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Top-level
 5/ Consider the Spain ๐ช๐ธ vs. Kosovo ๐ฝ๐ฐ 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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain%27s_reaction_to_the_2008_Kosovo_declaration_of_independence 8 comments
8/ Another Euro 2020 jersey that caused considerable controversy was the North Macedonia ๐ฒ๐ฐ kit. The kit showed the term โFootball Federation of Macedoniaโ which according to Greece ๐ฌ๐ท, was in contravention with the terms of the Prespa Agreement of 2018 which brought about normalised relations between the two countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_naming_dispute https://greekreporter.com/2021/06/12/greece-objects-to-north-macedonia-kit-in-uefa-euro-2020/ 9/ Sometimes the conflicts go the other way - from on the field to off. Famously, in 1969 long-simmering tensions between El Salvador ๐ธ๐ป and Honduras ๐ญ๐ณ 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" 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. 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 theyโre absolutely fascinating. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/20/fifa-world-cup-2022-qatar-soccer-tournament-geopolitics/ @opencage Sadly neither Ireland nor Northern Ireland have qualified for this tournament - you could do a whole thread on the geopolitics of Irish football! https://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/rtes-documentary-football-republic-of-ireland-669855 |
Gregory's Server
6/ The blurring of geopolitical/football lines doesn't just happen at the national level.
In 2019 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea faced each other in the UEFA Europa League final in Baku ๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan. Arsenal had to leave Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an ๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenian international, behind due to the ongoing fractious relationship between the two countries.
https://theconversation.com/arsenals-mkhitaryan-omission-from-europa-league-baku-final-highlights-footballs-global-politics-at-its-most-fragile-117613
Conflicts between the two countries regularly escalate into violence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia%E2%80%93Azerbaijan_border_crisis_(2021%E2%80%93present)
#geoweirdness
6/ The blurring of geopolitical/football lines doesn't just happen at the national level.
In 2019 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea faced each other in the UEFA Europa League final in Baku ๐ฆ๐ฟ Azerbaijan. Arsenal had to leave Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an ๐ฆ๐ฒ Armenian international, behind due to the ongoing fractious relationship between the two countries.