Ahead of Tokyo Olympics, Drug Testing Is a Struggle

By BY MATTHEW FUTTERMAN from NYT Sports The pandemic slowed worldwide drug testing to a crawl. The process has resumed, but the problems that led to poor testing ahead of the 2016 Games have not gone away.https://nyti.ms/3xOANh6

Think Cheating in Baseball Is Bad? Try Chess

By BY DAVID WALDSTEIN from NYT Sports Smartphones, buzzers, even yogurt — chess has nearly seen it all in both live and online tournaments. And just as in baseball, technology only makes it harder to root out.https://nyti.ms/2xG58Uz

When Titles Are Tarnished but Not Taken Away

By BY JOE DRAPE from NYT Sports The Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scheme could be the apex of the cheating era. Or maybe that’s just the way things are now in sports.https://nyti.ms/2tmUEHR

Alex Cora Out as Red Sox Manager After Cheating Scandal

By BY BENJAMIN HOFFMAN from NYT Sports Cora was the Houston Astros’ bench coach in 2017 and was implicated in an elaborate sign-stealing scheme.https://nyti.ms/2t9BBAV

Real or Imagined, Baseball Spying Causes Angst in the Playoffs

By BY DAVID WALDSTEIN from NYT Sports There will always be suspicions when one team seems to know too much about what the other has planned.https://nyti.ms/2ILc2dU

College Sports 101: A U.N.C. Class Reviews a Scandal at Its Source

By MARC TRACY from NYT Sports A history professor at the University of North Carolina has been teaching a course on big-time college sports, with an emphasis on an academic fraud case involving Tar Heel athletes.https://nyti.ms/2K3Wu81

The Secrets of Pitching’s Outlaws

By TYLER KEPNER from NYT Sports Pitchers have used all sorts of tricks to adulterate balls and make their jobs easier. These days, though, it’s harder to create the necessary mess.https://nyti.ms/2HVWF2u