“The English left the Union!” “The British are out of the European Championship!” You can hear these sentences from more than one or two people and read them in the comments in recent days, although both statements are incorrect. In the world of sport, the fact that the Brits compete under one flag at the Olympics is baffling, but in football they were represented by three separate national teams – in fact, one of them still stands! – in the current European Championship.
| The English have already been eliminated from the European Championships, but there is still someone to represent the Queen (Photos: AFP) |
Due to Brexit and the European Championship, perceptions have become somewhat muddled in the past few days regarding geographic and sexual matters affecting the British Isles, so it doesn’t hurt to clarify that with a referendum. United kingdom (exactly United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) decide to leave the European Union – even if a majority of Scottish and Northern Ireland voters vote to remain (you can read about clarification of geopolitical terms here Great summary!).
Meanwhile, in the final of the 24-team European Football Championship, the three member nations of the monarchy, England, Northern Ireland And the Wells also appeared separately (Scotland As usual, he didn’t make it past the qualifiers), though Flag at the Olympics With a somewhat misleading name – not the United Kingdom, but – It starts under the flag of Great Britain (Of course, Northern Ireland also belongs to the British Olympic Committee.)
Why is it?
| England: Second place in the group, eliminated in the round of 16 |
| northern Ireland: Third place in the group, eliminated in the round of 16 |
| Wells: Group leaders, and play with Belgium in the quarter-finals |
| against all others |
| England – Wales 2-1 |
| Wales – Northern Ireland 1-0 |
The answer should be from the football side rather than the Olympics side. talk a lot aboutFootball was invented by the EnglishA cliché based on the fact that In the British Isles, footballers were initially organized into clubs, and later the clubs were grouped by associations. The first match between the two soccer teams between England and Scotland It was held in Glasgow in 1872, long before the first Olympic Games (1896). In 1884, the national teams of the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) already organized a championship.
By the time FIFA was founded in 1904, the four independent and powerful organizations could not even unite independently – and where from the first World Cup! The situation was later noted by the fact that after the proclamation of the Irish Free State Irish Football Association, The IFA’s “jurisdiction” was limited to the territory of Northern Ireland, and was established as a counterpoint Irish Football Association, FAI. But in terms of results, your predecessor is the first! by the way The situation was similar in the case of the Hungarian and Austrian Football Associations (the former was actually established in 1901, the latter only in 1904), so Hungary and Austria could represent themselves in sport with separate national teams until the existence of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
Meanwhile, at the level of the Olympic movement, it was not considered that the British should be listed separately: The British Olympic Association, BOA, was founded only after the first Olympic Games, in 1905 (although of course the roots of the British Olympic movement can be traced earlier, and British competitors were already present in Athens in 1896), and there was never a real push from sake of independence.
Furthermore it FIFA and UEFA have always interpreted the concept of nations more broadly, Like other major international organizations during it in the Olympic Charter country formula “an independent state recognized by the international community of states” (iv 30 § 1). To clarify in numbers: To FIFA 211, to the International Olympic Committee 206, to the United Nations 193 It currently has a full member state. Is it any wonder that the FA’s admission to the pan-European and international organization was a diplomatic breakthrough in Kosovo.
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| Ryan Giggs, captain of Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics – the shirt he wore is now a relic of sporting history |
Back to the British: the 2012 Olympics were special for them not only because they organized them, but also at the cost of great difficulties – in a unique way in recent decades – managed to put together an “all-British” football team, Thus, the Welshman in the person of Ryan Giggs led eleven “nationalists”, most of whom consisted of Englishmen. For 30 years before that, the British did not have such a problem that their team did not make it to the Olympics, and this will not happen in the near future, because the Welsh and Scots have already indicated during the London Games that they do not want to cooperate. This is not accidental, because an independent football team is one of the most expressive means of identity not only for member associations, but also for ordinary people. Brexit is likely to reinforce this.
