Members of each team skirmish on the pitch during the CONMEBOL Copa America semifinal between Uruguay and Colombia on Wednesday July 10, 2024 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — After a heated match on the pitch, emotions spilled over into the stands Wednesday night at the Colombia/Uruguay Copa America semi-final match in Charlotte, North Carolina.
About a dozen Uruguay players went into the stands and had to be removed by security personnel.
“Uruguay players have entered the stands and a fight has broken out between fans and players,” read a post on the Fox Soccer X account, which was retweeted by Fox Sports, which aired the match.
Gregg Berhalter, head coach of the United States, during the National Anthem before the CONMEBOL Copa America group C match between the United States and Uruguay at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on July 1, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
(NEW YORK) — U.S. men’s national soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter has been fired, officials said.
In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Berhalter had “been relieved of his duties … effective immediately.”
“I want to thank Gregg for his hard work and dedication to U.S. Soccer and our Men’s National Team,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement. “We are now focused on working with our Sporting Director Matt Crocker and leveraging his experience at the highest levels of the sport to ensure we find the right person to lead the USMNT into a new era of on-field success.”
Berhalter’s exit comes after the national team lost 1-0 to Uruguay in the Copa América tournament last week.
U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker has launched a search for Berhalter’s replacement, U.S. Soccer said.
“We are deeply grateful to Gregg for his commitment the past five years to the Men’s National Team and to U.S. Soccer,” Crocker said in a statement. “Gregg has earned the respect of everyone within our organization and has played a pivotal role in bringing together a young team and moving the program forward. We wish Gregg all the best in his future endeavors, and we know he will find success in his next coaching position.”
Berhalter, 50, initially served as head coach from 2018 through the expiration of his contract in 2022, before being rehired in June 2023 on a contract through the 2026 World Cup.
As head coach, he saw a 44-17-13 record in 74 matches and a 29-9-7 record in official competitions, according to U.S. Soccer. Under his tenure, the team qualified for the 2022 World Cup. The team ultimately fell to the Netherlands in the round of 16.
As head coach, he led the team to winning the 2021 Gold Cup and two Concacaf Nations League titles.
(NEW YORK) — Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a gambling scheme that cost him his NBA career.
Porter, in a dark suit and tie, said “guilty” when asked by a federal magistrate in Brooklyn how he pleaded to the charge and admitted he withdrew from games so he and others could benefit from electronic bets placed on how he would perform.
“I knew what I did was wrong and unlawful and I’m deeply sorry for my conduct,” Porter said.
An NBA investigation found Porter placed more than a dozen bets on basketball games, including in which he bet the Raptors would lose. He received a lifetime ban from the league in April.
The wire fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison but the former Toronto Raptors player agreed not to appeal anything less than five years. Porter will also be required to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution.
His lawyer said Porter became addicted to gambling and had amassed large gambling debts.
Porter was encouraged by his accomplices to clear those debts by withdrawing from certain games prematurely to make sure bets on his performance were successful, prosecutors say.
A league investigation found he tipped off other gamblers about his health and then falsely claimed he was sick so he could stop playing in at least one game, creating a windfall for those gamblers who placed parlor bets that he would underperform.
Four others have been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Porter’s sentencing is set for Dec.18, 2024. The former NBA player was released on a $250,000 bond co-signed by his wife and his mother, both of whom were in the courtroom.
The judge instructed Porter to have no contact with four co-conspirators who have been charged in the case.
(NEW YORK) — Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter is scheduled to plead guilty Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court to a felony charge related to an illegal betting scheme.
The NBA said Porter placed more than a dozen bets on basketball games, including in which he bet the Raptors would lose. He received a lifetime ban from the league in April.
His lawyer has said Porter became addicted to gambling and had amassed large gambling debts.
Porter was encouraged by his accomplices to clear those debts by withdrawing from certain games prematurely to make sure bets on his performance were successful, prosecutors say.
A league investigation found he tipped off other gamblers about his health and then falsely claimed he was sick so he could stop playing in at least one game, creating a windfall for those gamblers who placed parlor bets that he would underperform.
Four others have been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
(LONDON) — Wimbledon is about to get bigger. A lot bigger.
If all goes ahead as planned, the Wimbledon Park Project will be a new and ambitious endeavor aimed at transforming the historic Wimbledon grounds by adding an extra 27 acres of land while simultaneously preserving its legacy and enhancing its community impact, according to Andrew Wayro, Wimbledon’s senior design landscape manager.
“I think it’s fundamental to us going forward as a championship,” Wayro told ABC News in an interview a few days before the start of the 2024 Championships. “It’s fundamental for tennis in the U.K. and for us as a Grand Slam, but it’s also fundamental in terms of what we can offer in terms of other benefits to compete with the other Grand Slams as well as what we can offer to patrons who come to the event each year.”
The project promises to bring significant changes to Wimbledon by expanding the tennis landscape and offering new opportunities for both players and the local community.
The primary vision for the Wimbledon Park Project is to extend the grounds, more than doubling the size of the current grounds. Those changes would focus on the former golf course across the street, which is at the heart of the project.
The expansion aims to enhance practice arrangements and facilities for players, improve facilities for qualifying rounds — which is currently held offsite, the only Grand Slam where this happens — and offer a greater number of courts for wheelchair and junior competitions.
“We did a lot of work before we even submitted our first planning application to the Greater London Authority,” Wayro said. “We have made some adjustments, but by the time we got to submitting, we’d already worked through all the statutory consultees in the U.K., Historic England being a key partner in that. We also talked to people like Sports England and Natural England, to inform the design in the best possible way. We’ve made some minor tweaks along the way, like opening up an additional piece of parkland to the public because the Greater London Authority said that that was really important to them and that was something we could do.”
The project, as planned, is divided into several zones. The northern part of the site will host the qualifying rounds, creating a seamless transition for players who, after qualifying, will be just a stone’s throw away from Centre Court.
During the two-week period of The Championships, the grounds will utilize courts on the former golf course, including four main championship courts and the new Parkland Show Court which will have a capacity of up to 8,000 people and is currently slated to be built last, the crown jewel of the new project.
Wayro says that this setup not only increases flexibility in terms of practice but also allows the courts to rest and be maintained, ensuring they are in the best condition throughout the tournament. Meanwhile, following The Championships, these new courts will be opened to the community and offer locals the opportunity to play on grass courts, extending the Wimbledon experience beyond just spectatorship.
“We’re very keen to give as much benefit back as we can from the project,” says Wayro. “We’re very sure about the robustness of what we’ve designed in terms of this master plan.”
A significant component of the Wimbledon Park Project is the creation of additional parkland which will open up 9.7 hectares of parkland to the public year-round with another 1.1-hectare section that will be accessible outside of the championships.
“This transformation will essentially restore the landscape to its former glory, reminiscent of the works of the famous landscape architect Capability Brown, with rolling grasslands and scattered trees,” said Wayro.
However, during the championships, these new parklands will serve as entrances with airport-style security which will reduce queuing times and allow fans to quicker and easier access to the tournament itself.
The final phase of construction will see the Parkland Show Court built right in the middle of the burgeoning new expansion. Designed to seat 8,000 spectators, this court will feature a roof, meaning more matches can be played in inclement weather, as well as new sustainability features — in line with Wimbledon’s ongoing sustainability project — along with all hospitality and essential services that will be housed underneath the raked seating, “minimizing the footprint and maximizing functionality,” according to Wayro.
“Has it been as complicated as it sounds? Yeah, it has,” Wayro said. “It’s been very detailed because you need to capture all of the technical data from all these different disciplines and bring it together into a big comprehensive project like this. That takes time and we have been working on it for the past five years before we even sent it for the Greater London Authority to consider.”
Complicating matters even further is the fact that Wimbledon Park is a Grade II listed historical site and part of it is on the at-risk register due to its fragmented ownership and previous use.
Wayro said the new Wimbledon Park Project has addressed that by aiming to restore the landscape and bringing back historical features such as the original lake and opening up two brooks currently confined in concrete pipes along its perimeter. The ecological restoration will also include desilting the lake and enhancing existing habitats with reed beds and aquatic marginals — the goal being to not only return wildlife to the area but to grow the wildlife population with a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime project. There aren’t many that come along like this,” said Wayro. “After the 2012 Olympics, I think this is really the next biggest new park and it is a massive expansion in terms of sporting events.”
The next immediate step will be for Wimbledon to secure planning permission from the Greater London Authority with a decision expected later this year. If it is approved, it will take a minimum of a year before construction even begins, says Wayro, with the entire project expected to span over eight years and executed in phases around the new grounds.
The initial phase will focus on the lake and parkland restoration, followed by the construction of the qualifying courts and, eventually, the Parkland Show Court being completed by 2034 if all goes ahead as planned.
Ultimately, the Wimbledon Park Project hopes to ensure that Wimbledon remains at the forefront of Grand Slams and other global tennis tournaments and even though there are still a few steps to go, Wimbledon officials are quietly hopeful about the future of the grounds.
“It’s a big deal,” said Wayro. “But it’s been a pleasure for all of us. If you talk to anybody in the design team that we work with, they’ve all enjoyed being part of this project. This is our estate for hopefully hundreds and hundreds of years more and it is exciting to be a part of that legacy.”
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE Kansas City at St. Louis PPD Seattle Mariners 8, San Diego Padres 3 Toronto Blue Jays 3, San Francisco 4 Chicago Cubs 9, Baltimore Orioles 2 Houston Astros 4, Miami Marlins 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE Minnesota vs. Chi White Sox PPD Texas Rangers 5, Los Angeles Angels 4 Tampa Bay Rays 5, New York Yankees 3 Cleveland Guardians 9, Detroit Tigers 8 Boston Red Sox 12, Oakland A’s 9
NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta Braves 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 2 Philadelphia Phillies 10, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 New York Mets 7, Washington Nationals 5 Cincinnati Reds 12, Colorado Rockies 6 Pittsburgh Pirates 12, Milwaukee Brewers 2
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Minnesota Lynx 82, Los Angeles Sparks 67
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE Texas Rangers 9, Los Angeles Angels 4 Detroit Tigers 1, Cleveland Guardians 0 Minnesota Twins 8, Chicago White Sox 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Atlanta Braves TBA Pittsburgh Pirates 8, New York Mets 2 St. Louis Cardinals 6, Washington Nationals 0 Cincinnati Reds 6, Colorado Rockies 0
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE Detroit 5, Cincinnati 1 Cleveland 5, San Francisco 4 Miami 7, Chi White Sox 4 Chi Cubs 5, LA Angels 0 Kansas City 10, Colorado 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE Minnesota 3, Houston 2 Texas 13, Tampa Bay 2 Baltimore 6, Oakland 3 Toronto 5, Seattle 4 Boston 3, NY Yankees 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta 6, Philadelphia 0 St. Louis 8, Washington 3 NY Mets 3, Pittsburgh 2 Arizona 9, San Diego 1 Milwaukee 9, LA Dodgers 2
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Connecticut 80, Atlanta 67 Las Vegas 104, Dallas 85 Seattle 84, Chicago 71 Phoenix 84, Los Angeles 78
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER Los Angeles FC 0, Houston 0 (Tie) Sporting Kansas City 3, FC Dallas 2 San Jose 1, Chicago 0 Colorado 4, St Louis City 1 Minnesota 0, LA Galaxy 0 (Tie) Nashville 0, Portland 0 (Tie)
(LONDON) — There is only one place in the world where you can be greeted by Wimbledon stewards and invited to immerse yourself in the quintessential experience of British tradition and fare, with iconic strawberries & cream and Pimm’s served in a beautiful garden bar.
Well, now you can make that two as Wimbledon expands its experience across the pond in New York City.
It might not be as big as the British Invasion — a cultural movement in the mid 1960s when all aspects of British music, lifestyle and entertainment exploded onto the scene and became popular in the United States — but, already in its third year and having moved to a much larger and more picturesque location, Wimbledon’s invasion of New York City already seems to be a smash hit.
The Hill in New York — the name of Wimbledon’s New York City event — is a reference to the famed hill at Wimbledon where thousands of spectators on “Henman Hill” or “Murray Mound” gather at this natural tennis amphitheater with their picnics to cheer on the biggest matches that are being shown on the giant screen attached to Court One.
“We want to engage people and give them the opportunity to be able to experience the magic of Wimbledon, Wimbledon’s Director of Commercial and Marketing, Usama Al-Qassab, told ABC News during a visit just days before the start of Wimbledon. “We have the most beautiful grounds, probably outside of Augusta for any sports tournament and we want people to be able to experience beyond the tennis, beyond what they can watch on a screen, and it made perfect sense for us to be able to take what we have as our iconic hill into new destinations. It is great that we can geographically expand and give people the opportunity to experience that because not everyone’s got the opportunity to jump on a plane across the pond, much less be able to get a ticket to Wimbledon.”
Starting in 2022, the event is set to be bigger and better than ever after successful runs the previous two years.
Wimbledon organizers think that The Hill in New York’s new location next to a nine-acre area of Brooklyn Bridge Park in the Dumbo neighborhood, which offers a picturesque location and sweeping views over Manhattan and the East River, will offer an idyllic setting for fans to experience Wimbledon, even if it is not on the grounds of SW19 more than 3,000 miles away.
In fact, the third installment of the British event on American soil will double the event’s capacity to 3,500 fans each day, ensuring that more tennis enthusiasts can participate in the experience.
“We are delighted that The Hill in New York will be back for a third edition. The event has really begun to establish itself as a special occasion where Wimbledon fans can gather, enjoy the live tennis, and feel part of The Championships, even from afar,” said Wimbledon’s Chief Executive Sally Bolton. “This year’s edition will be bigger and better, with our new location at Brooklyn Bridge Park allowing even more people to come along and enjoy the mix of music and tennis. We look forward to celebrating Wimbledon finals weekend with New York’s passionate tennis fans.”
The festivities do not run for the full 14 days of the tournament but, instead, will run the last three days over the final weekend when the men’s and women’s singles and doubles finals will take place.
Beginning on the last Friday, July 12, The Hill on New York kicks the tennis celebration off with a free concert headlined by former Pussycat Doll and Broadway star Nicole Scherzinger, who will be joined by American singer-songwriter AJ Mitchell as the supporting act.
The event then pivots to championship weekend on Saturday as thousands of fans will be invited into the event from 8:30 a.m. each day with play set to begin at 9 a.m., complete with Wimbledon stewards and stands selling strawberries and cream along with Pimm’s and lemonade — two British staples that have become a tradition of the Wimbledon experience.
“I am delighted that we are returning to New York for a third year, continuing our commitment to broadening the Wimbledon fan experience beyond SW19. Our new location for The Hill in New York is bigger and better, so that even more fans can experience the magic of Wimbledon, even from afar,” said Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing and Commercial Director at The All England Lawn Tennis Club. “We could not be more excited to be in Brooklyn Bridge Park this summer, and the special performance by Nicole Scherzinger should take the fan experience to another level.”
The event, which aims to replicate the atmosphere of The Hill at Wimbledon, will air the ladies’ singles and gentlemen’s doubles finals on Saturday, and the gentlemen’s singles and ladies’ doubles finals on Sunday. Additionally, when the live matches finish for the day, The Hill in New York plan on airing sunset screenings of notable Wimbledon matches featuring tennis legends as the tournament draws to a close.
“What you’ll be able to experience is the food, so strawberries and cream that are iconic with Wimbledon. You’ll be able to drink Pimm’s, you’ll be able to sit on your rug and bring in a picnic and enjoy food and drink as you would on the Henman Hill, and most importantly, have a communal experience enjoying Wimbledon and all it has to offer,” Al-Qassab said. “We’re planning on the service standards that we have here at Wimbledon to be exactly the same in New York and we’re hoping to bring a little slice of Wimbledon SW19 to Brooklyn.”
Nicole Scherzinger expressed her enthusiasm about her involvement with Wimbledon, saying “I’ve been fortunate enough to call London my second home for many years, and I am looking forward to returning to Wimbledon which is always such a wonderful day out. I am thrilled to be a part of bringing the spirit of Wimbledon to New York City, creating an iconic event that blends the excitement of world-class tennis with the vibrant energy of this incredible city.”
The New York event will be free, unlike the tournament, but fans must secure their tickets through an online ballot or try getting in on a limited number of walk-in spots.
With the expansion of Wimbledon to include a burgeoning event in New York City for the third year in a row, it is clear that the growth of the game — and of Wimbledon — is something that organizers will look to keep doing and perhaps replicate in other global cities, especially in light of the tournament’s announcement in June that The All England Club’s total prize money fund for The Championships 2024 will be a record £50 million.
In fact, during just the last 10 years alone, total prize money for The Championships has doubled, from £25 million in 2014 to £50 million in 2024, according to Wimbledon, with the gentlemen’s and ladies’ singles champions and runners-up set to receive £2.7 million and £1.4 million respectively.
Said Deborah Jevans, Chair of the All England Club: “Interest in attending Wimbledon has never been greater, with unprecedented demand for tickets through our public ballot and corporate hospitality. A thriving, successful Championships gives us the opportunity to give back: to the sport, to our local community, and to strategically invest for the future.”
Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — Firefighters battling flames amid a heat wave in Southern California are struggling to gain control of a wildfire that exploded over the weekend to more than 13,000 acres, prompting evacuations and threatening homes, including Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, officials said.
The Lake Fire burning in Santa Barbara County near the Los Padres National Forest was 0% contained as of Sunday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (CAL FIRE).
The Lake Fire is one of 21 wildfires burning in California on Sunday, CAL FIRE said.
Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County
The wildland blaze about 40 miles north of the city of Santa Barbara started on Friday afternoon near Zaca Lake in the Los Padres National Forest.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department issued evacuation orders on Saturday night as the blaze grew to 13,264 acres. The evacuation orders included the 5000 block of Figueroa Mountain Road, where Michael Jackson’s former ranch is located, officials said.
Warnings were also issued for residents in the surrounding area to be prepared to evacuate, according to the sheriff’s office.
The wildfire erupted during a heat wave that has enveloped the area and most of California.
“An EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING through next week continues to affect the fire with high temperatures, drying vegetation and little relief at night. The National Weather Service has reported that a heat wave this intense, this long, has not been experienced in this region in 20 years,” CAL FIRE said in a statement.
The fire grew rapidly on Saturday amid temperatures in the high 90s and with a relative humidity of around 11%.
“When relative humidity decreases, fire behavior increases because fine fuels like grass and pine needles become drier quickly,” according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA).
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Thompson Fire in Oroville
Fire crews were gaining the upper hand on the Thompson Fire, which started on Tuesday in the Butte County town of Oroville and caused the evacuations of nearly 30,000 residents as it grew to 3,789 acres, according to CAL FIRE. The blaze — which destroyed at least 25 structures, including homes — was 86% contained on Sunday.
Firefighters battled both flames and dangerous temperatures on Saturday in the Oroville area ranging from 110 to 116 degrees, according to CAL FIRE.
“For Sunday, hot and dry conditions will continue although high temperatures will be a couple of degrees cooler. However, the heat will still be at very dangerous levels and the EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING will remain in effect,” CAL FIRE said in a statement.
Most of the evacuations caused by the Thompson Fire were lifted on Saturday.
Basin Fire in San Joaquin Valley
The largest and most stubborn fire in the state, the Basin Fire burning in the foothills east of Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley, was 60% contained on Sunday after burning 14,027 acres, according to CAL FIRE. The blaze started on June 26 in the Sierra National Forest north of Pine Flat Lake and south of Shaver Lake and Wishon Reservoir.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Temperatures in the area of the Basin Fire are forecast to reach 113 degrees on Sunday and remain in triple digits throughout the week.
French Fire near Yosemite National Park
The French Fire near Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County has burned 908 acres since erupting Thursday and was 45% contained as of Sunday morning, according to CAL FIRE.
Three firefighters were injured battling the wildfire, which has destroyed four structures, CAL FIRE said.
McCain Fire in San Diego County
Another significant fire is the McCain Fire, which started on July 1 in southeast San Diego County.
As of Sunday, firefighters had the fire almost completely out, having achieved 95% containment on the blaze that has burned 1,595 acres.
