In today’s article we see different international challenges that are tensions due to non-sporting reasons, generally linked to religion, nationalism or military conflicts. The information has been extracted thanks to the Twitter thread of Gorka Urresola, journalist in The Line Breaker, among other means.
✍️ The matches of high-risk teams?
Today we will review five national team matches that go beyond football. Countries facing or with tensions that are a small sample of the enormous weight that the beautiful sport has in our society. pic.twitter.com/NwUcFNtfVT
– Gorka Urresola (@gorkaurresola) November 22, 2021
Both countries belonged to Yugoslavia (1918-2003) and were involved in the Balkan War (1991-2001). The conflict is not only national, but religious, since in Serbia there is an Orthodox majority and in Croatia, Catholic. In the clashes between clubs of both nationalities the tension is palpable and incidents have even been seen, as happened on May 13, 1990.
The fans clashed weeks after the elections in Croatia were won by the independentistas with the most votes. There were about 60 injuries, stabbings and tear gas. That conflict spread to the social level and ended up leading to the aforementioned war conflict.
The conflict between the two countries is due to discrimination against the Albanian-Kosovar population within Serbia, which led to the independence of Kosovo (2008) as it was inhabited by a mainly Albanian population.
There was a situation of maximum tension in a stake corresponding to the qualifying phase for the European Championship in France 2016. On October 14, 2014, a drone appeared in the Serbian fiefdom with the flag of Greater Albania. Stefan Mitrovic took it off and the Albanians were on top of him. Serbian fans jumped onto the pitch and the contest had to be suspended, which UEFA would decide in favor of the visitors in the offices.
There are certain cultural ties between the two countries, but there is a nationalist rivalry with Cyprus as the protagonist. One third of the island is recognized as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus solely by the Ottoman country. Both claim control of the entire island, but there have been no major conflicts in the world of football for that reason between the two teams.
In fact everything is related to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a state with limited recognition that is part of the third of the island. Turkey is the only country that recognizes it, other nations and organizations consider it part of Cyprus. pic.twitter.com/3nCqgg1Iey
– Gorka Urresola (@gorkaurresola) November 22, 2021
The Algerian War of Independence took place between 1954 and 1962, resulting in the African country’s attainment of its own sovereignty but with more than 400,000 deaths along the way. An attempt was made to reconcile the two countries in a meeting that took place at the Stade de France in 2001, but the whistles to the French anthem and the subsequent invasion of the field showed that it was far from being achieved.
The Irish War of Independence took place between 1919 and 1921, ending Ireland independent from the United Kingdom and with Northern Ireland annexed to it. The differences were not simply national since then, but were also evidenced in the predominance of the Catholic and Protestant religion, respectively.
Within Northern Ireland there was a division between those in favor of entering the United Kingdom and those who preferred to remain an independent state. Terrorist crimes were committed by the Irish Republican Army for many years. In the world of football, incidents were experienced in a clash between Linfield and Dundalik in the well-known Battle of Oriel Park (1979). Despite the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (1997), there have been consequences at the level of rivalry.
To understand the conflict between the two countries, one must go back to the time of the fall of the Soviet Union (1990-1991). Shortly thereafter, the Upper Karabakh War (1991-1994) broke out, which ended with the intervention of Russia to stop the conflict after the majority of the (Armenian) population confronted the Azeri.
The conflict was reignited in 2016 and 2020, with the tables turned in terms of ethnic dominance, but their teams have not faced each other for longer. Specifically, UEFA banned the clash in 2008 after the two refused to see each other. In the 2019 Europa League final, the Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan decided not to go with Arsenal to Baku despite the importance of the contest.
Because the @Arsenal did not take Mkhitaryan to the final of the @EuropeLeague? Here is a thread of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan:
– Eric Gomez (@ EricGomez86) May 29, 2019
The Treaty of Utrecht (1713-1715) ended the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1715) together with those of Rastatt (1714) and Baden (1714). In it, Spain ceded Gibraltar and Menorca to Great Britain, among other territories. The island of the Balearic archipelago would be invaded on different occasions, forming part of Spain permanently from the Treaty of Amiens (1802) to the present day.
Spain has never recognized Gibraltar as an independent state, not even since UEFA allowed it to have its own official team and to be able to play any competition. During the qualifying phase for Euro 2016 in France, they coincided in the group stage draw, but UEFA decided to separate them to avoid controversy.
UEFA prevents Spain from meeting Gibraltar in the Euro 2016 qualifying phase http://t.co/UQuGoUbUI1
– Public (@publico_es) December 12, 2013
Russia has never looked favorably on the fact that Ukraine was so closely associated with the West since its independence (1991). These tensions have been present since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but the conflict broke out with the Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula (2014), and the two teams have been prohibited from fighting since then.
This territory declared its independence and was annexed to Russia. In turn, there was also the Battle of Ilovaisk (2014), where the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to capture the city without success. Within Ukrainian territory there are profuse and nationalist supporters. During the Euro 2020, Ukraine wore the silhouette of Crimea on its shirt and this caused a lot of controversy.
#UEFA instructed #Ukraine to make changes to # EURO2020 jersey, remove the ‘political’ slogan ‘Glory to the heroes’. ‘Glory to Ukraine’ is OK, map of Ukraine with Crimea also acceptable. #Russia welcomed decision- therefore finally agreed that #CrimeaIsUkraine! #GloryToHeroes! pic.twitter.com/PqUmmlPutQ
– Linas Linkevicius (@LinkeviciusL) June 10, 2021
The focus of the conflict between the two countries is the former Soviet territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The first was the cause of a military duel in 2008 between the two countries, with a final independence not recognized by the United Nations.
Over time the conflict has relaxed a lot, leaving few tensions between the two. According to the author of the thread, it is possible that in a short time a football confrontation can occur normally between the two.
Do you want to know where South Ossetia is, the unrecognized republic that recognizes Maduro? What do you think? #National Assembly #YoJuroConMaduro https://t.co/FicnxmPnoO (jov) pic.twitter.com/D99QkhhwEJ
– DW Spanish (@dw_espanol) January 10, 2019
#National #team #matches #fraught #political #tension