Initiatives of Change - Football, a Model for Europe? by Antoine Jaulmes, France

The limelights of the Euro 2008 Soccer Championship are out after the well deserved victory of Spain and football fever is slowly losing its grip on the continent. Yet I can’t stop marvelling at the numerous lessons to be learnt from this tournament on European issues. For those unaware of soccer, the European Nations Cup has been rightly described as the most intense international soccer event, much more than the global hoopla of the World Cup.

It is the competition where smaller nations see a chance to shine, and where European rivalries find a natural outlet. You are after all almost sure to play against a neighbour or your usual ‘bête noire’, against whom your country has been pitted many times, be it in previous competitions or in the course of history. An estimated 8 billion people watch the games (an average of 150 million per game, more than 20% of the continent’s global population, and frequently over 50% of the population of the countries involved in a game.)

One lesson of Euro 2008 is about migrations and identity: in one of the first games, when Lukas Podolsky opened the score for Germany against Poland and then doubled it, he remained uncharacteristically inexpressive, not displaying the usual extravagant joy. Why? Simple: he was sending his parents’ country back home to think again. He was born in Poland, his father a former professional football player and his mother a former member of the Polish national handball team. The same would have been true for his colleague, another top scorer for Germany Miroslav Klose. Then came the Swiss against Turkey game, where one of the three Swiss with Turkish origins, Hakan Yakin also scored against his fathers’ country, but the Swiss lost 2-1. Then, unexpectedly, Germany and Turkey faced each other in semi-finals. Again two Turkish players, Hakan Balta and Hamit Altintop were born in Germany, the latter one of the stars of the famous Bayern Munich. Was he then feeling more Turkish or more German, reporters asked? No, he answered, maybe I am both.

The experience is the same for ‘Euro-families’ (either families living in another country or families from two countries). Our family has this double allegiance, and as it happened France was to play the Netherlands in the ‘death group’, a first leg group where three former European champions had to battle it out in order to get one of the two tickets for the quarterfinals. I was of course sad that the French were thrashed 4-1, after having been fairly unlucky, but I was also happy that the Dutch, a frequently unlucky national side, had played so brilliantly. (I was only later disappointed that the Dutch were then blemished by a clear-cut defeat to the Russians 3-1 after additional time, and that the Russians then got trampled upon by the Spanish 3-0 in the semi-finals, implying that the French had really not a chance to achieve anything in the tournament). In Berlin, where so many Turks live, there was a show of mutual appreciation and brotherhood. Many Germans had bought Turkish flags alongside their German emblems, and the evening was a feast without violence, reaching a fair-play level akin to rugby games (not a lightly granted comparison from me).

Another lesson which I hope hundreds of millions Europeans will remember after the impressive display of the Turkish side, is that Turkey actually is a European country, and an important one too, no matter what old guard politicians keep rambling and mumbling. Those who wish to close the door of the European Union on Turkey will have to think of better reasons than to repeat the most stupid – but nonetheless effective – political phrase of the decade ‘Turkey is not in Europe’. Whether they will succeed in finding anything better to say is another story.

Yet another lesson is about war and peace: the battalions of national supporters wearing and waving their colours, standing and shouting the countries’ name or slogans – and drinking their favourite beers, are indeed an impressive lot and there is sometimes not unfounded fear that violence might erupt. No matter how ugly that is when it happens – the Police are now luckily fairly competent to prevent that – the fairly good news is that it comes in the place of much more serious business. In centuries passed, war was not reduced to a ritual struggle; it was a recurring reality, destroying the livelihood of millions and bloodying the continent.

It is a popular idea to despise soccer as mere entertainment and a permanent money scandal, distracting us from real issues. Albert Schweitzer saw sport as a devil’s device to keep more people away from churches on Sundays. While there may be truth in all this, I am not sure there is a way back to when there was no sports on television, but I am sure there is a way forward.

If today’s substitute for war is sport, and more specifically if the European Nations Soccer Cup is a substitute to our traditional feuds among Europeans nations, let’s keep it that way.
If our increasingly mixed identities and multiple loyalties make us watch other nations’ accomplishments with appreciation, let’s develop that ability through adequate and respectful communication. If the competing nations illustrate for the public how varied the European continent is, and how Europeans can interact peacefully, even when their immediate interests are opposed, let’s carry over this inspiration into political circles.