The comments made by Callum Robinson on Tuesday that he has so far opted not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and the news that up to nine other players in Stephen Kenny's squad are in the same boat has created the headlines off the pitch as Ireland continue their build-up to Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan. It seems that Kenny is destined to run into issues outside of football every time his squad gathers and this morning Gavin Cummiskey writes that the FAI could have got on top of the story a lot sooner but opted to wait until yesterday afternoon to release a statement. Robinson's choice not to be vaccinated is one that is not uncommon across the Premier League and Football League as clubs continue to encourage players to take the jab. However, writing this morning, Malachy Clerkin says that the Robinson pile-on has all been a bit purer than pure and why should any of us care anyway why a young footballer won't take the vaccine?
On to rugby and John O'Sullivan writes today that, despite mentions of a rugby Club World Cup yesterday, the concept still looks like no more than a pipedream at this stage. "The global harmonisation of the rugby calendar would be a prerequisite and given that it's been on World Rugby's agenda for several years without success it is impossible to see how a Club World Cup can pre-date that accord," he writes. Meanwhile, Louise Lawless is looking at the issue of expenses in women's rugby and how players still have to pay to play, something that is causing talent to slip through the cracks.
Moving to GAA and Limerick look set for a bumper All Star haul after they received 15 nominations in the 45-man shortlist. After another unbeaten championship season, their dominance of the nominations is no surprise, as is the fact the three nominations for hurling of the year - Seán Finn, Kyle Hayes and Cian Lynch - are also all from Limerick.
In our women in sport pages, Joanne O'Riordan writes that the NWSL need to step up and take action after the revelations that North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley had been sacked over incidents of sexual assault. Writing on the same subject, Dave Hannigan says that it's long past time for US soccer to clean up house.
