Human Interest

PARIS — French soccer player Paul Pogba’s doping suspension has been cut to 18 months from an initial four years, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Friday.

"The suspension is now 18 months, starting Sept. 11, 2023," CAS director general Matthieu Reeb told Reuters.

Paul Pogba ban reduced

Paul Pogba: “Finally, the nightmare is over”.

“I can look forward to the day when I can follow my dreams again”.

Former Arsenal and Ipswich Town forward Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been charged after he was arrested by Scotland's National Crime Agency (NCA) in connection with the seizure 132 pounds of cannabis worth $793,620 at Stansted Airport.

The 33-year-old, who now plays for Scottish second division side Greenock Morton, was detained by NCA officers on Wednesday in an operation supported by Police Scotland.

Former Arsenal player arrested

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo crossed one billion followers across his social media accounts, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60 million subscribers in just over three weeks.

Ronaldo, who scored his 900th career goal last week to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League, is the first human being to reach a billion followers on social media, global media reports said.

Cristiano Ronaldo 1 billion followers

The Football Association have charged Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur after the Uruguayan made a racist remark about South Korean people when talking about his teammate Son Heung-min during a television appearance.

Bentancur, 27, has until Sept. 19 to respond to the charge.

Rodrigo Bentancur charge

For the first time since 2003 neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi have been included in the nominees for the men's Ballon d'Or award, which were announced on Wednesday, with England's Jude Bellingham among the 30 players named.

Portugal's Ronaldo, who has won the award five times, also failed to receive a nomination last year, while Messi, who won for a record eighth time in 2023 and has been nominated 16 times, misses out despite Argentina's Copa America win this year.

Messi and Ronaldo not nominated for Ballon d'Or

Donovan had some interesting things to say about U.S. Soccer.

U.S. men’s national team legend, Landon Donovan, was invited as a guest on Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast, with the former U.S. goalscorer giving some pretty interesting takes on the state of the men’s national team, the possibility of coaching the United States, what we can expect from the extraofficial appointment of Mauricio Pochettino and the brewing problem of the USMNT — youth soccer.

Nashville’s Yazbek has been hit with an unprecedented suspension. And fans are not happy.

Nashville SC player Patrick Yazbek suspended for two games violation of the league's Non-Discrimination policy

Major League Soccer has suspended Nashville SC midfielder Patrick Yazbek for two games following a violation of the league's Non-Discrimination Policy during the Aug. 24 match between Nashville and Austin FC.

South American football was in mourning on Tuesday following the death of Uruguayan defender Juan Izquierdo, who collapsed on the pitch after suffering an irregular heartbeat during a Copa Libertadores game last week.

The 27-year-old had been undergoing medical treatment since collapsing during Nacional's game against Brazilian side Sao Paulo on Aug. 22.