World Football Cup 2018: Who will be the underdog world champion?
Do you want to bridge the gap until the World Cup with international football? Then the World Football Cup in London might be just the thing for you. A little geography and ethnology lesson is guaranteed to be included.
Shortly before the kick-off of the World Cup in Russia, a tournament for the stepchildren of world football is being organised in and around London. The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA) and its "World Football Cup" exist for regions and ethnic groups that have no place in FIFA. When Baraawe meets Northern Cyprus or Matabeleland challenges Kabylie, the "big" World Cup is a long way off. The list of participants in the third World Football Cup is best studied together with geographers, ethnologists and political scientists. Or do you know...
.. Szeklerland?
... Ellan Vannin?
... Cascadia?
Szeklerland refers to an area in the east of Transylvania in Romania, Ellan Vannin is the name of the Isle of Man in the local Manx language and Cascadia is found in North America. The area stretches along the Cascade Range across British Columbia in Canada and the US states of Washington and Oregon. All three are not independent countries and have no chance of joining FIFA's current 211-nation empire. At the 2018 World Football Cup, they will be competing for the underdog crown. You can watch the matches of the knockout phase on 5, 7 and 9 June here in the live stream.
Source: Con Chronis/CONIFA
Source: Con Chronis/CONIFA
Where football should have no borders
World football has long been a global game, but it knows borders. And where there are borders, it quickly becomes political. At ConIFA, politics should not play a role, just football. "Freedom to play football" - the freedom to play football. That's what it has written on its banner.
ConIFA wants to build bridges between societies, nations, minorities and isolated regions from all over the world through friendship, cultural exchange and the joy of football.
Founded in Sweden in 2013, the organisation is run by volunteer employees and aims to give everyone the chance to play under the flag they feel they belong to. Its 47 members represent minorities and ethnic groups from all over the world. The very fact that they do so naturally makes things political for some - and therefore sometimes complicated.
Getting to the tournament can be complicated
The 2016 world football champions and defending champions are Abkhazia. The region is considered part of Georgia under international law, but regards itself as independent, which is only recognised by a handful of sovereign states. Abkhazia was allowed to organise the tournament in 2016 partly because its players were denied visas to travel to Hungary for the 2015 European Football Championship (hosted by Szeklerland).
Source: CONIFA
However, the field of participants in Abkhazia was far from complete: Ellan Vannin cancelled their participation due to a travel warning, the county of Nice, the defending champions, also did not take part and players from Roma were not given travel documents. Freedom is not always so easy, not even in football. This time, 16 teams came together in London to play for the title in a total of 48 matches.
Some of them have qualified on sporting merit, some have received wildcards or taken a place as a latecomer, such as Tuvalu, as Kiribati were unable to make the long journey to the United Kingdom. The host in London is Baraawe, which has its association headquarters there but represents a Somali ethnic group. Yes, it's complicated. But as soon as the ball starts rolling, everything else is forgotten. Then, for 90 minutes, all that matters are the boundaries of the pitch - whether at the World Cup or the World Football Championship.
Source: CONIFA
Source: CONIFA
Did you like this article? Here you can find my author profile and the option to follow me.
Simple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.