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OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

4/ As the topic of eligibility shows, football and geopolitics are often linked.

Following the controversies surrounding the Qatar World Cup in 2022 (we all remember them), UEFA President Aleksander ฤŒeferin has called for an โ€œapolitical Euros.โ€

brusselstimes.com/sports/82402

Let the footballers stick to football, and the politicians stick to politics - sounds good in theory, but geopolitics often rise to the surface.

Let's look at a few examples ...

#geoweirdness

13 June at 12:41 | Open on en.osm.town
9 comments
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

5/ Consider the Spain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ vs. Kosovo ๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ World Cup qualifying match back in 2021.

Spain does not recognise Kosovo as a country (fearing that to do so would lend credibility to Catalan and Basque independence claims).

During the game Spain's public TV broadcaster RTVE refused to refer to Kosovo as a country, and also using the word "Kosovo" in lower case throughout the match.

joe.co.uk/sport/spanish-tv-sta

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain%27

#geoweirdness

5/ Consider the Spain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ vs. Kosovo ๐Ÿ‡ฝ๐Ÿ‡ฐ World Cup qualifying match back in 2021.

Spain does not recognise Kosovo as a country (fearing that to do so would lend credibility to Catalan and Basque independence claims).

During the game Spain's public TV broadcaster RTVE refused to refer to Kosovo as a country, and also using the word "Kosovo" in lower case throughout the match.
13 June at 12:41 | Open on en.osm.town
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

6/ The blurring of geopolitical/football lines doesn't just happen at the national level.

In 2019 ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea faced each other in the UEFA Europa League final in Baku ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijan. Arsenal had to leave Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenian international, behind due to the ongoing fractious relationship between the two countries.

theconversation.com/arsenals-m

Conflicts between the two countries regularly escalate into violence.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia%

#geoweirdness

6/ The blurring of geopolitical/football lines doesn't just happen at the national level.

In 2019 ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea faced each other in the UEFA Europa League final in Baku ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijan. Arsenal had to leave Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenian international, behind due to the ongoing fractious relationship between the two countries.
13 June at 12:41 | Open on en.osm.town
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

7/ The on-going Russian ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ invasion of Ukraine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ is another conflict spilling over into football.

At the 2020 Euros (played in 2021 due to covid) Ukraine drew heavy criticism from Russia after featuring a map of Ukraine that included the disputed Crimea region.

euronews.com/2021/06/07/russia

Russia is banned from the 2024 tournament. bbc.com/sport/football/6297408

Ukraine's first game is on Monday versus Romania ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด

#geoweirdness

7/ The on-going Russian ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ invasion of Ukraine ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ is another conflict spilling over into football.

At the 2020 Euros (played in 2021 due to covid) Ukraine drew heavy criticism from Russia after featuring a map of Ukraine that included the disputed Crimea region.

euronews.com/2021/06/07/russia
13 June at 12:41 | Open on en.osm.town
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

8/ Another Euro 2020 jersey that caused considerable controversy was the North Macedonia ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ kit.

The kit showed the term โ€œFootball Federation of Macedoniaโ€ which according to Greece ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท, was in contravention with the terms of the Prespa Agreement of 2018 which brought about normalised relations between the two countries.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedoni

greekreporter.com/2021/06/12/g

#geoweirdness
13 June at 12:41 | Open on en.osm.town
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

9/ Sometimes the conflicts go the other way - from on the field to off.

Famously, in 1969 long-simmering tensions between El Salvador ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป and Honduras ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ณ boiled over at a World Cup qualifier, which lead to rioting, and then to the start of a full military conflict.

It is estimated about 3,000 people died in what became known as the "Football War"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football

#geoweirdness
13 June at 12:43 | Open on en.osm.town
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

10/ More recently the infamous "Dinamo Zagreb vs. Red Star Belgrade" match in Zagreb in 1990 is often cited as the spark that lit the fire that lead to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinamo%E

#geoweirdness
13 June at 12:46 | Open on en.osm.town
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

11/ To wrap up this thread, we recommend reading this article on the Geopolitics of the World Cup. Many of the themes raised are equally relevant today, and theyโ€™re absolutely fascinating.

foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/20/f

#geoweirdness

13 June at 12:47 | Open on en.osm.town
Ciarรกn Ferrie replied to OpenCage

@opencage Sadly neither Ireland nor Northern Ireland have qualified for this tournament - you could do a whole thread on the geopolitics of Irish football! joe.ie/movies-tv/rtes-document

13 June at 12:52 | Open on mastodon.ie
OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ replied to OpenCage

12/ That brings our โšฝ football #geoweirdness thread to a close.

This year's curiosity could still be written, depending on who draws whom in the later stages.

Good luck to all the teams, and enjoy the tournament. What interesting footballing #geoweirdness have we overlooked?

Thanks for reading and sharing. We have links to many more geothreads about geospatial technologies, #geoweirdness of individual countries, geocoding, border disputes, etc listed on our blog:

blog.opencagedata.com/geothrea

12/ That brings our โšฝ football #geoweirdness thread to a close.

This year's curiosity could still be written, depending on who draws whom in the later stages.

Good luck to all the teams, and enjoy the tournament. What interesting footballing #geoweirdness have we overlooked?

Thanks for reading and sharing. We have links to many more geothreads about geospatial technologies, #geoweirdness of individual countries, geocoding, border disputes, etc listed on our blog:
13 June at 12:53 | Open on en.osm.town
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