We have all been understandably distracted by what is already shaping up to one of the most entertaining FIFA World Cups on record, but there have also been some fairly interesting revelations over the last week about how the Olympic Movement has - or has not - changed.

Japan and Poland stood out like beacons in the group stages of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, not because of their less than brilliant football, but because they were the only two teams who played all their games in the right colours.

A collective sigh of disappointment was audible across the footballing world yesterday as fans woke up to a troubling realisation.

As the 2018 Mediterranean Games come to a close this weekend, thoughts are already turning to the next edition, to be held in the Algerian city of Oran in three years time.

Oddly, I was looking at Sir Stanley Matthews’ autobiography early yesterday - The Way It Was, a fine book stuffed with precious detail that I have read twice and plan to enjoy again (A doctor writes…).

These are heady times for heavyweight boxing, especially if you happen to be British.

It is happening with the same sort of alacrity I invest in my triennial visits to the dentist, but gradually more sports bodies are starting to publish annual accounts.

Populism is all the rage in politics these days, from the "taking back control" of Brexit to "Make America Great Again" and numerous European elections in recent years.

Generally, I find strategic plans with grandiose names quite a painful experience to read through. So my hopes were not high when I set about reading a press release about the International Cycling Union's (UCI) Agenda 2022 roadmap.

The XXI Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia will be remembered for many reasons, not least because of the number of "firsts" that the world witnessed during 12 days of sensational sporting competition and exhilarating arts and culture events.

Organisers of the 2018 Mediterranean Games are staying tight-lipped about the Opening Ceremony tonight, but 63-years-ago when Barcelona became the first Catalan city to host these Games, they included a moment that captured the unique character of the region.

I’d never met Janet Evans before, although I remembered her from that unsettling footage taken during the 1996 Atlanta Games, when, while being interviewed by German television, she was horribly startled by the nearby explosion of the bomb that directly killed one person and injured over a hundred others.

Having come down like a ton of bricks - to spectacular effect - on international football, United States lawmakers are now training their sights on doping.

VAR is the latest acronym to join sport's already overcrowded lexicon. Soon it will be as much in common usage as LBW, KO or even IOC. But those three new characters are already changing the very nature of the games we play and watch.