Actually a Sports Blog

Men's Soccer: With qualifier competition resuming on Wednesday, Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine are still in the running to join Belgium, Georgia, Romania and Spain in the U21 Euros final tournament and move a step closer to Paris 2024.  Women's Soccer: With the CONCACAF W Championship starting in July, Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and United States are still in the running for the lone automatic spot at Paris 2024.  Who's Been Eliminated? Men's Soccer: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, Gibraltar, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia, San Marino and Wales...

1. Kudos to UEFA and FIFA for removing Russia from the U21 Euros qualifying. It might sound too harsh, but after they launched an unprovoked peacetime invasion of a neighboring country Russia shouldn't be allowed to compete internationally at least through the end of this year. Sports and politics should usually be kept separate but a key part of international sporting competition is peace (it's called *peaceful* international sporting competition for a reason) and if you can't abide by that then you shouldn't be able to compete. Simple as that.  2. It's my opinion that FIBA (finally) did the right thing. Montenegro has replaced Russia in Group A of September's EuroBasket tournament. I've been wanting this to happen for a month or so (and by "wanting this to happen" I mean starting a Change.org petition).   3. Thank you, FINA. Melbourne has replaced the Russian city of Kazan as the host city for December's short-course world championships. This...