What does it mean when the term “diplomacy” is grafted onto another word?

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and U.S. Soccer announced today that former U.S. Women’s National Team players Briana Scurry and Amanda Cromwell will serve as sports diplomats May 1-7 in the first wave of soccer exchanges slated for this year.

Cricket diplomacy between Pakistan and India has seemingly opened floodgates for other sports as well as a strong Indian judo squad is expected to feature in the South Asian Judo Championship penciled in for May 9 to 14 in Islamabad.

The hockey heads of Pakistan and India are attempting to renew ties later this year in the wake of last month's successful "cricket diplomacy." Efforts are underway between the federations of the two countries, who have not played in a bilateral series since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, to play matches in both countries.

A group of 17 North Korean taekwondo performers will visit the United States from late next month through early June to present the Korean traditional martial art to an American audience, according to the Voice of America, a U.S.-funded radio broadcaster.

Football authorities, from Fifa to the FA, are keen to argue that the sport is a benign force, an agent of positive social transformation even. They portray football as the universal game for a global world, an instrument of soft power and peaceful diplomacy and a device for overcoming social divisions.