Category sport-news

Chris Paul, a 12-time All-Star, was fired by the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday in a shocking move that comes as the team approaches the bottom of the NBA standings.

In a social media post on Wednesday morning, Paul, 40, revealed that he had left the Clippers while on a road trip in Atlanta.

Paul, who signed a one-year deal with the Clippers this season, was informed that he was being sent home.

In a statement made available to US media, Clippers’ CEO Lawrence Frank later confirmed Paul’s exit.

Chris and I are going to end our relationship, according to Frank. We will collaborate with him as he moves forward in his career. ”

At the end of the current season, Paul is said to have made plans to leave the NBA. The veteran, who joined the Clippers in 2011 and left in 2017, had previously spent six seasons with the team.

The Clippers’ franchise leader in total steals and assists is the fan favorite.

Following weeks of unrest between the player and coach Ty Lue, Paul’s exit was reported by ESPN.

According to the report, which cited unnamed sources, the Clippers believed Paul had become “disruptive” after the pair had been arguing for “several weeks.” ”

Lue said the return of the ex-long franchise star “wasn’t a good fit,” as he told reporters before the Clippers’ game against the Hawks in Atlanta on Wednesday. ”

Lue described the abrupt breakup with Paul as “I don’t like it.” I don’t like it for CP because it just didn’t work out as we anticipated.

It simply wasn’t a good fit, she said. That is what we knew. They made the decision, and so we have to see what we do going forward. It was an organization. ”

Every year Paul was on the Clippers’ roster, but they never made it past the Western Conference semi-finals.

With a 5-16 record this year, the Clippers are only one place off the Western Conference’s bottom.

Paul, who was hired as a bench player, has only averaged 2. 16 appearances for a total of 9 points.

Frank, the head of the Clippers, asserted in a statement on Wednesday that Paul was not to blame for the team’s subpar campaign.

Chris has a legendary career and is a legendary Clipper. One thing should be very clear, I want to say. No one is blaming Chris for our subpar performance, Frank said.

I accept liability for the information currently available. There are many causes of our difficulties. We’re appreciative of Chris’s influence on the franchise. ”

Conor McGregor, an American woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted at an NBA basketball game, has dropped her lawsuit against the Irish mixed martial arts fighter.

Following a 2023 Miami Heat game, McGregor, one of the most well-known and financially successful fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, had refuted the allegations of sexual battery.

A Florida court on Tuesday issued a notice of voluntary dismissal for the woman, who was first identified as a 49-year-old Wall Street executive.

The alleged incident had already sparked a criminal controversy for the prosecution.

In June 2023, McGregor was present for the Miami Heat’s NBA Finals Game 4 encounter with the Denver Nuggets as part of a sponsorship deal to promote a pain-relief brand.

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At the conclusion of the game, McGregor apparently met the mysterious woman in the VIP area of the venue.

It is claimed that McGregor later allegedly assaulted the woman in a restroom while leading her to a men’s restroom.

In a separate sexual assault case in Ireland last year, McGregor was found guilty and ordered to pay a woman who had accused him of rape about $250, 000 in damages.

After missing three drug tests in a year, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was given an 18-month suspension last month.

McGregor will be able to fight again by March of next year because the suspension was postponed until September 2024, which could allow him to compete at a UFC event that is scheduled to take place on June 14 at the White House in honor of US President Donald Trump’s birthday.

As a makeshift striker, Mike Merino continued to lead Arsenal’s unlikely goal king in Wednesday’s 2-0 win against Brentford.

Due to injuries to Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, and Viktor Gyokores, Merino has been switched from a central midfielder to the fulcrum of Arsenal’s attack.

The Spain international has already scored five goals this season, including the Emirates Stadium’s opening header in the first half.

After scoring an equalizer at title rivals Chelsea on Sunday, Merino made a significant contribution to Arsenal’s title challenge for the second successive game.

In the closing moments, Merino and Bukayo Saka’s side moved five points clear of Manchester City, who defeated Fulham 5-4 on Tuesday.

As Arsenal fight for its first English title since 2004 they have won all 18 of their previous matches.

The Gunners are demonstrating the priceless ability to produce results when they aren’t at their best after finishing third in the Premier League for the previous three seasons.

After coming from behind to avoid losing to Chelsea on Sunday, Arteta was concerned that his players’ clash with Brentford might have an emotional and physical hangover.

Arteta urged Arsenal fans to “show up like animals” at the Emirates Stadium to cheer them on as they won.

In the end, Arsenal held on to their lead, but if his team could maintain pole position in the title race, the atmosphere was much more raucous than Arteta would have liked.

Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, and Ben White, who made his first league start since August, were dropped from the bench to keep them fresh ahead of the hectic Christmas schedule.

READ ALSO: Mbappe and Real Madrid to win at Athletic Bilbao

Arsenal “grow it out,” yells yells, “grow it out.”

Brentford boss Keith Andrews did Arteta a favor by reserving prolific Brazilian forward Igor Thiago, keeping the Gunners’ first clean sheet in five games despite without injured centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.

In an effort to defuse Arsenal, Andrews used a back five, but Merino only needed 11 minutes to break through the visitors’ defense.

White was able to cross the ball with Madueke’s deft backheel, and the Spaniard carefully timed his run to avoid Caoimhin Kelleher from six yards.

Before White fired into the sidenetting, Madueke’s low drive was rejected by Kelleher as Arsenal made a second-quarter breakthrough.

When David Raya superbly tipped Kevin Schade’s thumping header from a corner onto the crossbar, Brentford almost pulled off an equalizer at the end of the match.

Although this season, Arsenal have only conceded two goals at home in the league, their defensive injuries got worse just before half-time when Cristhian Mosquera limped off.

Arsenal lost their stride as a result of Mosquera’s departure, and the second half turned into a futile second-half scheming.

Arsenal was immediately revived when Riccardo Calafiori’s blast was successfully saved by Kelleher when Arteta responded by introducing Saka and Eze.

The goalkeeper shoved a 20-yard rocket past Kelleher before firing it wide from close range to Merino.

In the final stages, Rice was forced to leave, which was a worrying scene for Arteta.

Saka’s stinging strike, which Kelleher could only parry into the net, ensured Arsenal wouldn’t miss the England international.

Real Madrid defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to reclaim Barcelona’s La Liga lead on Wednesday, extending it one point to two goals and adding another with Kylian Mbappe’s second goal.

One of their best performances of the season came at Athletic’s San Mames, ending a string of three league draws away from home.

With Eduardo Camavinga nodding in the second half of the first half, Mbappe opened the scoring with his first La Liga assist, Trent Alexander-Arnold.

In the second half, French superstar Mbappe scored his 16th league goal of the year to seal Madrid’s victory.

The team probably had the best game of our lives today, at a challenging location, in a significant moment, and we took it on calmly, Alonso said to the media.

We were aware of the significance of the draw at Girona last weekend, and we are now going to start thinking about the match against Celta (Vigo) on Sunday.

You can’t think too long about things, both in the good and the bad, because the calendar is very demanding. ”

Alexander-Arnold and Camavinga were both substituted in the second half, which was a negative for Los Blancos.

In the same game last winter, Mbappe missed a penalty while still finding his feet at Real Madrid, later calling it his “rock bottom,” but Athletic faced arguably the best player in the world when he returned.

Kylian is in excellent form, he scored two excellent goals today with his movement and Vini (Vinicius Junior) had a strong connection, and the team came out to play right away to win the game, according to Alonso.

Unai Simon made a wise save at his near post before a Vinicius effort was parried by Mbappe in the fourth minute, which almost gave Real Madrid the lead.

In the seventh minute, Madrid took the lead thanks to a brilliant Mbappe goal, which came out of the blocks against eighth-placed Athletic.

With a superb long pass, Mbappe scurried fearlessly into the box and delivered a flawless finish to beat Simon.

On one of Athletic’s rare forays forward, Gorka Guruzeta fired over and forced Thibaut Courtois into a good save at the other end.

Nico Williams and Alex Berenguer had the best of intentions, but Courtois put together a brilliant stop to negate this.

  connection between Mbappe and Vini

Madrid was awakened once more, and Vizius, who had a strong connection with Mbappe, threatened twice.

With a low effort from a tight angle, the Brazilian winger attempted to block him off with a low effort from the post.

After Eder Militao sent him through on goal, Vinicius was saved by the goalkeeper who made a superb save to stop him.

At the conclusion of a successful team move, Madrid grabbed their second before the break when Mbappe nodded Alexander-Arnold’s cross across goal for Camavinga to head home from close range.

Early in the second half, Courtois tipped over Athletic’s fierce effort from range.

When Alexander-Arnold pulled up with an apparent muscular injury and was replaced by Raul Asencio, the first of two unpleasant notes came for Madrid.

With his 25th goal in all competitions, Mbappe put the game beyond question with a second long-range effort that struck right at the near post. Simon could have improved his efforts to prevent it, perhaps reversing some of his earlier excellent work.

Alonso suffered another potential injury on a later, potential injury-related outing in the Basque Country against his former teammates when Camavinga was taken off hurt.

Despite the fact that the Brazilian appeared to be having disagreements with the coach over the past few weeks, the coach even received a warm embrace when he took the place of him.

Inigo Lekue, the Athletic defender, said, “They were stronger than us.

No matter what we did, we made an effort to play our game but were unable to. ”

Before joining their national teams at the Africa Cup of Nations, FIFA announced on Wednesday that stars like Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, and Achraf Hakimi will be able to play for their clubs for an additional week until December 15.

Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, paid Donald Trump a surprise visit in 2018 and presented him with an enormous red card that he joked he could use to “wake someone out whenever you want to kick someone out.”

Trump flashed the card quickly to the assembled press corps, a gesture that perfectly exemplifies his frequently conflicted relationship with the media.

What appeared to be the opening act of one of the most contentious alliances in sport would be a playful exchange between the US leader and the head of world football.

Trump and Infantino’s blossoming bromance will once again be seen in full force at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington on Friday.

Since making his first trip to the Oval Office seven years ago, Infantino has been a regular visitor, consistently applauding Trump’s leadership as the World Cup, which will be hosted by Canada and Mexico, approaches.

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Infantino compared the US leader’s character to that of elite athletes at a 2020 dinner in Davos during the World Economic Forum.

“I have the good fortune to have encountered some of the most talented soccer players.” Additionally, Infantino claimed that President Trump is made of the same type of material.

‘Mutual interest ‘, &nbsp

Infantino has a pragmatist foundation, in part, in his desire to establish a close relationship with Trump.

It’s just good practice to form strong ties with Washington as the country prepares to face the logistical difficulties of hosting the majority of games for an expanded 48-team World Cup.

Gianni has a very close relationship with Trump, according to John Zerafa, a seasoned sports communications strategist in the UK, who is leveraging that to make 2026 work.

However, many critics have questioned whether Infantino’s relationship with Trump has crossed a line between rough riding over the frequently ambiguous line between sport and politics.

Infantino has appeared alongside Trump on the political stage in addition to his frequent trips to Washington.

Infantino raised eyebrows in October when he spoke at the US leader’s meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, where he co-chaired discussions with other world leaders, at Trump’s invitation.

Infantino continued, “President Trump’s role has been absolutely crucial and fundamental in the process.” There wouldn’t be peace without President Trump.

Infantino’s remarks and presence at the summit were described as “deeply troubling,” according to FairSquare’s Nick McGeehan.

Infantino claimed that it had placed FIFA “firmly in the corner” of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that it had abandoned all pretenses of the political neutrality that FIFA endorsed and was legally committed to upholding.

A Trump “Peace Prize,” &nbsp?

After speaking out against the Trump administration’s policy agenda with Trump at the America Business Forum in Miami last month, Infantino was once again met with criticism.

Trump simply goes by what he promised to do, Infantino told the audience. “I believe we all should support what he’s doing because I think it looks pretty good,” he said.

Infantino’s remarks were in violation of FIFA’s statutes, according to former FIFA governance chief Miguel Maduro.

FIFA’s president can declare that the results of elections should be respected. Infantino went above and beyond, Maduro told The Athletic.

He is participating in what the US has known as an internal political debate.

Infantino, however, has not shown any signs of being dissuaded by the criticism.

FIFA announced plans for a new FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded at Friday’s drawing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, the day Infantino spoke in Miami.

It is crucial to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of those who work hard to end conflicts and unite people in a spirit of peace, according to Infantino in a statement.