Keep Politics Out of Sport? Tell That To The FAI.
The Republic of Ireland football team are due to play Italy in the European Championships on Sunday 18th June in Poznan. It is a game of huge importance for Italy but somewhat of a dead rubber for an Irish team who were completely outclassed in last night’s fixture with Spain. The date of the game against Italy is a significant one.
It will be 18 years to the day since Italy played Ireland in a World Cup match in New York. On that evening gunmen sprayed a public house in Loughinisland killing six Catholic men. The shooting has long been attributed to the UVF but to date no one has been convicted of the shooting. On Monday, in Poznan, the Irish players will wear black arm bands in memory of the victims from that night, a move that has the full backing and support of both the FAI and UEFA. It is a strange decision to say the least and surely a contentious one.
Given that we are in an era of change and reconciliation a decision like this can only set back relations between those who have strived in recent years to make positive changes on both sides of the border. Perhaps it would have been understandable if the gesture was being auctioned to remember ALL the victims of the conflict. As, has been rightly pointed out, if a similar decision had been taken by the IFA, to commemorate those who had been killed in the Shankill bombing there would be a huge outcry from Nationalists. Luckily, throughout even the darkest days of the conflict sport remained relatively untouched and politics, by and large stayed relatively unaffected. In recent years however the FAI have orchestrated a campaign whereby they have set out in mercenary fashion to shanghai some of Northern Irelands finest young footballing talent despite the massive amount of effort put in by the IFA—financially and otherwise. Coincidentally this despicable practice has also received the full backing of UEFA. No surprises there then.
Monday’s proposed gesture will divide the public here and be seen by one side of the community as an intimation that excludes them or sets them apart. What can be achieved by the wearing of armbands in the game? In truth, not a lot. For the families of those bereaved at Loughinisland it may show some solidarity from a sporting organisation, but it will do little to alleviate the pain or grief felt and indeed may well re-kindle the horrors of 18 years ago. There is still time for the FAI to re-think their decision but a retraction is highly unlikely. It will be interesting to see if the Irish Government will become involved but this too remains an improbable scenario. The fear then is that by allowing the Irish team to wear black arm bands they are setting a precedent and run the risk of introducing politics into the sporting arena.
