Soccer

Novak Djokovic doesn't need a racket to whoop you on the court .... he doesn't even need hands, 'cause the 32-year-old tennis superstar will beat you with his noggin and his feet!!!

The Joker showed off his insane coordination with an intense game of soccer tennis on Friday ... and the 45-second rally is really impressive.

In case you couldn't figure it out, "Soccer Tennis" is tennis where you can't use your hands. It's super hard and VERY impressive to watch.

The #1 ranked player in the world kills it with his skills ... trappin' and juggling the ball like he's Lionel Messi.

Huge development in the Neymar rape investigation in Brazil ... where cops have ended their probe into the soccer superstar due to "lack of evidence."

But, the 27-year-old isn't out of the woods yet ... cops are sending their findings over to the Sao Paulo Attorney General's Office which will have 15 days to decide if Neymar should be charged with a crime.

But, the fact cops haven't found overwhelming evidence against Neymar is a good indication that prosecutors will likely NOT move forward with the case.

As we previously reported, Brazilian model Najila Trindade had claimed Neymar sexually assaulted her back in May at a hotel in Paris.

In early June, Neymar published a 7-minute video professing his innocence -- and showing WhatsApp messages between the two in an effort to prove that "nothing really happened."

Neymar also claimed he was being extorted by the woman.

For her part, she has accused the Brazilian police of being corrupt and helping to cover up evidence ... saying, "The police are bought, aren't they? Or am I crazy?"

The President of the U.S. Soccer Federation is responding to the pay gap lawsuit filed by the U.S. Women's National Team ... saying he has proof the women actually make MORE than the men despite bringing in WAYYY less money.

Remember, the USWNT sued the Federation back in March for gender discrimination -- claiming,  "The female players have been consistently paid less money than their male counterparts."

Now, U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro is responding in an open letter ... essentially saying he hears what the women are saying -- but the numbers don't back up their claim.

"U.S. Soccer has, over the past decade, paid our Women’s National Team more than our Men’s National Team in salaries and game bonuses, and we continue to make unprecedented investments in our women’s program," Cordeiro wrote.

Cordeiro included a "fact sheet" that spells out his case and explains ...

"From 2010 through 2018, U.S. Soccer paid our women $34.1 million in salaries and game bonuses and we paid our men $26.4 million -- not counting the significant additional value of various benefits that our women’s players receive but which our men do not."

Cordeiro says the Men and Women have different pay structures based on how they negotiated their Collective Bargaining Agreements ... including more guaranteed pay salary for the women and different ("more robust") benefits packages.

The men CAN earn larger bonuses ... but they're guaranteed nothing, according to Cordeiro.

Corderio also says when you break down the revenue generated by each team, the men come out on top ... by far.

"From 2009 through 2019 -- a timeframe that includes two Women’s World Cup championships -- the Women’s National Team has earned gross revenue of $101.3 million over 238 games, for an average of $425,446 per game, and the Men’s National Team has earned gross revenue of $185.7 million over 191 games, for an average of $972,147 per game."

"More specifically, WNT games have generated a net profit (ticket revenues minus event expenses) in only two years (2016 and 2017). Across the entire 11-year period, WNT games generated a net loss of $27.5 million."

Still, Cordeiro says, "U.S. Soccer does not view these as losses, but rather as an important investment in our Women’s National Team and in the long-term growth of women’s soccer."

Molly Levinson -- a spokesperson for the U.S. Women's National Team -- is responding to the letter ... essentially saying it's a crock of BS.

"The numbers USSF uses are utterly false which, among other things, inappropriately include the NWSL salaries of the players to inflate the women’s players compensation."

She adds, "Any apples to apples comparison shows that the men earn far more than the women. The fact is the women’s team requested the same compensation structure as the men have, so they would be paid equally for equal performance."

"The USSF fact sheet is not a 'clarification.' It is a ruse."

"Here is what they cannot deny. For every game a man plays on the MNT he makes a higher base salary payment than a woman on the WNT. For every comparable win or tie, his bonus is higher. That is the very definition of gender discrimination. For the USSF to believe otherwise, is disheartening but it only increases our determination to obtain true equal pay."

A World Cup trophy wasn't enough bling for Ashlyn Harris ... the USWNT stud decided to get iced out to celebrate the championship too -- coppin' $40,000 worth of diamonds!!!

TMZ Sports has learned the goalkeeper hit up Greg Yuna at their NYC Diamond District store after winning the World Cup earlier this month to get some drip.

We're told Ashlyn came away with two pieces -- a gold diamond Cuban necklace and a matching bracelet -- and they're AWESOME!!!

The necklace has 200 grams of gold with 25ct diamonds. In the bracelet, we're told there's 100 grams of gold and 15ct diamonds.

All total, the bill was $40k ... but, don't worry, Ashlyn can afford it -- reports say she earned more than $100K for the World Cup run ... and got $23,000 more kicked in thanks to Secret's donation!!!

This little piggy ... is putting Lionel Messi in the middle of a huge controversy involving Dolce & Gabbana and the country of China!!!!

The soccer superstar was rocking a $500 Dolce & Gabbana t-shirt Friday as he touched down in Barcelona for some vacation time with his family ... but he might not know that his shirt has some Chinese people very upset.

Long story short ... Dolce got in major hot water in China in Nov. 2018 for an ad campaign featuring a Chinese model bungling an attempt to eat Italian food with chopsticks.

The campaign was almost immediately deemed offensive by the masses in China and Dolce pulled it from Chinese social media in 24 hours. People were pissed and Dolce & Gabbana issued a video apology.

There's more ... Stefano Gabbana appeared to trash China in social media posts -- using the poop emoji to describe the country. He later claimed his account was hacked. But, most people weren't buying the excuse.

Fast forward to Feb. 2019 ... when Dolce & Gabbana releases new shirts celebrating the "Year of the Pig" in Chinese culture.

After the previous controversy, there was renewed outrage from Chinese consumers over the pig shirts ... with some people feeling the designs were offensive. One site explained Chinese consumers felt the designs depicted Chinese people as "pigs with money." Multiple fashion outlets (see here and here) covered the situation.

Prosecutors have announced they will NOT file criminal charges against soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for an alleged sexual assault from 2009.

As we previously reported, Kathryn Mayorga claims Ronaldo raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room back in 2009.

She claims she met CR7 at Rain Nightclub in the Palms hotel in June 2009 and he invited her up to his penthouse suite to party and hot tub. There are photos of Mayorga and Ronaldo hanging out at the nightclub together that evening.

She had initially filed a police report describing the alleged crime -- but didn't identify Ronaldo by name.

Mayorga sued Ronaldo claiming she later accepted a $375,000 payment in exchange for her silence -- but recently announced she wants that agreement voided and went to cops to pursue a criminal case against Ronaldo.

In court documents, Mayorga described the alleged attack ... saying while changing her clothes in the penthouse suite, "Ronaldo entered the bathroom, exposed his erect penis and asked [her] to perform fellatio."

Mayorga claimed she refused and wanted to leave -- but Ronaldo "pulled [her] into a bedroom and onto a bed and attempted to engage in sexual intercourse."

Mayorga claims she tried to fight Ronaldo off -- but he turned her onto her side and sodomized her while she screamed "no, no, no."

Ronaldo had adamantly denied the allegations -- and said, "Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in."

Now, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office has made a decision to NOT prosecute -- claiming "the allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

Prosecutors described the situation in detail ...

"On June 13, 2009, a female victim ('V') placed a call to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and reported that she had been the victim of sexual assault.  Members of law enforcement responded to her location to take a crime report.  Police transported V to the hospital so that a sexual assault examination could be conducted."

"A short time later, sexual assault detectives arrived at the hospital and made contact with V.  Although she knew who the person was who assaulted her, V refused to identify him or disclose where the crime occurred.  As a result, the police were unable to follow investigative protocols for sexual assault cases or to conduct any meaningful investigation.  Without knowing the identity of the perpetrator or the location of the crime, detectives were unable to search for and impound vital forensic evidence.  In addition, video evidence, showing interactions between the victim and perpetrator before and after the alleged crime, was lost.  The criminal investigation was closed."

"V and Cristiano Ronaldo, through their respective attorneys, eventually reached a civil settlement related to this matter in 2010.  For the next eight years, law enforcement heard nothing more from V regarding the crime or the perpetrator."

"On August 28, 2018, V contacted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, asking that her sexual assault investigation be reopened, naming Cristiano Ronaldo as the offender.  In spite of the passage of over nine years, Metro investigated her allegations."

WHAT A CATCH!!!

Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki -- one of the best in the world -- put his hands on display at a famous Seattle fish market ... and the footage is trout of this world! 

Burki -- along with BVB teammate Marwin Hitz and former keeper Roman Weidenfeller -- volunteered to do some fish-catchin' Tuesday at the Pike Place Fish Market. 

Fish catchin' at Pike Place is one of the big draws to the market ... and it's HARD -- imagine trying to grip on a full-grown, scaly, slippery fish! 

But, when the salmon came flyin', Burki stepped up ... and caught the fish with ONE HAND! 

The crowd loved it, the staff loved it ... and the fish didn't know any better because it's dead. 

Who's hungry?!

It's that time of year again ... Cristiano Ronaldo is launching his new CR7 underwear line -- and shocker, he's thrusting his own man junk front and center of the new campaign!

The soccer superstar stripped down to his skivvies to showcase his new High Summer collection of his CR7 undies ... and yeah ... they make more than his eyes pop.

Ronaldo says the design was inspired by summer sunsets, saying, “Summer is my favourite (he spells it weird because he's European) season and I love the time of day when the sun goes down and the sky is vivid."

"I wanted to capture that feeling in my HS19 campaign, using intense colour (again with the weird Euro spelling) that’s bold, rich and compliments my new collection. I wanted the campaign to have a really relaxed feel. Summer is the time of year when I have some time to chill out, so I wanted to reflect that.”

Ronaldo takes his looks about as seriously as his game ... and the dude is on a quest to make the most stylish underwear out there.

"Essentially, I want to create underwear that looks so good that I want to wear it on the beach, rather than covering it up with my swimwear!”

In case you're wondering ... Ronaldo's underwear usually costs about $38 for a 3-pack.

Team USA soccer star Rose Lavelle says she's stoked about that $23k bonus check from Secret deodorant, but explains there's A LOT more work to be done! 

As we previously reported, Secret cut a $529k check to the USWNT Player's Association to help close the pay gap between the men's team. Each player will essentially walk away with $23k. 

So, when we saw Rose -- the 24-year-old phenom who scored that amazing 2nd goal in the World Cup final -- we asked how she felt about companies like Secret trying to help out. 

"I think it's great," Lavelle told us while walking around Washington D.C.

"I think it's a step in the right direction, but I think there's always work to be done."

We also asked Rose if there was ANY chance the team would be willing to end the feud with President Donald Trump ... but Lavelle seemed genuinely stumped.  

"I don't know," Lavelle said while chuckling at the question .... "I have no clue!"

While Rose acknowledged it would "be cool" for the team and POTUS to find a away to get along, she didn't seem too optimistic about it.

Here's the best "thanks for winning the World Cup" gift EVER ... Jennifer Lopez brought USWNT star Carli Lloyd onstage -- and proceeded to give her a SEXY lap dance!!!

It all went down Friday night at J Lo's It's My Party Tour stop in New York City ... when the "Medicine" singer called for security to get Lloyd to the stage.

When Carli got up under the lights ... things took a very sensual turn -- 'cause Jennifer, pushing hair out of Lloyd's face, said, "I've got a little present for you."

"Are you ready for this? I don't know if you're ready for this."

Unclear if Lloyd was ever ready ... but J Lo sure brought it anyway -- dancing ALL UP ON Carli to Jeremih's "Birthday Sex"!!!

There was twerking, touching, hair flips and vigorous dancing ... and, yeah, good times were had by all.

Lloyd seemed to enjoy the moment, and tweeted about it all afterward, "A first for everything" with a crying emoji.

Of course, the dance is just the latest epic moment for Lloyd this month ... she won the World Cup, partied at a parade in NYC last Wednesday and even hit up the ESPYs with her squad hours later.

Oh, and Procter & Gamble just announced it'd be pitching in to help Lloyd and the USWNT get a big pay raise!

Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team are getting a bump from an unlikely source ... Procter & Gamble is vowing to fork over more than half a mil as a step toward equal pay.

The giant consumer goods corporation -- which supports U.S. Soccer through its Secret deodorant brand -- took an ad in The New York Times Sunday, calling on the U.S. Soccer Federation and others to pay the female players as much as the men.

Then, they upped the ante by promising to donate a cool $529,000 to the team to help close the wage gap after the USWNT won the World Cup this year. That's about $23k for each of the 23 players on the team ... not a bad bonus all things considered.

P&G's ad reportedly read, in part, "Let's take this moment of celebration to propel women's sports forward. We urge the US Soccer Federation to be a beacon of strength and end gender pay inequality once and for all."

This, of course, follows the women beating the Netherlands 2-0 in the championship game last week ... but with seemingly little to zero movement to get the ladies paid as equally as the men, who don't win nearly as often as the women do. Tons of folks -- including Rapinoe herself -- have been calling on U.S. Soccer and FIFA to balance things out, but their pleas appear to be falling on deaf ears thus far. 

And, just to give you a sense of the difference in pay -- reports say the women's team have contracts that guarantee them salaries of about $100k, with bonuses thrown in for wins. The men, meanwhile, reportedly have a pay-to-play structure, with much larger payouts for wins, and even guaranteed money for losses. 

According to The Washington Post -- which claims to have seen and analyzed these contracts -- a professional female soccer player would make just 89% of what her male counterpart would make if they both played and won 20 exhibition games. If they lost all of them, the pay would be equal at $100k. When it comes to FIFA ... their prize money to the winning teams for their tournaments has a discrepancy between men and women of about 10.5%. 

Soccer star Daniel Sturridge is returning to normalcy after he was reunited with his beloved dog, Lucci, following a burglary at his L.A. home ... taking his pet out for a fancy lunch date. 

But, there's a big problem behind the scenes ... because the man who claims he FOUND the dog after the incident is saying Sturridge never made good on paying reward money. 

As we previously reported, the former Liverpool striker said money was no object -- he'd pay ANY amount if someone could help him find his Pomeranian following the burglary at the L.A. home where he's been staying. 

A rapper named Killa Fame posted photos of the dog on social media after claiming his nephew spotted the dog while going to the store around 9 PM on Tuesday. 

Sturridge was eventually put in touch with Killa Fame -- and he drove up and got the dog back. 

The problem now ... Killa Fame claims he was expecting Sturridge to cut a $30k check for the safe return of the dog, but it never happened. 

"Honestly I’m just disappointed @DanielSturridge offer of [$30,000] is a life changing amount of money," Killa Fame tweeted ... "especially when your without a home to live in with your family."

Fame is also pissed some people are accusing him of stealing the dog -- and he made a video to clap back. 

U.S. soccer star Allie Long's L.A. hotel room was broken into ... and her wedding ring, cash and her honorary key to NYC were stolen ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Long -- who was in L.A. for the ESPYs -- had her Ritz-Carlton hotel room burglarized Thursday afternoon.

We're told Allie's wedding ring -- worth about $15k -- along with the key to NYC awarded to her Wednesday for winning the World Cup were taken in the theft.

Sources tell us there were no signs of forced entry ... and police believe the door may have been left ajar.

Long -- a 31-year-old midfielder -- has played with the National Team since 2014.

LAPD is currently at the hotel investigating.

Here's a picture that could raise President Trump's blood pressure -- two of his biggest critics partying TOGETHER in Los Angeles!

Fresh off her World Cup celebration tour, Megan Rapinoe hit up the UNINTERRUPTED party at The Hollywood Athletic Club ... where she grabbed a bottle of champagne and kicked it with LeBron James!!

Of course, both Megan and LeBron have been targeted on Twitter by President Trump -- back in August, Trump went after James and called him dumb. Earlier this month, he told Rapinoe to stop publicly criticizing him and focus on winning. 

Well, she won ... and dug in her heels about not going to The White House. Instead, she talked about wanting to meet up with like-minded people who can help unite the country. 

Megan Rapinoe and Team USA celebrated their World Cup victory with some MASSIVE bottles of champagne ... downin' bubbly and partying it up at the parade in NYC!!

Of course, it's the 4th World Cup victory for Team USA -- but this seems to be the biggest celebration yet ... the ratings for the women's World Cup in the U.S. were the biggest ever!

The champs pulled out all the stops for their big party -- with Rapinoe and her teammates passing around the huge gold bottle of Ace of Spades in the early hours of Wednesday's event.

The team took the stage following the parade and received keys to the city ... and Rapinoe -- who has publicly shared her issues with President Donald Trump -- shared a message of love for the crowd in attendance.

Team USA defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in the World Cup final. Rapinoe won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in the tourney ... and the girls have been celebrating the huge accomplishment ever since -- including a pool party with a bunch of dancing and rapping on Tuesday!!

Music of choice?? Some old Migos and Lizzo!!

The win had President Barack Obama pumped up for Team USA -- showing off his awesome custom jersey and saying, "Proud to rep America’s best team! Congrats @USWNT and thanks for being such a strong inspiration for women and girls—and everybody—all across the country."

Great news for UK soccer star Daniel Sturridge -- who was REUNITED with his beloved Pomeranian after the dog was jacked from his L.A. home Monday in an apparent burglary. 

The 29-year-old, who's been staying in a home in West Hollywood, had gone to social media to beg for his dog's safe return -- saying he'd pay ANY ransom money to get his pet back ... "It don't matter the cost."

But, Wednesday morning, Sturridge got a call from someone who claimed they had found little Lucci ... and wanted to return him. 

The LAPD tells TMZ Sports ... Sturridge is now in possession of the dog and he told cops he doesn't believe the person who returned the pet is the one who stole him in the first place. 

Unclear if Sturridge paid the ransom money or how the person who returned the dog got possession of Lucci in the first place. 

Cops say no arrests have been made in the case. Unclear if cops have identified any suspects. 

Sturridge had posted footage after the burglary showing a smashed door in his home -- the apparent entry point where the bad guys broke in. 

The soccer star also claims the burglars took other personal items from the house. Unclear if those other items have also been located. 

Sturridge recently played for Liverpool and has reportedly made more than $40 million in his pro soccer career.