Two international events will dominate the global sporting consciousness over the next few months. For two weeks in February, Pyeongchang, South Korea, will become the center of the sporting universe, drawing the eyes of billions of even the most casual of sports fans as it plays host to the 23rd Winter Olympics. A few months after the Pyeongchang Games end, the soccer world's attention will shift a few thousand kilometers northwest to Russia, where the world's elite squads will battle for the World Cup in June. Preparations for both events are entering their final stages, and athletes are tuning up for the competitions ahead. The geopolitical ramifications of the Olympics, which seem to be enforcing a pause in the crisis that has enveloped the Korean Peninsula over the past couple of years, are particularly sharp. Some less dramatic but not insignificant developments are playing out in the soccer world in...
