Hirving “Chucky” Lozano will not return to San Diego FC for a second season.
San Diego sporting director Tyler Heaps told reporters Friday that he is working on a departure for Lozano, the 30-year-old Mexican national team mainstay who joined the Major League Soccer expansion club for its inaugural season in 2025 as its first designated player.
Lozano scored nine goals in 27 appearances during the regular season and added two goals in the MLS postseason, but he also was benched late in the season after an altercation in San Diego's locker room.
San Diego finished atop the Western Conference during the regular season, setting MLS records for wins and points by an expansion team, before losing 3-1 to Vancouver in the conference final, with Lozano scoring San Diego's only goal.
“We have communicated with Hirving and his representatives that he will not be part of the sporting plans moving forward," Heaps said. "That was not a decision that was taken lightly. That was something that was well talked through from owners down to leadership down to myself and (head coach) Mikey (Varas), and has been communicated with the rest of the group. So we’re working with him and his representatives to find the best solution and the best environment for him moving forward.”
Lozano left PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands to sign a four-year deal with San Diego. He made $7,633,333 last season, ranking fifth among all players in MLS and complicating a potential transfer.
Heaps said Lozano's ability within San Diego’s desired style of play was a factor in the breakup. While Lozano had moments of success, Danish winger Anders Dreyer emerged as San Diego's best player and offensive focal point, scoring 19 goals and earning MLS Best XI honors as the league's newcomer of the year.
Lozano excelled at times in Varas' possession-heavy style of play, but he wasn't included on the roster for two late-season matches amid reports of the altercation in San Diego's locker room. Lozano vaguely apologized for his actions on social media, saying he was "proud to be a part of the club’s journey for many years to come.”
But Lozano returned to the roster largely as a reserve during the postseason, and now the club is moving on without a key attraction in its attempts to win over San Diego's large Mexican-American population.
“There’s no one moment that you can pinpoint,” Heaps said when asked whether the locker room altercation affected the club's decision. “It was more a wholly collective decision that we made on behalf of the group. We’re looking at not only short-term success, but also long-term how this club is built for the future.”
Lozano has been expected to be a part of Mexico's roster for its home World Cup this summer, but he likely will have to find a club landing spot quickly to gain the match sharpness necessary to contribute.
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FILE - San Diego FC midfielder Hirving "Chucky" Lozano (11) plays during the second half of MLS soccer's Western Conference semifinal against Minnesota United Nov. 24, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda on Wednesday ordered the closure of its border with Congo, where suspected cases of a rare type of Ebola are surging, and as cases have been confirmed at home after Ugandan health workers were exposed to the disease from Congolese patients.
The measure, which goes against the guidance by the World Health Organization, underscores growing fears of contagion in East Africa from Bundibugyo, a rare type of the Ebola virus that is behind this outbreak and that has no approved medicines or vaccines.
Like Congo, Uganda has faced Ebola outbreaks in the past. A local Ugandan task force made the decision on the border closure. The Ugandan health workers were exposed to the virus by Congolese patients who had crossed the border before the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15.
Border crossings will be authorized only in emergency cases, including for the outbreak response, cargo or security reasons, Dr. Diana Atwine of the Ugandan Ministry of Health, told journalists. Anyone entering from Congo under emergency circumstances will be taken into mandatory isolation for 21 days.
Tracing and isolating Ebola contacts is seen as key to stopping the spread of the disease, which usually manifests as hemorrhagic fever. The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids. Experts say healthcare workers and family members caring for patients face the highest risk.
The number of suspected cases in eastern Congo is nearing 1,000, with at least 220 suspected deaths. Congo’s health ministry on Tuesday said 101 cases have been confirmed, and they are looking into over 3,000 possible contacts.
On Wednesday, Congolese authorities said that the first person who recovered from the Bundibugyo virus has been released home from a treatment center in Rwampara, one of the towns in eastern Congo at the heart of the outbreak.
WHO has discouraged border closures with Congo while acknowledging that neighboring countries are at high risk of contagion. The U.N. health agency has declared this outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Closures "push the movement of people and goods to informal border crossings that are not monitored, thus increasing the chances of the spread of disease," the agency said.
The Uganda-Congo border is several hundred miles long and crossed by numerous footpaths beyond formal border posts. Many people come and go in the course of a day to visit families or to trade.
Congolese health authorities are struggling to contain the outbreak, which WHO says is outpacing them. The rare type of Ebola was confirmed weeks late as tests were carried out for a more common type. Challenges also include the threat from armed groups in eastern Congo, a large number of displaced people and poor infrastructure.
WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on Wednesday for a ceasefire in eastern Congo to allow safe access for responders and others, saying on social media that “attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible.”
Responders in Congo have said they are underprepared and under-protected for this outbreak, while conflict-traumatized residents, long wary of outsiders, have attacked a number of clinics and hurled stones and abuse at volunteers trying to make people aware of the virus and its risks.
Infected people or those have been in contact should not undertake international travel unless it’s a medical evacuation, WHO has said. On Wednesday, the Trump administration said it is planning to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola to a new facility in Kenya instead of flying them to the United States.
Uganda has reported seven cases of Ebola, including the first case of a 59-year-old man who died in Kampala, the country's capital, on May 14. While the Ebola case load is not spiking, the number of locals exposed to infection via health workers has been rising.
“They have families, and so the number has been increasing,” Atwine, the Ugandan health official, said of the health workers.
She also said she was dismayed to see some Ugandans forming crowds to celebrate Arsenal as British Premier League champions. The team has a large following in Uganda. Atwine urged people to be vigilant, avoid shaking hands and use sanitizer.
Congo has had 17 Ebola outbreaks. Health experts say aid cuts last year by the U.S. and other rich nations are devastating for eastern Congo, in part because of the region’s unique problems.
Aid groups fighting this outbreak say they don’t have the equipment they need, including face shields and suits to protect health workers from infection, testing kits and body bags needed to safely bury victims.
Associated Press writer Jean-Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Muslims gather to pray at Sayo Muhamed School during the Eid al-Adha celebration amid an Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Muslims are reflected in a motorcycle mirror as they gather to pray at Sayo Muhamed School during the Eid al-Adha celebration amid an Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
A Muslim washes his hands as a precaution against Ebola before attending the Eid al-Adha prayers at Sayo Muhamed School in Bunia, Congo, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
A Muslim woman walks towards the prayer grounds at Sayo Muhamed School to perform Eid al-Adha prayers amid an Ebola outbreak in Bunia, Congo, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
