(NEW YORK) — Fresh off a run of success in North American competitions, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team earned the number ten spot in FIFA’s latest world rankings.
The U.S. beat Mexico 1-0 in the final of CONCACAF’s Gold Cup earlier this month, leading to a ten-place rise on the official list.
The squad conceded just one goal in six matches in the Gold Cup, winning all six. They also won five of six games in the CONCACAF Nations League.
FIFA’s World Rankings will play a key role in next year’s World Cup. If the U.S. remains in the top 10, it would have a chance of being seeded, getting a more favorable draw, and avoid having to play other nations within the top 10.
The U.S. has not been among the top 10 in FIFA’s rankings since the 2006 World Cup.
Just above the U.S. in the rankings, Mexico placed number nine. They have been the top-ranked team in CONCACAF since February 2017.
Atop the rankings, FIFA identifies Belgium as the best team. Following them, Copa America runners up Brazil rank second, France sits third, and Euro Champs Italy is in fifth. Euro runners up England sit one spot ahead of Italy in fourth.
The next update to the rankings will be published in September.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Houston 5, Colorado 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota 1, Chi White Sox 0
NY Yankees 5, Kansas City 2
Detroit 5, Baltimore 2
Oakland 6, Cleveland 3
Boston 20, Tampa Bay 8
Toronto 10, LA Angels 2
Seattle 2, Texas 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 7, San Diego 0
NY Mets 8 Washington 7
St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 0
LA Dodgers 8, Philadelphia 2
Milwaukee 10, Chi Cubs 0
Atlanta 8, Cincinnati 6
San Francisco 7, Arizona 2
(NEW YORK) — Two defendants indicted in a massive racehorse doping scandal in New York have have pleaded guilty.
Thoroughbred trainer Jorge Navarro and the head of a New York veterinary clinic, Kristian Rhein, were among more than two dozen people charged in a widespread scheme that prosecutors have alleged endangered horses, cheated bettors at tracks across the country and upended thoroughbred racing.
The scheme, which allegedly began in 2017, was designed to deceive regulators and horse racing officials regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs, prosecutors said, after the indictment was filed in the Southern District of New York in March 2020.
The plot allegedly was orchestrated by veterinarian Louis Grasso, who “manufactured, purchased, sold, shipped, delivered, received and administered at least thousands of units of PEDs issues by pharmacies pursuant to invalid prescriptions provided by veterinarians participating in the scheme,” according to court documents. At least one horse died as a result.
Navarro and Rhein pleaded guilty to their roles in the distribution of adulterated and misbranded drugs. They will be sentenced in December.
Navarro has agreed to pay more than $25 million in restitution, reflecting winnings obtained through his fraudulent doping scheme, and Rhein has agreed to pay restitution of more than $700,000 in connection with fraud committed through a false billing practice.
“Kristian Rhein and Jorge Navarro represent the supply side and the customer side of the market in performance enhancing substances that have corrupted much of the horse racing industry,” said U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss. “As he admitted today, Navarro, a licensed trainer and the purported ‘winner’ of major races across the world, was in fact a reckless fraudster whose veneer of success relied on the systematic abuse of the animals under his control.”
Rhein also “flouted his oath as a veterinarian” to profit through the sale and administration of unregulated substances used by trainers engaged in fraud and animal abuse, prosecutors said.
Navarro operated his doping scheme covertly, importing misbranded “clenbuterol” that he both used and distributed to others, avoiding explicit discussion of performance-enhancing drugs during telephone calls and worked with others to coordinate the administration of PEDs at times that racing officials would not detect such cheating, according to the indictment.
Among the horses that Navarro trained and doped was XY Jet, a thoroughbred that won the 2019 Golden Shaheen race in Dubai. Navarro’s preferred PEDs included various “blood building” drugs, which, when administered before intense physical exertion, can lead to cardiac issues or death, the indictment said.
Navarro also assisted in doping Maximum Security, briefly the winner of the 2019 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified. On June 5, 2019, New Jersey racing regulators tested Maximum Security for performance enhancing drugs a short time after the horse had received a shot of SGF-1000, one of the misbranded or adulterated drugs, according to prosecutors.
In an intercepted call following that test, Rhein said, “[t]hey don’t even have a test for [SGF-1000],” according to court documents. “… There’s no test for it in America.”
Jason Kreiss, an attorney for Navarro, said in an emailed statement to ABC News that he “has accepted responsibility for his actions and looks forward to moving on with his life.” A lawyer for Rhein didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
A former sales representative for a Kentucky company that marketed SGF-1000 pleaded guilty last month to drug adulteration and misbranding of drugs charges related to the scheme.
SGF-1000 was not approved, was mislabeled and distributed without a valid prescription, assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mortazavi said in a plea hearing for Michael Kegley.
Federal investigators intercepted calls during which Kegley acknowledged he did not know the precise contents of SGF-1000, according to the indictment. Kegley also was overheard explaining that trainers could be charged with felonies in the U.S. for doping horses.
Kegley conspired with trainers, veterinarians and others to make misbranded drugs, secretly administer them to racehorses and cheat bettors in the $100 billion global racehorse industry, prosecutors said.
When asked by a judge whether he knew that trainers intended to use the drugs on thoroughbred racehorses last month, Kegley replied, “Yes, your honor.”
Kegley has agreed to forfeit more than $3 million and faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
(WACO, Texas) — The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions levied punishments against Baylor University on Wednesday, following the conclusion of its investigation into several alleged rules violations.
According to a news release, the committee determined that Baylor provided impermissible benefits to student-athletes and violated recruiting rules between 2011 and 2016. They could not, however, conclude whether Baylor had violated NCAA rules when it failed to report allegations of sexual violence on its campus.
“Baylor admitted to moral and ethical failings in its handling of sexual and interpersonal violence on campus,” the panel said in its decision, “but argued those failings, however egregious, did not constitute violations of NCAA rules.”
“Ultimately, and with tremendous reluctance, this panel agrees.”
The NCAA panel says that while the organization provides resources to support member institutions in carrying out the responsibilities of reporting and addressing sexual violence on campus as required by the U.S. Department of Education, current NCAA rules don’t call for their adjudication of how schools respond to such issues. Still, the panel quotes one former university president as saying Baylor’s handling of sexual violence was a “colossal operational failure.”
Baylor was accused of shielding football student-athletes from disciplinary processes and failed to report allegations of misconduct by football student-athletes.
The panel did find that one student-athlete who had been suspended for plagiarism had been required to submit to an academic performance plan, but later was caught cheating on an in-class quiz. That incident, they say, was not reported to the university president as a failure to live up to that performance plan.
The school also was found to have used a “predominantly female student-host group, the Baylor Bruins” to recruit football student-athletes. While the group eventually allowed membership for men, the panel says it was “geared toward female participants.”
“The gender-based nature of this group is especially concerning in light of the campus-wise cultural issues…as well as the extremely troubling assertions…that the Bruins were ‘kind of at the disposal of football players in a very inappropriate way.'”
Among the penalties the NCAA panel will levy are a $5,000 fine, four years of probation, more stringent recruiting restrictions. The school must also vacate all records from contests in which ineligible student-athletes participated.
(PARIS) — In his first press conference as a player for Paris Saint-Germain, soccer star Lionel Messi says he is hoping to win the UEFA Champions League for a fifth time.
Messi officially signed with PSG on Tuesday, inking a two-year deal with an option to continue with the club for an additional season. Sources told ESPN’s Julien Laurens that he will earn $35-41 million per year.
Messi’s departure from FC Barcelona came as a surprise to many, after he spent his entire professional career with that club. At his Wednesday press conference, Messi called it “very tough” to leave Barca.
“As soon as I arrived here I was so happy, so motivated, so excited,” Messi said. “My goal and my dream is to win the Champions League once more. I think that we have the team to do it here.”
Messi will join PSG stars Neymar and Mbappe, something he expressed great pleasure about.
“I am very happy. It’s crazy. I’m going to play with the best players in the world, and that’s always good.”
Messi had voiced his desire to remain with Barcelona, but the club failed to register his five-year contract due to what they cited as financial complications. The deal Messi had agreed to would have put Barcelona well above the rules La Liga holds on how much money a club can spend on players compared to their revenue.
Messi scored 672 goals in 778 matches for Barcelona, winning La Liga 10 times, the Copa dey Rey seven times, and the Champions League four times. He won his first major international competition this summer, helping his native Argentina to the Copa America title.
(INDIANAPOLIS) — After reaching the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, the Indianapolis Colts have signed head coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard to contract extensions through 2026.
The deals have been in the works throughout the summer, with Ballard’s deal completed in June and Reich’s finalized last week.
In a statement, Colts owner Jim Irsay praised the pair, calling them “as great a general manager-head coach combination as there is in the NFL.” Irsay also insisted he believes the team is “on the doorstep of great things.”
Irsay has previously spoken publicly about wanting to win multiple Super Bowls. The team has won just one title since 1970.
Ballard and Reich have taken a more patient approach, building the current Colts roster largely through the draft. Key players like offensive lineman Quenton Nelson, linebacker Darius Leonard, and running back Jonathan Taylor have all been added through the draft.
The team has, however, had constant issues at the quarterback position, losing Andrew Luck first to injury, and then to a surprise retirement. The organization acquired Carson Wentz from the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason, but Wentz will miss five to 12 weeks following surgery on his foot.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Houston 5, Colorado 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
LA Angels 6, Toronto 3
Detroit 9, Baltimore 4
Tampa Bay 8, Boston 4
Oakland 4, Cleveland 3
Minnesota 4, Chi White Sox 3
Kansas City 8, N. Yankees 4
Toronto 4, LA Angels 0
Texas 5, Seattle 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee 4, Chi Cubs 2
St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1
Atlanta 3, Cincinnati 2
LA Dodgers 5, Philadelphia 0
Milwaukee 6, Chi Cubs 3
San Francisco 8, Arizona 7
San Diego 6, Miami 5
Washington at NY Mets (Suspended)
(PARIS) — Soccer star Lionel Messi has signed a two-year contract with Ligue 1 team Paris Saint-Germain.
“I am excited to begin a new chapter of my career at Paris Saint-Germain,” Messi said in a statement. “Everything about the club matches my football ambitions. I know how talented the squad and the coaching staff are here. I am determined to help build something special for the club and the fans, and I am looking forward to stepping out onto the pitch at the Parc des Princes.”
Messi will wear number 30 for the team.
“I am delighted that Lionel Messi has chosen to join Paris Saint-Germain and we are proud to welcome him and his family to Paris,” said Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Chairman and CEO of Paris Saint-Germain. “He has made no secret of his desire to continue competing at the very highest level and winning trophies, and naturally our ambition as a club is to do the same. The addition of Leo to our world class squad continues a very strategic and successful transfer window for the club. Led by our outstanding coach and his staff, I look forward to the team making history together for our fans all around the world.”
Messi had been a free agent since June 30th when his contract with Barcelona FC ended. He had wanted to stay with the team, but last Thursday the Spanish giant said it would not be financially possible.
During a Sunday news conference, Messi said he wanted to remain with the team and even offered to take a 50% pay cut.
Messi scored a record 672 goals in 778 appearances for Barca and won 10 La Liga and four Champions League titles.
(HOUSTON) — Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is “unlikely to play” in the team’s first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, head coach David Culley announced Tuesday.
Culley told reporters they will decide later in the week if he’ll play.
“It’s based off the fact that [he’s had] limited reps in practice,” Culley said.
According to ESPN, Houston general manager Nick Caserio told Houston’s SportsRadio 610 he does not expect Watson to travel to Green Bay.
When asked if he expects Watson to play during the preseason Culley said “No comment.”
Watson practiced for the first five days of training camp, then missed the next five practices. He returned to practice on Monday and Tuesday, according to ESPN.
In January, the quarterback asked for a trade from the team.
Watson is also facing 22 lawsuits alleging sexual assault or inappropriate behavior.
