Vesper

they said £150m or piss off 🤪

Lucas Paqueta betting charges ‘found to be not proven’, commission says https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6515053/2025/07/31/lucas-paqueta-betting-case-west-ham/ Lucas Paqueta will not face punishment for alleged breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules after an independent regulatory commission found the charges against the West Ham United midfielder could not be proven. The Brazil international, who denied all charges against him, was facing a potential lifetime ban from football if found guilty. However, the regulatory commission found the most serious charges of spot fixing “to be not proven” following a hearing, it said in a statement released by the English FA on Thursday. The commission did find that two further rule breaches, effectively relating to Paqueta’s co-operation with the FA’s investigation, could be proven and “will decide an appropriate sanction for these breaches at the earliest opportunity”. These two breaches of FA Rule F3 are in relation to the Brazilian’s alleged failures to comply with his obligations to answer questions and provide information to the investigation. Paqueta has featured for West Ham in pre-season (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) In a post on Instagram, following the announcement of the commission’s ruling on Thursday, Paqueta wrote: “The enemy will come against us one way, but they will flee seven ways. “Since the first day of this investigation, I have maintained my innocence against these extremely serious accusations. “I can’t say anything more now, but I also can’t express how grateful I am to God and how eager I am to return to playing football with a smile on my face. “To my wife who never let go of my hand, to West Ham, to the fans who always cheered me on, to Fernando Malta and my legal team at Level (Alastair Campbell, Jonathan Hyman, Dan Lowen), Nick De Marco KC, and Kendrah Potts — thank you for everything.” What You Should Read Next Betting in football: what are the rules for players and supporters? The UK's betting laws are widely considered to be the most liberal in the world - so what are the rules for players and fans? The commission’s ruling brings to an end a lengthy process, which started in August 2023 and has been beset by delays. An initial hearing into the case began in March but was put on hold because lawyers on both sides had other commitments. It eventually concluded in May, with former West Ham manager David Moyes among the witnesses for Paqueta’s defence. Paqueta was charged by the Football Association with misconduct in May 2024 over four alleged breaches of the governing body’s betting rules following a 10-month investigation that began in August of the previous year. Paqueta was accused of deliberately getting yellow cards in four Premier League matches between November 2022 and August 2023. The four bookings came in games against Leicester City on November 12, 2022, Aston Villa on March 12, 2023, Leeds United on May 21, 2023, and Bournemouth on August 12, 2023. The FA alleged that Paqueta ‘directly sought to influence…these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee, for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting’. He was also charged with two further rule breaches, effectively relating to his cooperation with the FA’s investigation. Paqueta denied any wrongdoing and West Ham have backed him throughout the process. He previously called on the FA to undertake a “thorough investigation” into what he called “false and misleading” reporting on the case, claiming information had been leaked by “an individual close to the case”. West Ham United vice-chair Karren Brady said on Thursday: “We are pleased Lucas has been cleared. He has maintained his innocence from the outset, and as a club we have resolutely stood by him and supported him throughout the process. “Despite the incredible pressure on him, Lucas has performed week in and week out for the club, always giving everything. “It has been a difficult time for Lucas and his family, but he has remained absolutely professional throughout and he is now looking forward to drawing a line under this episode, as is everyone at West Ham United.” Manchester City were interested in signing Paqueta, who has a contract until summer 2027 with the option of a further year, two summers ago but the FA’s investigation ended the then-Premier League champions pursuit of the player. In May, West Ham head coach Graham Potter revealed the investigation had taken its toll on Paqueta mentally and physically. He was left in tears after being booked against Tottenham Hotspur on May 4, and Paqueta’s wife, Maria Fournier, later posted on Instagram that they had “been living this nightmare for two years”. Paqueta, after being booked in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham at London Stadium on May 4 (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Paqueta’s case is the latest involving breaches of football’s gambling regulations in recent years. England international Ivan Toney — then of Brentford — was banned from football for eight months in May 2023, while Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali was suspended from all football activity for 10 months following a similar case in Italy. The English FA later handed him a further suspended two-month ban. Paqueta joined West Ham in August 2022 from French side Lyon and quickly became a key player for the east London club. He has made 120 appearances for the club in total, including 36 last season after he was cleared to play while the case against him was decided upon. He was part of the side that won the UEFA Conference League in 2023, starting and playing the full match in the win over Fiorentina in the final. Paqueta came through the youth ranks at Flamengo in his homeland and made 95 senior appearances before a move to European football with Lyon in 2020. He has won 55 caps for Brazil, scoring 11 goals, and was part of the Copa America-winning squad in 2019.

pick one: Anderlecht Club Brugge Genk Antwerp Gent or Boavista Vitória de Guimarães Braga Moreirense Rio Ave Portimonense Farense

motor lube lololol

Levi Colwill interview: ‘I grew up underprivileged. I want to help as many kids as possible’ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6522164/2025/07/31/levi-colwill-interview-Chelsea-club-world-cup/ Levi Colwill was enjoying a much-earned holiday in Trinidad before cutting it short to attend a pre-season friendly between non-league Sholing FC and Chelsea Under-18s last Saturday. “I had a manic journey to get here,” he tells The Athletic. “I missed a connecting flight in Miami due to the airline. I had to find another plane to get me to Paris and then from there to London. I was travelling for over 24 hours, but I wanted to get back for this.” Those unaware of Colwill’s affinity to Sholing FC, who play in the Southern League Premier Division South (the seventh tier of English football), may be wondering why the centre-half would be prepared to do such a thing. Colwill’s summer break began less than two weeks earlier due to being part of the Chelsea side that beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 to win the Club World Cup on July 13. But Colwill is driven by a desire to help children. The Athletic was last at Sholing FC in December when an open trial was held to find recruits for the new Levi Colwill Academy (LSC Academy), which officially gets under way in September. As revealed back then, the 22-year-old has also funded the cost of a new 3G pitch for the club, and Saturday’s fixture against Chelsea was the grand opening for the new playing surface. A club record 1,888 were in attendance. At half-time, a proud Colwill walked round the pitch with some of the youngsters who will make up the first class at the LSC Academy. (Dom Bellinger/Sholing FC) “Being here was a priority for me,” Colwill says. “A lot of hard work has been put in, not just from me, but from my family. We know how much this is going to help the LSC Academy, too. I am so excited to launch it — everything around it is so positive. I couldn’t not be here. This is one of the best days of my life; the turnout has been amazing. “When I was walking round with the academy boys on the pitch at half-time, it just felt so good. You could see all the people having a good time, greeting us as we went round. It just felt all part of the plan to give something back, but it is just the start.” Colwill’s connection to Sholing FC, which is on the outskirts of Southampton, is an understandable one. He grew up nearby, and his uncles have played for the club. One of them, Daniel Mason, scored a superb free kick to help his side beat Chelsea’s youngsters 2-0 on the day, a goal which brought a huge smile to Colwill’s face. “It’s not just about Sholing FC,” Colwill insists. “I want to help as many underprivileged kids as possible. I thought to myself, ‘How am I going to do that?’. Football is all I know. I grew up as an underprivileged kid. I came to Sholing FC games and enjoyed them. It made me happy and made me want to become a footballer. “If I can help bring a load of kids to come down to an event like this, to enjoy being here, to fall in love with the game, that can change their lives. They can perhaps do something else rather than being on the streets. That’s the main reason. “I went into the dressing room after the game and thanked the players because there are so many kids out there who have not been as lucky as me. Life could have been different for me, so if I can help as many as possible, give them a new ambition to aim for, that’s what I want to do in life. “I also did something when I was on holiday in Trinidad. I organised a training session out there with some kids who were all from my grandma’s local area. My nan flew out with me. A few hundred people turned up. We bought the goals and so on out of my back pocket, just to give them something else to enjoy. Doing this drives me. I want to leave a legacy and have people be proud of me.” No one should be concerned about the off-the-pitch endeavours being a negative distraction for Colwill. For example, several people are working at the LSC Academy, which is run by his uncle Daniel with the support of first-team coach Ross White. Colwill adds: “We have a group chat on WhatsApp with me, my uncles and the staff. They are the ones doing things on a day-to-day basis. I want to know what’s going on and will say something if I need to, but I have full trust in them because they are really good people. “If one of the players goes on from the academy to have a pro career at any level, it would mean as much as things I have done myself. If I have influenced them to do that, hopefully they will do something similar when they get older and help the kids in their community, too. That’s all I want, to build a chain of giving back and helping.” Colwill is used to being asked for autographs and selfies when he attends Sholing FC matches, but this seems like another level. He is inundated with requests throughout the afternoon and does hundreds with a grin on his face. Perhaps it is not that surprising that hundreds approach him, with Chelsea supporters also in attendance. But you suspect being a world champion has boosted his profile even further. He will return, like the rest of Chelsea’s senior squad, to pre-season training next week, but the success enjoyed in America this month has already been consigned to the past. When asked how he feels to be called a world champion, he replies: “It doesn’t feel real. It’s not like I sit there and think, ‘Ah, we won this and that’. I have realised that when you win things, life doesn’t change. My goal is to win as many things as possible, so I am not going to be hung up on this. I need to move on and plan for the next. “This is a feeling shared in the dressing room. We have an elite mindset in our team, and this is what we need to do. The Premier League restarts in less than a month, and we need to start preparing for that.” Colwill recording the moment his younger brother came on as a substitute for Sholing (Simon Johnson/The Athletic) Few gave Chelsea a chance of beating Champions League holders PSG in the final. In many ways, you could understand why. The Ligue 1 side had put six goals (combined) past Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the previous two rounds without conceding a goal. Being written off proved great motivation. Chelsea swept PSG aside with a style of football that should ensure they will be taken a lot more seriously in future. Finishing the season with 14 wins from 16 games also showed a sustained level of consistency for the first time since the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium took over in 2022. It also helped them secure a top-four finish in the Premier League and the Conference League trophy. Colwill believes it is a good sign that a corner has been turned, but suggests a lack of credit from outside of Stamford Bridge will also continue to drive the players on as they try to compete for a first league title since 2017. He continues: “We had ups and downs like a lot of teams last season. We still stayed around the top four and were never miles behind. With the fans, we really went all together and just pushed. When that happens, I feel something just lights up and you just win, win, win. That’s what we were doing in the Premier League, then we won the Conference League and headed into the Club World Cup with that mindset. “But it felt like no one thought we had half a chance, even in the final, and I thought that was very disrespectful. All the questions before the game were based on, ‘You’re not stopping PSG’. I am not complaining. It gave us that fire in the belly, and we proved everyone wrong. “It does feel like there are not many people who respect us out there. We have been using it and will continue to do so. It might change now that we are world champions, we don’t know. But we are going into games feeling like we have a point to prove. It gives us that extra one per cent, which can make a huge difference. “Do I think teams will target a win over Chelsea even more so that they can say they have beaten the world champions? Definitely, but that is not a bad thing. They will give us respect. But we have to always be on it; our mindset has to be that we have to win every game. “We feel like we can definitely compete for the Premier League. The players we have in our squad are among the best, and we are really excited for this season, to once again prove people wrong.” Colwill with his Club World Cup medal (Martín Fonseca/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images) The prospect of playing in the Champions League for the first time in his career is something he is particularly looking forward to. “When that anthem comes on, it is going to be a dream. I could get a bit emotional, to be honest,” he admits. “I went to watch many Champions League games at Stamford Bridge when I was younger. I have walked out with the flags waving against Barcelona. Many kids dream of playing in the Champions League, so it doesn’t feel real that I am about to. It’s going to be amazing. “When you hear that song, it just makes your hair stand up on your neck. No matter where you are, if you hear that tune, you know it’s the Champions League. It’s so special.” And with that, Colwill left to enjoy the last few days of his holiday before the hard work begins all over again. He has certainly earned it.

no biggie m8 😎

and a truly WC or near WC right-footed CB, even if it is a veteran (28, 29yo, up to 32/33yo or so) italics means major injury questions Bremer Ousmane Diomande Marc Guéhi Ilya Zabarnyi (IF PSG fail, he is my number one want) Giorgio Scalvini Ronald Araujo Marquinhos (basically impossible I fear, he would be perfect if he did not try and pocket an insane salary) Antonio Silva Tomás Araújo (2nd choice if Zabarnyi is gone) Mario Gila Joel Ordóñez

absolutely they are the worst major source on the planet, pure liars and con artists and fucking Romano is now hyping their made up bollocks and lies he needs to stop that shit

I say cross that bridge when we get to it. CuCu is absolutely untouchable atm for me, unless PSG want to do a straight swap for Nuno Mendes (which they will not do), OR Citeh want to do a straight swap for Josko Gvardiol (which they will not do and will likely move him to LCB eventually anyways). those are the only 2 LBs of similar quality to CuCu out there atm (granted each is a difrent style of player to CuCu and to each other) Myles Lewis-Skelly may well get there too eventually, but again, zero chance Arse would do a swap for CuCu. Alphonso Davies at one point was there as well, but he has had a lot of injuries and has regressed a wee bit IMHO.

Not to be 'that girl' lol, but this post should be in the European club comps thread This forum is for national teams, AFAIK

We have never won the Intercontinental Cup (as named so) when it was first around 1960 to 2004 (run by UEFA and CONMEBOL), nor when it was brought back by FIFA last year. The old IC trophy plus, the (from 1980 onwards) Toyota Cup trophy, also given to the winners the new IC FIFA trophy our 2021 old format FCWC trophy:

@DDA was being sarcastic

IF he could just stay healthy, I would not trade him for any of the 10 on my list he is that good when he is fit but he is so fucking glassed-out it is maddening 😕

why? he is a DMF (and a good one btw) BUT unless we are selling glassman Lavia, this makes no sense the ten best DMFs who are remotely available (assuming Tchou stays at Real Madrid) in order of valuation Aleksandar Pavlovic (hardest pull on the list) Adam Wharton Morten Hjulmand Carlos Baleba Alan Varela Ardon Jashari Douglas Luiz Quinten Timber Marc Casadó Rúben Neves (insane passer, and yes he is 28yo, but he can go on like Cesc did, I think he would be a fucking weapon here)

He played a full 90 minute game in the FCWC, plus 70 more in another game there.

The twitter clout chaser Vince has the price wrong

Brilliant if it happens.

We absolutely a ner WC right footed CB and a WC GKer, even after Simons signs (if we actually get him). Right footed CBs I rate who are even remotely available Italics means major injury concerns Bremer Ousmane Diomande Marc Guéhi Ilya Zabarnyi (IF PSG fail, he is my number one want) Giorgio Scalvini Ronald Araujo Marquinhos (basically impossible) Antonio Silva Tomás Araújo (2nd choice if Zabarnyi is gone) Mario Gila Joel Ordóñez Pietro Comuzzo Josip Sutalo Mohamed Simakan Ryan Flamingo

Yes. Scalvini worries me. Just like pre-injury Wes Fofana, I was a huge fan. But the instant Fofana had the horrowshow leg break with Leicester I perma crossed him off my target lists. Was horrified we bought him and worse yet, bought him for insane dosh. I sorta get the same vibes with Scalvini and his TWO in one season major injuries. I still think Scalvini can recover fully (Fofana is perma fucked, even if he can play he is a shadow of the pre injury Fofana), BUT I want to see a full all healthy season or two from Scalvini first.

I do not like that shit sale price. Only £21.5m. WTF

I support Khan and Labour. Trump is the actual cunt of cunts.

Neto is better as a RWer Gittens and Tyrique are better at LWer

They did.

No, no he isn't.