Barely a month after power forward Palpreet Singh Brar was picked up for the NBA Developmental League in the players draft for the Long Island Nets, the premier basketball league in the world has decided to launch an elite academy in India. [...] The 24 candidates will be closely working with coaches from coaches from the NBA, with an Indian coach standing alongside him.

Once again, the NFL is thinking global. On Monday night, the Houston Texans and Oakland Raiders meet for a game in Mexico City at Estadio Azteca. The game comes a little more than 11 years after the league had its first regular season game outside of the United States, which also took place in Mexico City [...] But it also comes at a time when relations between the two countries, and U.S. relationships with many other foreign leaders, is uncertain.

In continuation of its activities to break gender barriers and promote female soccer in Liberia, the Monrovia Football Academy (MFA) and the U.S. Embassy Monrovia has announced that the Coach of the U.S Women’s National Team, Jill Ellis, accompanied by her team’s goalkeeper, Ashlyn Harris, will be visiting the MFA from November 29 – December 2.

The 21st century, however, belongs to Football 3.0 (the Asian era). Over the last decade, football has been in the midst of a shift eastwards. Countries including Qatar and states of the United Arab Emirates have built extensive sponsorship portfolios in the West, acquired overseas clubs, and successfully bid to host international tournaments. More recently, China has increased the pace of world football’s ‘Asianisation’.

Wushu's global sporting popularity pales before karate, judo and taekwondo, but state media reported this month that a "Wushu Cultural Industry Investment Fund" worth $7 billion has been set up to run tournaments and promote it at home and abroad. [...] The Chinese government's development plan for the sport from 2016-2020 says that its aims include "increasing national confidence and boosting national cultural soft power".

Corruption, disorganisation, empty, expensive, violence and fear are just some of the words used to describe the Rio Olympics held this summer in Brazil’s cultural capital. The sporting competition itself came off without a hitch, but the impact the negative perception that this Games will have on Brazil’s nation brand is yet to be seen. 

The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana raised oceans conservation awareness and conducted innovative sports diplomacy in Tijuana and Rosarito. Sports Diplomacy has emerged as an integral part of efforts to build ever-strengthening relations between the United States and other nations. It uses the universal passion for sports as a way to transcend linguistic and sociocultural differences and bring people together.