Megan Rapinoe joined other voices across the sports world in speaking out over LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey’s silence on Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia.

The WNBA star has been wrongfully detained in Russia on drug charges since February, and in August she was sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony.

Mulkey coached Griner at Baylor from 2009-13, but during a press conference Monday, she declined to comment on the plight of her former player.

In response, former players of Mulkey’s have called out the coach for her silence, as have other WNBA and college basketball stars.

Baylor coach Nicki Collen, who took over for Mulkey in 2021, did not speak directly about Mulkey’s comments but did speak at length about Griner, who she called “Baylor family.”

Other sports stars also have spoken out, including Rapinoe. The USWNT forward chimed in via a comment on an Instagram post about Mulkey’s silence.

“This is honestly just cruel and evil and even more honestly,” she wrote. “IT’S SHOWING SIS. The hate is seeping out.”

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Malawi made women's soccer history on Tuesday, qualifying for the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the first time in program history — and giving sister duo Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga the chance to shine on the global stage in 2026.

The Scorchers advanced through the second qualifying round with a 2-0 second-leg win over Angola on Tuesday, with defensive midfielder Faith Chinzimu's late brace securing the aggregate advantage to win the round.

Malawi now joins Cape Verde as the two debutantes to clinch spots in the expanded 16-team 2026 tournament.

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Even more, the Scorchers' breakthrough will give two of soccer's biggest club stars their biggest platform yet, as sisters Temwa and Tabitha Chawinga gear up for the first major international tournament of their decorated careers.

While 29-year-old OL Lyonnes forward Tabitha participated in this week's WAFCON qualifying round, 27-year-old Kansas City Current striker Temwa sat out after the 2024 NWSL MVP suffered an adductor strain in her club's 1-0 upset loss to the Houston Dash on October 18th.

"It means more opportunities and great exposure to both older and upcoming players. It is a continental platform to bring football dreams alive," Tabitha told BBC Sport Africa this week.

The 2026 WAFCON tournament will see the Chawinga sisters and Malawi contend with powerhouses like host nation Morocco and reigning 10-time champion Nigeria when the continental competition kicks off on March 17th.

The Kansas City Current and San Diego Wave are leveling up, with the NWSL teams set to represent the US in the first-ever North American edition of the seven-a-side tournament World Sevens Football (W7F).

Kicking off December 5th in Fort Lauderdale, the NWSL clubs will join Northern Super League side AFC Toronto, Brazilian powerhouse Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, and Colombian contender Deportivo Cali — as well as Liga MX titans Club América and Tigres UANL — on the W7F tournament pitch.

W7F will announce the eighth and final team to join the competition at a later date.

Armed with a $5 million prize pool, December's W7F competition follows a successful May 2025 debut of the soccer venture in Portugal.

"Our team thrives on intensity, creativity, and competition, which fit perfectly with the 7v7 style of play," said Kansas City assistant coach Milan Ivanovic. "This tournament is an incredible opportunity for our players to test themselves against some of the world's best in a dynamic, fast-paced environment."

"We're proud to represent Kansas City and the NWSL on the international stage and to continue pushing the women's game forward," added Ivanovic.

How to watch December's W7F tournament

There will be four competition sessions in the upcoming W7F event, with two days of group play before the semifinals, third-place, and championship matches take place on December 7th.

All W7F matches will stream live on DAZN.

Angel City co-founder Alexis Ohanian stirred the pot this week, divulging the circumstances behind the NWSL club's 2024 sale on Front Office Sports podcast "Portfolio Players" on Tuesday — and calling the original ownership model of the 2022 expansion team "a terrible idea."

Ohanian said he regretted relinquishing control to three of his co-founders — actor Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, and current club CEO Julie Uhrman — claiming they invested "no money" themselves.

"I was [the] founding control owner in the eyes of the league, so it's my ass on the line," Ohanian continued, adding that last year's $250 million sale of Angel City directly stemmed from the celebrity-driven investment group's unsustainable startup-like ownership structure. "That works great in tech. In sports, it's a terrible idea."

Following a clash between Ohanian and his fellow ACFC owners on the team's operational and financial future, Disney CEO Bob Iger and USC dean Willow Bay stepped in to purchase the team, aligning board control with stakeholder interest.

"I think the best outcome here is, you got Bob and Willow, they have board control, and it's good," he said. "It's a rebuild."

Angel City did not immediately respond to Ohanian's interview, with Portman and Uhrman remaining on the club's board of directors while Nortman is a non-voting investor.

The WNBA and WNBPA might have 30 more days to negotiate, with sources telling ESPN late Tuesday that the league has formally offered an extension on the pair's October 31st CBA deadline.

With no agreement currently in sight and mounting rumors of a possible work stoppage, the proposed extension would allow bargaining to continue without interruption.

The action comes with precedent, as both parties agreed to a 60-day extension during the last CBA negotiation in 2019, with the deal later finalized in January 2020.

In response to the offer, ESPN reported that "players might be willing to consider an extension 'under the right circumstances' but they feel 'those circumstances do not yet exist.'"

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The WNBPA did see an extension offer coming, with union senior adviser and legal counsel Erin D. Drake telling The Athletic on Tuesday, "We have worked hard to be able to say on Friday, we did it. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen."

Increased public scrutiny has fueled tensions around key issues on the negotiating table like revenue sharing and salary structure, with the league claiming that the WNBPA hasn't yet offered a viable counterproposal while the union accuses the WNBA of undervaluing players and delaying meaningful engagement.

"We urge the Players Association to spend less time disseminating public misinformation and more time joining us in constructive engagement across the table," a WNBA spokesperson told ESPN.

With Friday's CBA deadline fast approaching, the WNBPA could feel pressure to accept the extension offer from the WNBA — though kicking the can down the road doesn't always guarantee progress.