Off the Pitch

Spanish police have arrested seven people after racial abuse toward Vinícius Jr.

MADRID — Police detained seven men on Tuesday over separate alleged hate crime incidents against Real Madrid football player Vinicius Jr as Spain's main soccer league urged changes to Spanish law that would enable it to take steps to curb racism in stadiums.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti expressed support for Vinicius Jr, whom he expected would remain at the club.

He lambasted Spain's "obsolete" protocols to deal with racism in the sport, and said he would consider taking his players off the pitch if they were to be abused again during a game.

Juventus drop from 2nd to 7th in Serie A after latest point deduction

Juventus were docked 10 points on Monday for the current Serie A season after a new ruling by an Italian soccer court in a case centered on the club's transfer dealings, Italy's Football Association (FIGC) said.

After a 4-1 defeat at Empoli on Monday, leaving Juve with two matches to play this season, the deduction pushes the Turin club, Italy's most successful soccer team, down from second to seventh place in the top-flight standings on 59 points.

At least 12 dead in stampede at El Salvador stadium

At least 12 people died and an unspecified number were injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium in El Salvador on Saturday, the Central American country's government said.

Alianza FC and Club Deportivo FAS were playing the second leg of their playoff quarter-final game at the Cuscatlan stadium in San Salvador, the country's capital, when play was suspended after a stampede broke out in the general section.

The venue is one of the largest stadiums in Central America and has an official capacity of more than 44,000 fans.

Checking in on Gareth Bale — he’s hit his first hole-in-one on a golf course

It’s been six months since Gareth Bale smashed in a penalty kick against the United States in Qatar at the World Cup. The Welsh legend hung up his boots and picked up his golf clubs after the tournament and has never looked back.

On Thursday Bale posted a video to Instagram of him getting his first-ever hole-in-one on a golf course. Bale was playing at the Torrey Pines Golf Course in California and was filmed nailing the shot and wheeling away in celebration.

USL League Two side Vermont Green FC have done it again with incredible new kits

Last year, May 20 to be exact, I wrote an article sharing how much I loved USL League Two side Vermont Green FC’s new kits. Fast forward a year and those brilliant minds over in the Green Mountains have one-upped their work.

The semi-pro club revealed their 2023 home kit this week. Created by top designer and Vermont Green co-founder Matthew Wolff, “The Wildflower Kit” is magnificent.

New Jersey Governor promises that 2026 World Cup will be like ‘eight Super Bowls’ in bid for hosting final

NEW YORK — New York/New Jersey stepped up their bid to host the final of the 2026 World Cup by promising a spectacle on par with "eight Super Bowls" at a launch event on Thursday for the tournament which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino gave no indication as to which of the host cities across the three countries would stage the finale when the venues were announced last year.

San Diego officially awarded 30th team in MLS and will begin play in 2025

Major League Soccer (MLS) awarded its 30th team to San Diego on Thursday, with the club set to make their debut in 2025 under the ownership of entrepreneur and investor Mohamed Mansour.

San Diego, which was a well-publicised front-runner to be awarded the expansion franchise, follows several other recent additions to the top-flight North American league, including St Louis City SC, which debuted this year.

Brentford star Ivan Toney banned from playing until 2024 after 232 breaches of betting rules

Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney has been banned from soccer for eight months and fined $63,000 after admitting to 232 breaches of the Football Association's (FA) betting rules, the governing body said on Wednesday.

Toney will not be able to play for club or country until Jan. 16, 2024 and he has been warned as to his future conduct. The sanctions were imposed by an independent regulatory commission after a personal hearing.

New USL Super League will rival NWSL and announces eight cities that will get teams in 2024

The National Women’s Soccer League could no longer be the sole top tier women’s league in the U.S. starting in August 2024. That’s because the new USL Super League announced on Tuesday its plans to become a Division 1 league on par with NWSL.

Eight cities will get teams for the inaugural season which spans from August 2024 through June 2025 (with a winter break in the middle). If all goes to plan, then five more cities will get teams for the following season.

Here are the cities receiving teams.

USL Super League teams

2024 Season:

San Diego group pays record MLS expansion fee of half a billion dollars

Major League Soccer received a record $500 million expansion fee to field an expansion team in San Diego for the 2025 season, according to multiple reports Tuesday.

Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour and the local Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation are the owners of the new San Diego franchise, which will be the league's third club in Southern California after the Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC.

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