, where rescuers found the boat debris, Rahman said.
Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, where boats are a common form of transportation. With lax safety standards and problems with overcrowding, accidents occur frequently.
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, rescuers examine a debris believed to be a part of a tour boat that sank, near Padar Island within Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, rescuers examine a debris believed to be from a tour boat that sank, near Padar Island within Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, rescuers examine the waters where a debris believed to be from a tour boat that sank was found, near Padar Island within Komodo National Park, Indonesia. (BASARNAS via AP)
President Donald Trump tried to put some teeth into his latest attempt to save college sports.
The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don’t comply is real, even if the stricter rules that come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out.
In the order signed hours before the women’s Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.
He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding, a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer.
In some ways, forcing those changes might seem like child’s play once college sports figures this out. The NCAA, the newly created College Sports Commission, the four power conferences, dozens more smaller ones and hundreds of educational institutions all have a say here: It’s a big reason Congress, which Trump instructed to act quickly, has been stuck for more than a year on this.
Trump’s order was his second since one last July and it was a laundry list of proposed fixes, many of which lawmakers and college leaders have been pushing for since the approval of a $2.8 billion settlement changed the face of games that were once played by pure amateurs.
He called for “clear, consistent and fair eligibility limits, including a five-year participation window," and wants to limit athletes to one transfer with one more available once they get a four-year degree.
At a college sports roundtable last month, Trump said he anticipated any order he signed would trigger litigation. Athletes have largely won the freedom to transfer almost at will via the portal along with the ability to be paid by schools that are now doling out more than $20 million a year to their athletes.
As much as the changes he directs, Trump’s call for the Education Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general’s office to evaluate “whether violations of such rules render a university unfit for Federal grants and contracts” stands out as a way to force change.
Several universities across the country have made policy changes to comply with federal orders and avoid funding-related showdowns with the government. Yet big-named schools like Penn State and Florida State are facing huge debts.
“I haven’t read it, obviously, but I certainly appreciate his interest in the issue," NCAA President Charlie Baker said at the women's Final Four in Phoenix. "And from what I saw, some of the social media traffic, it’s pretty clear that he made clear that we need congressional action to sort of seal the deal on a number of these things, which is good, because we do.”
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips praised the president's order, saying “there continues to be significant momentum to preserve the athletic and academic opportunities for the next generation of student-athletes and we appreciate the ongoing efforts.”
Attorney Mit Winter, who follows college sports law, said the order is likely to set up a situation where the NCAA and schools have to decide whether to follow a federal court order or an executive order.
“Federal court orders prohibit the NCAA from making athletes sit out a season if they transfer more than once and prohibit the NCAA from enforcing rules that limit collectives from being involved in recruiting,” he said. "The EO appears to direct the NCAA to create rules that would likely violate both of these court orders. Will the NCAA create rules that do that? And if they do, will schools follow them?
"Either way, we’re likely going to see litigation challenging the EO by athletes and third parties.”
Winter added that the order also appears to urge schools to pay new revenue share amounts.
“Most schools are paying 90-95% of their rev-share funds to men's basketball and football players,” he said. "And those funds are already promised via contracts signed with those athletes. Will the order purport to make schools not adhere to those contracts?”
AP Sports Writers Maura Carey, David Brandt and Eric Olson contributed.
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President Donald Trump pauses as he finishes speaking about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
