Soccer wars

Threats show how football can be a matter of life and death
By Matthew Beard
01 July 2004


To some it was simply a strict but fair interpretation of the rule that allows referees to protect goalkeepers from aerial challenges. To others, carried away by the prospect of England coming within two victories of a first football tournament win in 38 years, it appears to have been a life-or-death decision.

The man at the centre of the controversy, the 45-year-old Swiss referee Urs Meier, revealed yesterday the full extent of a week-long onslaught after being made scapegoat for the national team's deficiencies.

Mr Meier, whose services were not required for the Euro 2004 semi-finals, broke his silence to reveal he had received telephone and e-mail death threats that were taken seriously enough for the police to offer him protection.

Asked in an interview on BBC Radio 4's PM if he had received death threats, he said: "Fans have made mail and the phone calls and so on ..."

After a week in which he has received the sort of press normally reserved for serial killers, Mr Meier blamed sections of the media for "overheating" fans in a "dangerous" way. The morning after the match, Mr Meier woke up to find himself being lambasted with headlines such as "Reffing hell" and "Robbed by a reffin' half-wit". Details of an alleged extra-marital affair with a female referee soon followed and The Sun carpeted a playing field next to Mr Meier's shop with a giant flag of St George. His personal website - used to promote his refereeing and his business in household appliances - crashed under the weight of vitriol.

He said: "I feel very sad about this reaction of the tabloid press, especially after a right decision. A reaction like this after a football game is never the right way."

Asked to comment on the suggestion that some of the English press would see their criticism as a harmless joke, he replied: "To me it's not a joke. A lot of English supporters and fans they are heated over and it's really dangerous."

In the recent history of footballing hate figures, Mr Meier now rates alongside David Beckham, who was strung up in effigy after his sending-off during England's 1998 World Cup exit and Sol Campbell, who received death threats when he moved from Spurs to their north London rivals Arsenal.

It was Campbell who was denied a 90th-minute headed "goal" that would have given England a 2-1 victory over hosts Portugal in front of 65,000 fans at Lisbon's Estadio da Luz last Wednesday. The decision not to allow the goal forced the game into 30 minutes extra-time followed by an agonising defeat for England on penalties.

Mr Meier, rated the third best referee in the world before the tournament started, insisted that the infringement on Portugal's goalkeeper, Ricardo, was by both John Terry and Campbell. Speaking from Switzerland, he said: "The whole world was seeing this decision was correct. It was foul play from Campbell. It was foul play from Terry ... It was clearly foul play."

Yesterday's interview forms part of a public relations counter-attack by Mr Meier, who has been hardened in the past by similar opprobrium from the Romanians who blamed him for playing too much extra time in a crucial Euro 2004 qualifying match.

Today he will give an interview to the Swiss radio station, Radio Energy, which has swung public opinion his way at home. Swiss newspapers and radio stations have joined in a counter-attack against Mr Meier's chief tormentor, The Sun.

The campaign was started by Radio Energy, which urged listeners to bombard the paper with complaints and broadcast its telephone number. Roman Kilchsperger, a DJ, said: "I didn't know there were so many England-haters here. Many write in with things like "**** the teapot" and "Roman. Stick it to them.".

Mr Kilchsperger, acknowledged the career benefits to demonising The Sun but insisted he was a fan of the English. "I like them. I even supported them in Euro 2004," he said.

Towards the end of the interview, it appeared that Mr Meier was offering some appeasement to his English critics over the penalty shoot-out by admitting that the penalty spot that David Beckham appeared to blame after shooting high over the bar was "not good".

[..] in Holland, Ajax Amsterdam fans are greeted with "Jews! Jews! Jews!" chants.

Oddly, as I was noting just the other day on the WMYST thread (after I'd gone to see the celebration of my local FC's Cup victory), they've happily adopted the 'term of abuse' in pride themselves, in spite of there being nary a Jew among them - it's a postmodern world, soccer is:

nimh wrote:

[The FC Utrecht supporters'] chants go "Forza Utrecht!" and "Champione, Champione!" (who said Europe wasn't getting united? ).

Oh, and "Kanker Joden en PSV" of course - "Cancer Jews and PSV", that is - the "Jews" being rival FC Ajax Amsterdam (PSV is just PSV).

(In another postmodern trick, the supporters of Ajax now proudly call themselves "Jews" too, actually waving Israeli flags during games and everything - even though there isn't, of course, a single Jew among them, post-WW2.)

About a dozen shots were fired at the Serbian National Centre at Bonnyrigg in south-western Sydney in the early hours of this morning and a car was firebombed in the carpark of the King Tomislav Croatian Club in Edensor Park.

The attacks follow a riot on Sunday at a soccer match between fans of the Croatian-backed Sydney United and the Serbian-backed Bonnyrigg White Eagles.

New South Wales Police Minister Carl Scully, who lives about 200m from the King Tomislav Club, today said he was appalled by the violence.

"I think the vast bulk of Australians would say there is absolutely no place in our streets or on our soccer fields for living out those ancient tribal tensions," he said.

"We of course will do whatever is necessary to weed out the social and political misfits which have brought our game to where it is today," Mr Doumanis said.

Mr Scully said there had been very little racial tension between Croatians and Serbs in his local community since the early 1990s.

But tensions had come to the surface when the two clubs played each other on Sunday for the first time in 22 years, he said.

"It has been a very, very long time since any tensions have simmered between these communities," he said.

Berlusconi defends player's Fascist salute
2005/12/22 · The Times

Berlusconi has defended the captain of Lazio Roma, Paolo Di Canio, who was fined €10,000 and banned for one game after making the Fascist salute to supporters during a match. It was the third such incident this year. Berlusconi said the player had been misunderstood: "Di Canio is an exhibitionist ... His salute had no significance - he's a good lad."

The President of Fifa on the other hand said that players who make the salute should be banned for life. Di Canio himself said that his salute was not political and that he would continue to make it for "my people". He also has the word Dux - a reference to Benito Mussolini - tattooed on his arm.

Berlusconi also suggested that Fascism was not as bad as Nazism or Communism, and told reporters that Western governments could not play by the rules to defeat Islamic terrorism. "You cannot tackle terrorism with the lawbook in your hand. If they fight with a sword, you have to defend yourself with a sword."

Roma rapped for Nazi banners
2006/01/31 • ANSA

Italian soccer club AS Roma got a one-match stadium ban after Nazi symbols were displayed at a match against Livorno. Many politicians said firmer action should have been taken.

Interior Minister Pisanu urged police to apply recently approved norms and suspend matches when symbols or slogans inciting racism, xenophobia or political violence are exhibited. But he defended police for not taking this action Sunday, saying that the situation was "already extremely tense".

Slogans unfurled by Roma fans included Gott Mit Uns, the SS motto, and swastikas and Mussolini pictures also appeared. Italian Soccer Federation chief Carraro defended the referee, saying it was up to the police to stop the match.

Until recent years Roma's hardcore fans were thought to be radically lefist, but they have since come to rival the fans of Lazio in rightist extremism - notably against Livorno, whose fans regularly exhibit hammer and sickle banners and whose star striker only recently stopped giving the clenched-fist leftist salute.