They say sport and politics don't mix. Last week's draw placing Ireland alongside the Israel national football team in the UEFA Nations League has been greeted with a shrug from officialdom.
How to follow: We'll have all the buildup on Al Jazeera Sport from 9:30 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream. One of the world's most watched sporting events will take to the screens of viewers all around the globe on Sunday, but only after last-minute talks reversed Pakistan's decision to boycott their T20 World Cup match against neighbours and rivals, India.
Earlier this week, the IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, called for sport to be a neutral ground, separate from politics and the actions of governments. It was a worthy sentiment. But she might as well have been singing kumbaya in a warzone. While Coventry was speaking, US Olympic officials changed the name of an athlete hospitality space in Milan from Ice House to Winter House, following protests over the fatal shootings by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.