FIFA gives to Colombia the right to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup, but Colombian officials decided in late 1982 that they could not afford to host the tournament on the scale FIFA required.
16 January – Former Yankees teammates Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mantle becomes only the seventh player to make it in his first try. His 536 home runs with the Yankees ranked second only to Babe Ruth and he played in more games (2,401) than any other pinstriper, including Lou Gehrig. Ford was arguably the greatest Yankees pitcher of all time, retiring with more wins (236), more innings (3,171), more strikeouts (1,956), and more shutouts (45) than anyone in club history.
14 October – Shigeo Nagashima, a well known sports player from Japan, retires from the Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo, after a 17-year baseball player career.
In the semifinals of this tournament, North Carolina State defeated UCLA 80–77 in overtime, ending UCLA's record streak of seven national titles. The last previous tournament not won by the Bruins was the 1966 tournament.
Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner introduce the first disc freestyle competition and other disc sports to Canada at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships, in Toronto
