World Cup throws spotlight on EU?
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - With Germany and Poland to clash in Dortmund on the eve of the EU summit and with Serbia and Montenegro to play as one for the last time, the 2006 football “Weltmeisterschaft” will shine a quirky spotlight on some serious issues affecting the EU today.
Right-wing elements in both Poland and Germany have used the run-up to the world tournament to trade insults based on past wars and battles.
At the political level, meanwhile, Warsaw and Berlin are currently at loggerheads on energy and World War II reparations.
Germany will put 266,000 police on the streets to tackle the threat of German and Polish skinheads organising battles by SMS, while the German high court on 8 June intervened to block planned neo-nazi marches in Gelsenkirchen and Frankfurt.
“We will probably see what we see on a Friday or Saturday night in most cities across Europe: some scuffles and drunken behaviour but hopefully that will be it,” an optimistic UK copper involved in the German police effort told the BBC.
Much of the security will be concentrated on monitoring terrorism threats, with a 45 km no fly zone around the Munich stadium for Friday’s (9 June) opening matches and with the German air force on standby.
Iran tension
Tension is also expected around the 11 June Nuremberg game between Iran and Mexico with Iranian vice president Mohammad Aliabadi set to attend and with president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying he’ll follow suit if Iran gets through to the second stage.
Jewish groups and local politicians could face off with neo-nazi groups around the match due to the Iranian government’s anti-Israel stance and its questioning of the historical truth of the holocaust, with one German-Jewish leader calling Mr Ahmadinejad “a second Hitler” this week.
Meanwhile, Serbia and Montenegro will be trying to foster team spirit after Podgorica voted to split from Belgrade on 21 May and take its own path to EU membership, wounding Serb national pride and putting the final nail in the coffin of Yugoslavia.
“We’ve had a lot of political problems in Serbia during the past few years. But we’ve managed to create a strong football team,” Red Star Belgrade striker Nikola Zigic told press.
In another World Cup 2006 quirk, the Czech republic will take part in the World Cup finals for the first time since it split from Slovakia in 1993.
Vatican speaks out
The Vatican has also made a surprise intervention into the games, with archbishop Agostino Marchetto slamming Germany for its legalised prostitution industry which could see up to 40,000 women form eastern Europe trafficked into the country between now and 9 July.
“Using soccer language, I think some red cards should be flashed at this industry, its clients and the authorities who are hosting the event,” the archbishop said. “Prostitution is a violation of the dignity of the human person.”
The European Parliament will hold a debate on the same issue on Monday, with earlier EU proposals to create a World Cup anti-prostitution plan and to tighten up visa regulations scrapped by member states.
The cup of tea threat
The EU’s energy and intellectual property battles have also reared up in the games - the UK fears it might not be able to cope with a power surge generated when thousands of TV viewers get up to boil water for tea during the half-time break.
And Maltese customs authorities seized on Friday 21,000 fake FIFA-branded soccer balls en route from the Far East to Mexico - the day after trade commissioner Peter Mandelson asked China to stop ripping off western marks.
EU wit
European politicians cudgeling their brains for funny or interesting things to say about football came up with few quotes that will stay in the history books.
“The link is not obvious but in Latin America, only the countries without football as national sport experienced revolutions,” European Parliament president Josep Borrell said.
President Jose Manuel Barroso’s media team assured journalists he will be watching all the Portuguese games despite his busy schedule.
But British conservative MEP and former football referee Christopher Heaton-Harris was best at capturing the spirit of friendly rivalry that dominates the best tradition of European football.
“In politics there are always two sides to every debate, in football there are always two great teams, but in both, at the end of the day, the Germans always win,” he said.
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