sports diplomacy
Can India win 20 gold medals in the 2020 Olympics? A preposterous suggestion, most would argue. After all, the tally in Beijing in 2008 was a paltry three, with a solitary gold for shooter Abhinav Bindra. To believe there could be a 20-fold increase in the matter of a decade defies good sense.
A handful of Palestinian women have taken up race car driving in the West Bank, and although there's been resistance, these women are too good to shut out.
There is every indication that the introduction of American Football Game into the country could become an important industry for the people of Ghana. The game has many advantages, which consists of employment for the youth, entertaining the public, bringing some contact with the American public, drawing in foreign income for the country, and the adequate use of talented individuals, especially as managers, specialists, commentators, and analysts.
Few may know that the game known to some as football and to others as soccer was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. The nomination letter by Swedish politician Lars Gustafsson observed that sports - of which football was "the greatest sport of all" - play a valuable role in international relations by enhancing "the understanding between people of different races and religions in different countries."
At a press conference for international media, Dr. Sheng said that more than 100 cultural, sports and tourism activities would be lined up throughout next year. These range from shows of traditional Chinese and aboriginal folk art, international golf and baseball tournaments, and a home stay program for youths from 100 countries.
For most Qataris, the world's most watched sporting event represents a chance to offer a new image of their homeland and the wider Middle East. "This is not just for Qatar, but for the whole region," Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, wife of the country's ruler, told Reuters in an interview.
Every town in every country in Africa is home to at least one makeshift soccer field, the game is more than just a sport, it is part of daily life. In the lead up to the World Cup, photographers traveled from Egypt to Kenya, Nigeria to Ghana, capturing soccer lovers around the continent.
Madonna, always the tough girl, did not let the news of drug-fueled beheadings and butchering in Mexico scare her off. The pop queen inaugurated her Hard Candy Fitness gym in a posh Mexico City neighborhood on Monday night, with Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard in the crowd.