Chelsea duo Moises Caicedo and Kendry Paez have been included in Ecuador manager Felix Sanchez’s 26-man squad for Copa America 2024.

Caicedo, 22, ended his club season strongly with several impressive performances helping Chelsea finish sixth in the Premier League.

The midfielder, who joined the London club from Brighton and Hove Albion last summer, made 48 appearances in all competitions last season for Chelsea.

Paez, 17, plays for Ecuadorian Serie A club Independiente Del Valle but has agreed a deal to join Chelsea in July 2025.

Gonzalo Plata, 23, has been left out of the squad. That comes after videos emerged on social media appearing to show Plata alongside Paez and 32-year-old defender Robert Arboleda and with a female dancer in a nightclub during April’s international camp in the United States.

The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) condemned the video footage, saying at the time: “Images have been shared of events contrary to the values and principles that we defend and promote as an institution, which will be the subject of analysis for future squads. We reiterate our obligation to Ecuadorian football.”

Brighton midfielder Jeremy Sarmiento, who spent last season helping Ipswich Town gain promotion to the Premier League, has also been included alongside 22-year-old…

The Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) has condemned video footage appearing to show squad members, including 16-year-old Kendry Paez, in a nightclub during April’s international camp in the United States.

Videos emerged on social media appearing to show three players — Paez, plus 32-year-old defender Robert Arboleda and 23-year-old winger Gonzalo Plata — with a female dancer. Arboleda appears to be holding a bundle of bank notes. A second video appears to show a number of Ecuador players dancing in a club, including Chelsea midfielder Moises Caceido, while a sign is displayed reading “Ecuador in the house”.

The FEF explained players were allotted six and a half hours of free time on Friday — the day after their 2-0 friendly victory over Guatemala at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey and two days before their defeat to Italy.

While players “fully complied” with this schedule, the alleged behaviour that took place is contrary to the federations “values and principles” and will inform future squad selections.

An FEF statement read: “After the events which are public knowledge, the FEF states the following:

“The official delegation had free time on Friday 22 March, from 14.00 to 20.30, a schedule with which they fully complied.

“Images have been shared of…

CONCACAF and CONMEBOL on Friday unveiled a wide-ranging partnership on Friday that will have significant ramifications for both men’s and women’s soccer in the western hemisphere, with the 2024 Copa America set to be hosted in the United States, the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup to include four teams from South America and a new tournament featuring two men’s clubs from each federation set to come online in 2024.

We’re still waiting on many of the official details of the various competitions to be announced, but here’s what we’re hearing on how the partnership was formed and what it will end up looking like: 

How did this partnership come together? 

Ever since the centennial edition of the Copa America was held in the U.S. in 2016, bringing the tournament back to the United States has been an interesting possibility for all parties. 

Though that tournament was jeopardized when the U.S. Justice Department found that more than a dozen individuals involved with the initial organization of the event took more than $110 million in kickbacks, it still ended up setting Copa America records for attendance, television viewership and revenue. 

It was also a massive commercial success for U.S. Soccer, which led the organization of the tournament. According to USSF tax filings, the…