The NCAA asked a Texas appeals court Monday to stay a temporary injunction that cleared the way for Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby to play this fall despite being declared ineligible for gambling while the Big 12 Conference filed a federal complaint warning the Texas attorney general to stay out of a case that has rattled college sports.
The filings in separate courts raised the stakes in the fight over whether Sorsby can play and who makes that decision.
In documents filed with the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo, the NCAA asked for an emergency motion to stay the June 8 injunction granted by a Lubbock County court in favor of Sorsby, who has admitted he has a gambling addiction and has made thousands of bets, included some on his own team when he was a freshman at Indiana.
The NCAA also asked for a resolution of the case by Aug. 28, which it said would spare the potential disruption of a ruling after Texas Tech begins its season on Sept. 5. Trial is currently scheduled for February, well after the season ends.
The NCAA has long banned players for gambling but Texas Tech says Sorsby, who transferred there in January after the past two seasons at Cincinnati, would be better off on the team for his mental health and well being.
“The trial court’s temporary injunction sweeps beyond anything Texas law permits,” attorneys for the NCAA wrote. “It undermines the integrity of college sports, rewrites member-adopted rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, immunizes Brendan Sorsby from discipline for admitted and serial violations of NCAA anti-gambling rules, incentivizes a run on courthouses across the country to challenge even the most obvious and straightforward student-athlete eligibility decisions and demolishes the status quo.”
The injunction last week from Judge Ken Curry prevents the NCAA from being able to block the Sorsby's eligibility for what will be his final college season with a team among the favorites to win the Big 12 and return to the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season.
The Big 12, meanwhile, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Dallas seeking a court order backing its ability to use its bylaws for possible sanctions against Texas Tech if Sorsby plays this season. Last week, the Texas attorney general’s office warned the league of potential legal action from Texas Tech for any sanctions against the school.
The Big 12 filing names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race this fall, as well as Texas Tech leadership, including its president, chancellor and athletic director. It accused them of trying to prevent the Big 12 from exercising its own rules the school itself agreed to long ago. Sorsby isn't named as a defendant.
“An athlete with an extensive, documented history of wagering on intercollegiate athletic contests — especially his own team’s games — presents a reputational and integrity risk to the conference and its championship competition that the conference has both the right and the responsibility to address,” attorneys for the Big 12 wrote. "The conference is not required to accept that risk on behalf of its 15 other member Institutions, their student-athletes, their fans and its commercial partners. And no government official has the power to compel it to do so.”
That federal lawsuit came before a meeting Monday of the Big 12 board of directors, which is made up of presidents and chancellors from the league's 16 schools. After meeting, the board said it was keeping all options on the table and made clear where it stands on the issue.
“The Big 12 has long spoken out about the dangers of sports wagering by student-athletes and remains committed to protecting the competitive integrity of conference competition. Universities should not field players who have bet on their own team’s games in college athletics," the statement read, not specifically naming Texas Tech or Sorsby.
Big 12 athletic directors in a conference call with Commissioner Brett Yormark last week expressed opposition to Sorsby playing for the Red Raiders this season, and some even suggested maybe not playing Texas Tech if he does.
Court records show that Sorsby has acknowledged making thousands of impermissible bets on pro and college sports totaling at least $90,000 during his time at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech.
That included 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the game in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.
While some guidelines for penalties related to gambling have changed in recent years, NCAA rules still call for a permanent loss of eligibility for any player who wagered on his own team. At least two schools, Nebraska in the Big Ten and Georgia in the SEC, have indicated they will not schedule Texas Tech.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond last week called on the Big 12 to suspend Sorsby, and said claims by the Texas AG's office that sanctions against Texas Tech would violate antitrust laws are meritless. The Kansas attorney general, Kris Kobach, said Monday his office would provide support to the Big 12 in any legal dispute with Paxton's office. Both states have public schools that are in the conference.
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
FILE - Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby (2) is interviewed after a NCAA college football game against Baylor, Oct. 25, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson, File)
FILE - Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark addresses the media during the NCAA college Big 12 women's basketball media day, Oct. 22, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Demonstrators amassed Monday outside Iran’s first World Cup match, waving the pre-revolutionary lion-and-sun flags banned inside the stadium and calling for change in Tehran. Protesters snatched an official flag from one fan, video shows, ripping and stomping on it.
Iran's participation in the World Cup, beset by challenges since the war's outbreak, has divided the U.S. diaspora, as the scene near Los Angeles showed. The national squad has become a Rorschach test of sorts, with rallygoers contending the team was synonymous with Iran's government, while the fans who filed past said they were separating soccer from politics.
Southern California is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran, many of whom arrived after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Just hours before kickoff against New Zealand, a Los Angeles judge upheld FIFA's ban on the pre-revolutionary flag at matches. But the flags and related apparel were nonetheless spotted inside the stadium. Ella Bah, 42, had brought extra clothing to conceal the lion-and-sun flag she wore tied around her like a dress.
“We’re not here to cheer them on,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re here to be the voice for the people inside Iran.”
Like Bah, some protesters said they had tickets to watch the game. Rameileh Jaffrey, 46, said she wants a change in Tehran’s government to bring freedom to the country she left a dozen years ago.
“They are not my team. They are a government team,” she said. Even so, she said she hopes Iran will win, and has plans to see the team play later in the tournament.
A woman protesting jeered Kia Keanh and his family as they walked by wearing T-shirts supporting the team.
“I’m just here to watch the sport, it’s not about the regime,” he said. “I’m just here for a World Cup game, to enjoy it with my family.”
Iran's participation in the tournament has been fraught with conflict because of the country's war with U.S. and Israeli forces. Late Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had reached a deal with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 has rattled the region and virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf.
After the war's outbreak, the team moved its training base to Mexico from Tucson, Arizona, and some of the country's soccer officials were not granted visas to enter the United States. Many in the diaspora have mixed feelings over how to show their support of the Iranian people, but not the government.
“We play for every Iranian, be it in the diaspora or in Iran. People have different opinions, but we are here to unite people and we will try to bring joy to all Iranians wherever they live,” team captain Mehdi Taremi said at a press conference Sunday. “We are here to bring joy to Iranian people. We do not get involved in politics. We are here to play football.”
Kourosh Safavi, 42, traveled to see Iran play from Dallas, Texas, with his 11-year-old son Jibreel. While he was born in the U.S, Safavi said he wanted to cheer on the country of his ancestors, where soccer means so much.
“They’re playing for the people, and I just hope and pray that they have success, that they can bring the people in Iran happiness,” he said.
Put off by sky-high prices, Reza Garajedaghi, 57, said he would watch the game with his 96-year-old father in San Diego.
“I’m a football die-hard, and the boys, they’re representing all Persians, Iranians around the world,” said Garajedaghi, who left Iran when he was 10. “To me, it has nothing to do with whatever government they have in Iran.”
Some Iranian American soccer fans have said the team is tied up in politics, dissuading them from supporting the squad. But Safavi noted players are often put “between a rock and a hard place.” In the past, Iranian athletes have faced serious consequences for speaking out. In 2022, a prominent former member of the national team was arrested for allegedly protesting against the country’s leadership, and star striker Sardar Azmoun wasn’t selected for the World Cup squad this year, reportedly because of a social media post that angered authorities.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei called Azmoun an “excellent player” and said he wished he were with the team.
“I am just happy that they are coming to watch us and I hope that they will pray for us and I hope that they will encourage us,” Ghalenoei said Sunday when asked about the sizable diaspora. He added that he hoped the team would pay back that loyalty by playing a good game.
Still in their street clothes, many of the Iranian players walked onto the field nearly two hours before kickoff. Thousands of fans already in the building greeted them with loud cheers and whistles while the team examined the grass.
Some Iranian Americans are also upset about FIFA's rule barring political flags from being flown. The Iranian American Institute for Voices for Liberty filed a lawsuit last week to circumvent the ban on the pre-revolutionary flag, but a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled Monday the ban could stand.
“There may be harm to some 2,500 staff members who have to deal with safety protocols,” Judge Curtis Kin said, according to The Athletic. “It is a tremendous burden to change a long-standing stadium protocol for a massive event in a period of hours. It is hard to see how FIFA could make a change at one stadium and not the rest.”
Parsa Ezati, 21, and his mother brought the official Iranian flag of the current government to the protest so that people could stomp on it. Many passersby took the opportunity to walk over it, some giving it an extra scuff or taking a minute to spit on it.
“It represents the ayatollahs that killed so many Iranians and have massacred people in my generation,” Ezati said. “FIFA only accepts this flag on the floor.”
AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham contributed to this report.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
People protest outside Los Angeles Stadium before the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Pre-revolutionary Iranian flags stand during a protest outside Los Angeles Stadium before the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
People protest outside Los Angeles Stadium before the World Cup Group G soccer match between Iran and New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A woman has her face painted during a protest in reaction to FIFA's ban of Iran's pre-revolutionary flag inside World Cup stadiums Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Benjamin Hanson)
Iran head coach Amir Ghalehnoy, right, and player Mehdi Taremi listens to a question during a press conference ahead of their FIFA World Cup match against New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
People carry a giant Iranian flag during a protest in reaction to FIFA's ban of Iran's pre-revolutionary flag inside World Cup stadiums Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Benjamin Hanson)
Iran's Mehdi Ghayedi, center, and teammates walk onto the pitch at the stadium one day before their FIFA World Cup match against New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Iran players walk onto the pitch at the stadium one day before their FIFA World Cup match against New Zealand in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
