#sports-diplomacy

#sports-diplomacy

In 1986, when Norwegian delegate Ellen Wille stood on stage at Fifa's annual congress in Mexico and demanded the creation of a World Cup for women, it sparked support from one of the room's unlikeliest allies. Delegates from North Korea, so the story goes, were inspired by Wille's speech and returned to Pyongyang with a plan: to use women's football as a tool to reassert their collapsing power on the world stage.

A handful of diverse athletes a pole-vaulter, sprinter, shot-putter, rugby player, and former Olympian in skeleton will compete as Israel's first bobsled team during this year's Milan Cortina Winter Games, unlikely ambassadors of their diplomatically isolated nation. Most of these guys had never touched a sled before this season. Their leader, AJ Edelman, is believed to be the first Orthodox Jew to ever compete in a Winter Games. Another founding member of the team, Ward Farwaseh, will likely to be the first Druze Olympian.

Iran is to be represented at Friday's draw for the 2026 World Cup. The country's FA had previously said it would boycott the draw after several members of its planned delegation were denied visas for the United States. Iran is now expected to have a delegation at Friday's World Cup draw in Washington D.C. after all. Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donjamali told state news agency Irna on Thursday that head coach Amir Ghalenoei would attend.

I always meet other football presidents before we play games. I'm very much into dialogue, and the more difficult it gets, the more important is that we meet, even if it's difficult, Klaveness said on Friday. Israel's FA criticised the ticket money move at the time, saying: It would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to find a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the October 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children.

A collective EU football team would create a sense of belonging and reinforce our common European identity. It would strengthen our unity and solidarity and be a strong symbol.