Crystal Palace fans took to the streets in protest after UEFA confirmed the club’s demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League. Most of them are holding banners and chanting ‘it’s not fair!’ against the European football governing body.
Supporters gathered outside Selhurst Park, with many marching from Norwood High Street. Over 3,000 fans have also signed a petition that calls on UEFA to reverse said decision.
Palace had earned a spot in the Europa League after winning the FA Cup in May 2025. However, UEFA blocked their place due to multi-club ownership rules. Palace investor John Textor is also a majority owner in Olympique Lyonnais, another club that qualified for the Europa League.
Though Textor is in the process of selling his shares in Palace to Woody Johnson, UEFA said the sale came too late to meet competition rules.
Club chair Steve Parish called the decision ‘probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football.’ He confirmed the club will appeal and set to take this case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Xtreme Gaming (XG) pulled off a clean 2-0 win over Southeast Asian underdogs Execration at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup (EWC), keeping China’s hopes alive in the tournament. With a lot of pressure going into the match, XG relied on sharp teamwork and solid game skills to take the lead early.
Game one was all XG. They slowly built their lead and ended it in 36 minutes with a strong 28-9 kill score. Execration had a hard time keeping up but came into game two with a bold draft. They picked the rarely used Witch Doctor for support player Bryle ‘cml’ Alvizo, a hero that hadn’t won a single game at the event.
The risky pick worked at first, with the Filipino team holding strong in big fights and even gaining more gold late in the game. However, a failed push on the high ground turned things around. XG took advantage, won a key fight, and grabbed the Aegis.
With Execration out, Talon Esports is now the last team from Southeast Asia left in the Dota 2 EWC. XG moves on to the next knockout round, where they’ll face a harder match against PARIVISION.
Chelsea’s win in the 2025 Club World Cup suggests they might be prepared to claim the Premier League or Champions League title soon, according to defender Levi Colwill. The 22-year-old played in the surprising 3-0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The win made the Blues world champions under FIFA’s new tournament format. When asked about Chelsea’s chances of using this triumph to secure either league title, Colwill seemed confident.
‘I said at the start of this tournament that our plan is to win it and people looked at me as if I was crazy. So I’m going to say the exact same thing now going into the Premier League and Champions League’, Colwill said.
Colwill shared that this trophy is the biggest he has won so far. He believes the Club World Cup could eventually rival the Champions League in prestige, noting that Chelsea is the first team to win under FIFA’s expanded format. He also mentioned that this victory sends a strong message, and if they keep winning, Chelsea could solidify their status as one of the top football clubs in the world.
England spinner Shoaib Bashir has been ruled out of the rest of the squad’s Test series against India after suffering a finger fracture. The 21-year-old injured the little finger on his left hand during the third Test at Lord’s. Despite the injury, Bashir still managed to bowl and claim the final wicket that sealed England’s win.
Bashir’s exit is a blow to England’s bowling line-up, especially after his strong form during the series. All-rounder, Ben Stokes, shared that it was ‘very disappointing’ for both the team and Bashir himself.
He also commended the spinner for putting in effort, ‘He’s got a very badly broken finger…To even walk out there and bat. He didn’t even ask, he got his pads on, and got his finger strapped up.’
The England side confirmed that Bashir will undergo surgery and won’t be around for the final two matches. No replacement is named yet, but a new spinner is to be called before the next game. The fourth Test starts on Wednesday, July 23, at Old Trafford.
Real Madrid have signed Álvaro Carreras from Benfica for €50 million (£43m), giving the 22-year-old a six-year deal. The left-back trained with Madrid’s youth team from 2017 to 2020 before moving to Manchester United.
Though he didn’t play for United’s main squad, Carreras gained game time while on loan at Preston and Granada. In January 2024, he joined Benfica on loan, then signed full-time in May for a reported £5 million. He made 68 games for Benfica, scored five goals, and helped them take second place in the league last season. He also played in their Club World Cup squad. In a key note from the deal, ‘Manchester United would receive 20% on anything above how much they paid for the player.’
Madrid now brings home a talent they once groomed, this time proven and with fresh strength.
At the launch of Vinayak Dalvi’s new book Kabadditil Kimayagar (The Magicians of Kabaddi) on Saturday, 12 July 2025, politician Sharadchandra ‘Sharad’ Govindrao Pawar raised concerns about the growing monopolistic control in kabaddi associations.
The event, held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in South Mumbai, served as a platform for Pawar to highlight governance issues in the sport.
‘I hear disturbing reports that certain individuals are trying to monopolise kabaddi associations. In such cases, it is the players who suffer the most’, Pawar stated. He specifically cited the Maharashtra and Mumbai kabaddi associations, saying they now need internal reforms.
‘We must collectively work to take kabaddi to greater heights – state, national, Asian, and even global levels. Let’s not forget that it was kabaddi that brought India a gold medal in Beijing (Asian Games)’, he added.
Why could a monopoly harm kabaddi?
When one group controls a sport, it can prevent progress. Without competition, organisations may lack the incentive to innovate or improve. A diverse, competitive landscape encourages better governance, fairer opportunities for athletes, and sustained growth for kabaddi across all levels.
Team Heretics made history by winning the 2025 Valorant Esports World Cup after a stunning comeback against Fnatic. The Grand Finals delivered non-stop action across five intense maps, ending 3-2 in Heretics’ favour.
Fnatic dominated early, winning the first two maps with strong play. They took Lotus 13–4 after an 8–4 lead at half and crushed Sunset 13–2 with a one-sided first half. Heretics faced defeat but refused to back down. Heretics turned the tide on Icebox, winning 13–11 by staying focused in key moments.
They carried that momentum onto Haven, where they secured a 13–10 win to tie the series at 2–2. The deciding map on Ascent tested both teams. Heretics built an 8–4 lead at halftime and finished 13–10, completing the stunning comeback.
This win marks Heretics’ first international championship and earns them US$500,000 in prize money.
India’s run-chase in the third Test at Lord’s got off to a bad start when Yashasvi Jaiswal was out for a duck after facing just seven balls. He was once again beaten by the speed of Jofra Archer.
Archer, who returned to Test cricket after a long break, got Jaiswal out in both innings, first for 13 runs, then for 0. The left-handed batter seemed off his game. Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said, ‘He didn’t look comfortable, he didn’t look watchable’.
In the fourth innings, Archer bowled a short ball at 141kph that Jaiswal hit high in the air. It went straight to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. Earlier in the match, Jaiswal also got out while trying to hit a ball with extra bounce, stepping back. Both teams scored 387 runs in their first innings. Then, England made 192 in their second innings and gave India a target of 193 runs to win.
By the end of Day 4, India was in trouble at 58 for 4. Team captain Shubman Gill made only 6 runs, and Karun Nair got out for 14. Nightwatchman Akash Deep was bowled by Ben Stokes for just 1 run. India now faces a hard task on the last day.
Chelsea bagged a big win over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Club World Cup final, thanks to the star of the match, Cole Palmer. The 23-year-old star scored twice and helped set up a third goal for teammate Joao Pedro in a 3-0 win in New Jersey.
Palmer’s first goal came in the 22nd minute, and he followed with a second not long after. Just before the break, he gave a sharp pass to Pedro, who chipped the ball over PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to make it 3-0.
PSG tried to bounce back in the second half, but Chelsea’s keeper Robert Sanchez made key saves. João Neves made things worse for PSG by getting a red card for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair after a VAR check.
The match drew a huge crowd of 81,000 fans, including FIFA chief Gianni Infantino and US president Donald Trump.
Speculations over another buyout by Team Falcons began swirling again in June 2025. The catalyst was the recent signing of Maksim ‘Kyousuke’ Lukin, replacing Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif as rifler. There is no official disclosure of how much the Saudi Arabian team has spent, but it is speculated to be up to $2 million, which the Falcons deny.
Signs of buyout that started the rumour in 2024
What prompted the rumours to start swirling in the first place? Most CS2 esports fans attribute it to the team’s past actions, particularly in the previous buyout spree. The most controversial was Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač for around $1 million in January this year. This time, Kyousuke is the centre of attention because his signing shows similar signs to NiKo’s case.
Those signs include sudden roster shakeups and increased organisational expenses. Kyousuke’s transfer is a big surprise, especially when the team has fresh arrivals along with NiKo, René ‘TeSeS’ Madsen, Damjan ‘kyxsan’ Stoikovski, and Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov. This move put Falcons’ veteran Magisk on the bench.
The other sign is major investments as an organisation. Team Falcons has increased expenses across its esports franchises, including the aforementioned CS2 roster shakeup. Another notable investment was signing the former Team BDS roster in Rainbow Six Siege (R6) esports in March 2025.
Elaborate: What does ‘buyout’ mean in this context?
A ‘buyout’ is the payment a team makes to terminate a pro player’s existing contract so the player can join a different team. It’s a standard practice in professional sports and esports, but it can leave a negative impression depending on the context.
For example, Kyousuke’s signing is rumoured to be a controversial buyout because he showed no prior plans of transferring out, but suddenly he joined a new team. CS2 fans speculated that he was paid a hefty sum of up to $2 million, which Team Falcons denied.
A buyout can be seen negatively if the organisation is known to have a large budget and uses it to aggressively acquire top talent from other teams. For example, getting Kyousuke is seen by some as a harmful buyout because it significantly affects Team Spirit Academy’s popularity with the Chinese fanbase. Losing Kyousuke’s star power can hurt their viewership in future matches.
Team Falcons buyout: Fact or mere speculation?
Team Falcons denies all claims of a big-budget buyout. Chairman Musaed ‘Msdossary’ Al-Dossary stated that the cost was big, but not close to the rumoured $2 million. Kyousuke’s contract figures are still kept private. If true, the 17-year-old’s contract could carry one of the highest price tags in esports.
There are no formal confirmations, and if the rumours are true, Team Falcons is still unlikely to have breached any rules. Their aggressive market behaviour is under scrutiny, but it could simply be a sign of strong competitive ambition in esports. The CS2 community is closely watching this news, demonstrating their commitment to fair play in professional esports.
