LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS, STEVE BALLMER AND KAWHI LEONARD HANDED BRUTAL PUNISHMENT AS NBA INVESTIGATION ENDS

The Los Angeles Clippers have been stripped of five first-round draft picks and fined $30million for breaching salary cap circumvention rules.

Additionally, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has been banned from all NBA and team activities for a year and player Kawhi Leonard has been ordered to pay the league $700,000.

The Clippers have had the book thrown at them by the NBACredit: Getty

The punishments come following the conclusion of an investigation that found the Clippers got around salary cap rules to sign Leonard as a free agent back in 2019.

NBA statement

An official release from the NBA read: "The NBA announced today that the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard have been penalized for violating the salary cap circumvention rules contained in the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).

"This determination was based upon information developed through an independent investigation conducted by the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz.

"The investigation found a pattern of misconduct and multiple significant rules violations by the Clippers organization, a prior offender of the salary cap circumvention rules. As described in a summary report prepared by Wachtell Lipton, available here, the Clippers broke the rules by:

"Affirmatively initiating off-court income opportunities between Mr. Leonard and four companies doing business with the team: Aspiration Partners, Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance;

"Facilitating endorsement agreements between these companies and Mr. Leonard;

"Inducing the companies to enter into these agreements by offering them business from the team;

"Paying personal expenses on behalf of Mr. Leonard and his representatives; and

"Failing to report improper solicitations for off-court income opportunities made on Mr. Leonard’s behalf through his then-business manager, Dennis Robertson.

"Mr. Leonard, through the conduct of Mr. Robertson on his behalf, violated the circumvention rules by pressuring the Clippers to assist him in obtaining off-court income opportunities, successfully obtaining those opportunities, and failing to reimburse payments by the Clippers for personal expenses.

Ballmer must cough up an eye-watering $30mCredit: Getty

"Based on this misconduct, the NBA has imposed the following penalties:

"The Clippers shall forfeit five first-round draft picks, one in each of the 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 NBA Drafts.

"The Clippers are fined $30 million.

"Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is suspended from all league and team activities for one year for knowingly seeking to help Mr. Leonard obtain off-court income opportunities, for approving a business deal that he knew was a precondition for Aspiration to enter into an endorsement agreement with Mr. Leonard, and for his failure to create conditions under which his organization abided by the NBA’s circumvention rules.

"Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker is suspended without pay for one year for being primarily and directly culpable for the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for providing false and misleading statements to investigators.

"Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank is suspended without pay for six months for his involvement with the impermissible endorsement arrangements and for approving impermissible expenses incurred by Mr. Leonard and his family.

Leonard, meanwhile, has been hit with a six-figure fineCredit: Getty

"The Clippers organization and personnel are subject to a compliance and monitoring program overseen by the league office for a period of five years.

"In connection with his violations, Mr. Leonard is required to pay the league $700,000.

"Mr. Robertson is banned from conducting business or otherwise engaging with NBA teams and their affiliates on behalf of or with respect to any player, employee, or other league or team personnel for a period of five years."

It was also revealed that the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) made an agreement confirming the penalties.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said: “The NBA’s collectively bargained system for determining player compensation is a fundamental component of the basketball competition that the league oversees for the benefit of the teams and players and ultimately the fans.

"I am deeply disappointed by the flagrant violations of our rules and by the Clippers’ institutional and leadership failures that led to this misconduct. The severity of the penalties reflects the seriousness of the violations."

- Tom Hancock

FIFA SLAPS ARGENTINA WITH FINES, BANS OVER WORLD CUP FINAL

 

July 19, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.; Argentina's Leandro Paredes clashes with Spain's Gavi next to assistant coach Walter Samuel. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images

A 10-match suspension for midfielder Leandro Paredes was one of several sanctions FIFA imposed against Argentina on Friday for their actions in last month's World Cup final loss to Spain.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee also fined Paredes $90,000 for sparking a post-match brawl after Spain's 1-0 victory in extra time on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Argentina teammates Nahuel Molina (seven-match suspension, $90,000 fine) and Thiago Almada (one match, $30,000) and team official Roberto Ayala (three matches, $30,000) and Spain midfielder Gavi (one match, $30,000) also were disciplined.

FIFA also fined the Argentinian Football Association (AFA) $321,000 for various violations, including using a sports event for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature; team misconduct; and discriminatory chants and gestures by its supporters. Argentina was ordered to invest $100,000 of their fine in a plan to combat discrimination.

Argentina must also play their next two home matches with a spectator capacity limit of 50%, although one of the two matches and $100,000 of the fine are suspended during a probationary period.

Paredes, 32, who plays professionally with Argentina's Boca Juniors, received a red card after the loss to Spain when he charged Spain defender Eric Garcia, grabbed him by the throat and knocked him to the turf. Video from the post-match scrum appeared to show Molina and Ayala throwing punches at opposing players.

The "demonstrations of a non-sporting nature" occurred when several Argentina players unfurled a banner about the Falkland Islands after their semifinal win against England. The banner read, "The Falklands are Argentine" and referenced the United Kingdom's 1982 war with Argentina over possession of the islands.

--Field Level Media

JON RAHM REACHES AGREEMENT WITH DP WORLD TOUR, PAYS OUTSTANDING FINES

José Méndez/EPA

Jon Rahman and the DP World Tour have reached an agreement that will allow the Spaniard to compete on the Europe circuit this season.

Rahm turned down an original offer by the European tour to return earlier this year, telling reporters in March the circuit was “extorting players” who wanted to return from LIV Golf.

“The DP World Tour and Jon Rahm have come to an agreement on conditional releases to play in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf during the remainder of its 2026 season. This involves payment of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date, along with participation in agreed DP World Tour tournaments (outside the majors) in the remainder of the 2026 season,” a statement released by the DP World Tour on Tuesday read.

The deal is similar to one eight other LIV players agreed to in February, including Tyrrell Hatton. In exchange for “conditional releases” to play LIV events in 2026, players must pay all outstanding fines for past violations of the conflicting event rules and participate in “stipulated” DP World Tour tournaments.

“I was never worried about that. There was some things I believed in that I wanted them to agree with me, and I knew it was a matter of time. I also understand they have their bylaws and their way to go about things and they have to follow certainly procedures, and things are never as easy or as fast as you would think they would be, or at least I would have liked, but I was never worried,” Rahm said Tuesday at the LIV Golf event in Virginia.

“My only concern right now, when it comes to those events in October, is the due date (with his wife’s pregnancy) that we have. That’s the only issue I have that would make me not be at the Spanish Open. Besides that, I think they can count on my participation.”

The releases are not precedent-setting and the next deadline for players to apply or reapply for membership before the 2027 season will be in November.

Rahm will be eligible to earn Race to Dubai points starting at next week’s PGA Championship and he will also be eligible to play for Europe at next year’s Ryder Cup if he follows the guidelines of his conditional release and remains in membership through this season and 2027.

- Rex Hoggard

GPDA BOSS RESPONDS AFTER FIA THREATEN BANS, POINTS DEDUCTION FOR F1 2025

George Russell leads the field at the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix

Alex Wurz, the chair of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, says all F1 stars “want to be good role models” and hopes “common sense prevails” around new FIA guidelines on punishments for misconduct.

The FIA have issued updated guidelines around the punishments drivers can expect for swearing or overall misconduct in an official setting, with a third offence now carrying a penalty up to €30,000, a one-month suspension and a deduction of World Championship points.

‘Every F1 driver wants to be a good role model’

Updated wording in the International Sporting Code says that, alongside the punishments for ‘any misconduct’, drivers can also be punished for ‘any words, deeds or writings that cause moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members or its executive officers.’

The GPDA, as the de facto trade union for the Formula 1 drivers, is yet to issue an official response to the updated guidelines, but while Wurz confirmed there has been contact among its members, there has not currently been a decision for a course of action.

Whatever the outcome, he hopes “common sense prevails” throughout.

“We have communicated, but we have not had enough time yet in this very busy period for the drivers, start of season, simulator tests, etc, to go together and discuss how we are addressing it,” Wurz told Sky Sports News.

- Henry Valantine

FANS TROLL TRAVIS KELCE

F1 PRESIDENT BLASTS F1 DRIVERS AS RACE FINES ROW ESCALATES

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has told Formula 1 drivers to mind their own business after they asked where money from race fines was going and why senior figures had left the governing body.

In an interview with Reuters ahead of Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix, the president suggested the drivers should stick to what they know best.

"Do we have to tell them? When something in the teams changes, do they tell us?," Ben Sulayem said when asked about the surprise departure of race director Niels Wittich before last weekend's title-deciding Las Vegas Grand Prix.

"We have the rules, we follow our rules. We don't follow someone else's rule. Simple as this."

Wittich has said he did not resign and the FIA have given no public explanation as to why he suddenly left beyond saying it was to pursue new opportunities. Media reports have said he was sacked.

Leading steward Tim Mayer, the son of former McLaren boss Teddy, and Formula 2 race director Janette Tan have also left.

Mercedes driver George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), said on Thursday drivers wanted clarity and understanding "of what's going on and who's getting fired next."

Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver who was elected as FIA head in 2021, responded by saying: "Do we tell them how to drive? Do we tell them what to have as their strategy?

 

Mohammed Ben Sulayem was elected as the FIA president in 2021. Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

"It's none of their business. Sorry ... I am a driver. I respect the drivers. Let them go and concentrate on what they do best, which is race."

The GPDA issued a remarkable statement last month, in response to an FIA clampdown on swearing, in which they asked Ben Sulayem to treat them like adults and mind his own language towards them.

They also requested financial transparency and said all stakeholders, including drivers and teams, should jointly determine how and where the money from fines was spent -- with some suggesting it could help fund professional stewards.

"They talk and then they say, where are you putting the money? Why we don't do this? I don't say 'Oh, sorry, what about you?'," Ben Sulayem said.

"The drivers are getting over 100 million. Do I ask where they spend it? No. It's up to them. It's their right ... We do whatever we do with the money. It's our business. It's also with them and their money. It's their business."

Ben Sulayem said the drivers had his mobile number and he had nothing to hide.

- Reuters 

KINGS COACH MIKE BROWN FINES $35K FOR PURSUING OFFICIAL

Getty

Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for aggressively pursuing a game official during live play.

The fine stems from Brown charging the refs after a foul was not called following Colby Jones' drive to the basket in the second quarter of the Kings' 108-103 loss to the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. Brown, instead, was assessed a technical foul.

Brown, 54, previously has been punished by the league for his conduct toward officials.

He was fined $50,000 on Jan. 16, two days after entering the court of play while yelling at referee Intae Hwang, leading to the coach's ejection in a 143-142 overtime loss at the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brown then used a laptop during his postgame news conference to point out multiple calls with which he disagreed.

In 2012, when he coached the Los Angeles Lakers, Brown was suspended one game without pay and fined $25,000 for making contact with an official.

A two-time NBA Coach of the Year, Brown has a 449-296 career record as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lakers and Kings.

- Field Level Media

NOTTINGHAM FOREST HIT WITH £750,000 FINE FOR ACCUSING VAR OF BIAS

Nottingham Forest have been hit with a £750,000 ($979,526) fine for a social media post last season aimed at video assistant referee Stuart Attwell, the English Football Association (FA) confirmed on Friday.

The post followed their 2-0 defeat to Everton on April 21, a time when both teams were embroiled in a relegation scrap. Luton were also involved in attempting to battle the drop, and Forest questioned Attwell's impartiality on the social media post.

"Three extremely poor decisions -- three penalties not given -- which we simply cannot accept," Forest said on their official X account. "We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn't change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options."

A statement from the FA said Forest had also been warned "for misconduct in relation to comments posted on social media" alongside the fine.

The statement added: "The club denied that the comments posted on social media imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match officials and/or the video assistant referee and/or bring the game into disrepute.

"An independent regulatory commission found the charge to be proven following a hearing and imposed the club's sanctions."

The charge relates to a breach of FA Rule E3.1, with Forest's social media post guilty of constituting "improper conduct in that they imply bias and/or question the integrity of the Match Official[s] and/or the Video Assistant Referee and/or bring the game into disrepute."

Forest were angered by decisions made in the match, with all three penalty claims focusing on Everton's Ashley Young.

They were bothered by one tackle Young made on United States international Giovanni Reyna, an alleged handball off a Callum Hudson-Odoi cross, and then a tangle between Young and Hudson-Odoi in the second half.

"I don't understand the reason and the decision of [referee] Anthony Taylor and VAR Stuart Attwell, because I see the images," Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo told Sky Sports.

"It is hard to take. There is a penalty on Gio Reyna, it's a kick, don't tell me that is not contact. It's a penalty, then a handball, then the situation of the incident with Callum.

"So it's understandable that we react like this as a club because we want to get things right. We don't want bad referees. We want good decisions. OK, if we lost the game today and there were no incidents, we take it."

Forest had former referee Mark Clattenburg working at the club at the time as their referee analyst. He published a column in the Daily Mail defending the club's response and called the decisions a "hat trick of howlers."

He wrote: "One of these errors would have been bad enough. Three was a joke, and that is why Nottingham Forest were left feeling victimised after another defeat in which zero big decisions went their way.

"In a season where they have had to endure some egregious refereeing, this trip to Everton was as grim a game as they have encountered since returning to the Premier League.

"These situations were precisely why video technology was brought into the Premier League and yet, Attwell did not send Taylor to his monitor. Not once. It was a hat-trick of howlers from the refereeing team and, unfortunately for Forest, a continuation of an unjust trend that has hampered their survival fight.

"You will have seen the statement released by the club - how the PGMOL were contacted to warn that it was not appropriate for a Luton fan such as Attwell to play such a pivotal role in a massive match that would impact the relegation race."

Clattenburg left his role as Forest's refereeing consultant amid a backlash to his public interventions as a former Premier League referee.

- Tom Hamilton, Senior Writer

GOALKEEPER NAHUEL GUZMÁN SUSPENDED FOEN11 GAMES, FINED FOR POINTING LASER AT RIVAL IN LIGA MX MATCH

 MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nahuel Guzmán, a goalkeeper for the Mexican club Tigres of Nuevo Leon, was suspended 11 games and fined for pointing a laser at fellow goalie Esteban Andrada during a tournament match last weekend, Liga MX announced Thursday.

The 38-year-old Guzmán is recovering from right knee surgery and was in the visiting team’s box at the BBVA stadium in Monterrey last Saturday during the first half when he pointed the laser in the direction of Andrada, a fellow Argentine and the starting goalkeeper for Rayados.

Monterrey's sports president, Jose Antonio Noriega, went to the box and took away the laser in the first half of the match, which ended in a 3-3 draw.

In addition to the suspension and fine, Guzmán must do unspecified community work.

This is the first time in the history of Mexican soccer that a player has been sanctioned for pointing a laser at a rival. The 2014 Apertura final between América and Tigres was stopped momentarily because a fan was aiming a laser at players.

Guzmán, who was on Argentina's roster for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, will miss the rest of the Clausura tournament because of the suspension. It's not clear when he will be healthy enough to play.

The fine of Guzmán was one of several stemming from the match.

Tigres was fined an unspecified amount for the behavior of its fans. A Tigres fan could be seen urinating in a glass and throwing it on Rayados fans in video posted on social media.

Andrada received a fine for a post on his Instagram account in which he made homophobic comments about Guzmán.

And Monterrey was also fined over fan behavior. A video posted on social media showed a Rayados fan throwing liquid at forward André-Pierre Gignac and making an obscene gesture.

Without revealing names or the teams they supported, the Disciplinary Commission of Liga MX said two fans would be banned from attending league matches, although it did not say for how long.

ANDY REID AND PATRICK MAHOMES FINED A COMBINED $150,000 FOR CRITICIZING OFFICIALS, AP SOURCE SAYS

AP Photo 

Chiefs coach Andy Reid was fined $100,000 and quarterback Patrick Mahomes was fined $50,000 for criticizing officials following Kansas City's 20-17 loss to Buffalo last week, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the fines weren’t announced.

CRISTIANO RONALDO FACES $1B CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT AFTER PROMOTING FOR BINANCE NFTS

AP Photo 

NEW YORK (AP) — Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with class-action lawsuit seeking at least $1 billion in damages for his role in promoting cryptocurrency-related “non-fungible tokens,” or NFTs, issued by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida Monday alleges that Ronaldo's promotion of Binance was “deceptive and unlawful.” Binance's partnership with high-profile figures like Ronaldo, the plaintiffs claim, led them into costly and unsafe investments.

“Evidence now reveals that Binance’s fraud was only able to reach such heights through the offer and sale of unregistered securities, with the willing help and assistance of some of the wealthiest, powerful and recognized organizations and celebrities across the globe—just like Defendant Ronaldo,” the suit reads.

Representatives for Ronaldo declined to comment Thursday. Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, did not immediately return requests for statement from The Associated Press.

INSIDE THE NBA REACTS TO NIKOLA JOKIC BEING FINED $25K FOR SHOVING PHOENIX SUNS OWNER MAT ISHBIN

INSIDE THE NBA REACTS TO MAVERICKS BEING FINED $750K