Denmark urges IOC to recognize territories of Greenland and Faroe Islands as independent Olympic teams
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark asked the IOC to recognize its territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands as independent Olympic teams, the national parliament said Tuesday.
READ MORE: Denmark and Greenland say sovereignty is not negotiable after Trump's meeting with Rutte
The parliament published a letter urging the International Olympic Committee to recognize the semi-autonomous territories as "independent National Olympic Committees and to participate in the Olympic Games under their own flags."
The revival of a longstanding Olympic proposal previously made 20 years ago comes weeks after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen formed a new coalition government. She has pledged support for Greenland against U.S. President Donald Trump's wish to acquire the island.
The IOC recognizes 206 national Olympic bodies, which is 13 more than the United Nations has member states, and is unlikely to support Denmark's request.
The Olympic body's policy since 1996 has been to recognize only independent states, such as Kosovo in 2014 and South Sudan the next year. The Olympic Charter defines "country" as "an independent state recognized by the international community."
Two biathletes from Greenland competed for Denmark at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
The Faroe Islands has competed in qualifying games for international soccer tournaments since the 1992 European Championship and 1994 World Cup.
The Danish parliament said its presidium's June 18 letter to the IOC would "reflect a clear and current political commitment by Denmark to support enhanced and more equal international participation for both the Faroe Islands and Greenland."
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Brendan Sorsby will not pursue path to NFL in 2026, QB to prepare for 2027 draft
Former Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is accepting the consequences for his gambling problems and will sit out both the collegiate and NFL seasons in 2026.
After his effort to join the NFL in a supplemental draft this summer failed, Sorsby will not seek litigation against the NFL and will be eligible for the 2027 NFL Draft, per CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones. The league won't punish Sorsby further for his known gambling conduct on top of what's unofficially a one-year suspension from football. Per the settlement between the NFL, the NFL Players' Association and Sorsby, he will be allowed to take part in the Senior Bowl, pro day and team visits in the lead up to the 2027 like any other draft-eligible prospect, per ESPN.
Sorsby released the following statement on the decision:
"There has been a lot of news about me out there, and I want to share this statement to make sure things are clear. I accept 100% responsibility for my actions. I did not have control of my gambling problem, and it took getting caught for me to realize that, but it was truly the best thing that could've happened to me. Because of this, I have been able to get the help I need and fully focus on my recovery.
"The news about the supplemental draft changes nothing about my recovery journey. I will continue to take it one day at a time. Focusing on making myself better throughout this process and making sure to share what I have learned and will continue to learn with others going forward. I am fully committed to being the best version of myself that I can be while getting ready for the 2027 draft. God makes no mistakes, and I look forward to seeing the good that is to come from this."
Sorsby's 2026 has been a winding road to lead up to this decision. He transferred to Texas Tech as the transfer portal's No. 2 overall prospect, per 247 Sports on Jan. 4, after earning first-team All-Big 12 honors at Cincinnati in 2025, thanks to leading the conference in passer efficiency rating (155.1). The NCAA then alerted Texas Tech of Sorsby's gambling activity on April 14, which led to the quarterback entering a gambling rehab facility in Arizona on April 27. He then filed for his collegiate reinstatement on May 18 after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA for thousands of bets placed during his four-year college football career. On June 8, he found a Texas judge willing to grant him an injunction to the NCAA's decision to make him ineligible, which appeared to clear a path for him to play for Texas Tech in 2026. Sorsby then decided to walk away from his college career to join the NFL via a supplemental draft this summer, after the Big 12 pursued legal action against him and Texas Tech on June 15.
| 45-plus pass TD and 1,000-plus rush yards in two-year span, Big 12 history | Two-year span |
|---|---|
Brendan Sorsby (CIN) | 2024-2025 |
Sam Ehlinger (TEX) | 2018-2020 |
Kyler Murray (OKLA) | 2017-2018 |
Trevone Boykin (TCU) | 2014-2015 |
Robert Griffin III (BAY) | 2010-2011 |
Colt McCoy (TEX) | 2007-2008 |
Zac Robinson (OKST) | 2007-2008 |
CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson views Sorsby as a potential first-round talent, and he now has a year to prove his worth through a year of training on his own while staying squeaky clean off the field.
Add CBS Sports on GoogleSoccer fans sent a message to Washington on Iran — deal or no deal
FIFA World Cup fans sent a message to Washington on Iran- US News
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Skip to main content OpinionSoccer fans sent a message to Washington on Iran — deal or no deal
By Lisa Daftari Published June 30, 2026, 6:33 p.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The California Post on GoogleTwo games were being played at Los Angeles Stadium on June 15. The first was the Islamic Republic’s World Cup match against New Zealand, its first of the tournament. The second was being played outside, where the Iranian American community organized a large anti-regime demonstration.
Many in the diaspora were not there to watch soccer. They had come to confront the regime on the only piece of American soil where they could, and to send a message to Washington.
The Memorandum of Understanding may have been signed with Iran, but the Iranian people have not signed onto it.
The protesters carried signs that said “42,000.” That is the number of Iranians reportedly killed by the Islamic Republic in January, documented by human rights organizations. They passed out T-shirts with the faces of the young men and women rounded up during the January uprisings, tried in revolutionary courts behind closed doors and executed.
I have covered this community for more than two decades. This was not protest theater. They were there to make a policy statement the only way the diaspora can.
The crowd chanted for King Reza Pahlavi. They chanted death to the Islamic Republic. They chanted “terrorist” at the regime’s representatives walking into the stadium. They flew the pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag the regime calls illegitimate. FIFA, at the regime’s request, had tried to ban it inside the stadium.
Iranian American advocacy organizations appealed through FIFA’s own process and lost. They went to federal court seeking a restraining order and lost again. The diaspora was told, in effect, that on US soil during an American-hosted tournament, the symbolic preferences of the Islamic Republic outweighed the First Amendment rights of Iranian Americans.
They came anyway. They brought the flags anyway. Tehran was watching. So was Washington.
Every previous US administration has negotiated with the regime while ignoring the needs, human rights and security of the Iranian people. The diaspora was telling the Trump administration not to make the same mistake.
The Iranian people are not a challenge or an afterthought. They are a constituency. And they have been a reliable anti-regime force and American ally against a terrorist government for 47 years.
The MOU is a framework, not a final deal. There is still time. The Iranian American community is asking President Donald Trump to remember who built his political leverage going into Operation Epic Fury and beyond. The policy of “maximum pressure” worked because the Iranian people made it work from the inside. The protests of 2009, 2017, 2019, 2022 and January 2026 are the reason why this regime came to the table at all.
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Yet every time the regime came close to collapse, an outside power threw it a lifeline. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was one such lifeline. The diaspora outside the stadium is telling the administration not to make the MOU the next lifeline.
President Trump may be willing to look past the transgressions of the regime in pursuit of a deal. The Iranian people are not. They are not going to forgive a system that executed their children. And they are not going to accept a peace negotiated in their name but signed without their consent.
A few things should follow from what Washington heard outside LA’s stadium.
President Trump has an opportunity here that no recent president has had. The regime is weaker than it has been since 1979. The Iranian American community is the most informed, pro-democracy advocacy bloc on this question in the country. They are asking for a policy that does not reward the regime they fled.
The Iranian people have lived under this regime for 47 years. They have buried its victims. They have watched every Western government that ever tried to negotiate with it repeat the same mistakes, convinced the next round would be different, and they have watched the regime pocket every concession and come back for more.
The diaspora outside the stadium was telling the world what it has been telling Washington for a generation. This regime was not built to compromise. It was not built to play nice. It does not deserve the deal it is being offered.
Washington should listen to the Iranian people, because they have earned the right to be heard.
Lisa Daftari is a foreign policy analyst and media commentator based in Los Angeles.
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