Germany Hungary

[Sean of the Shed]

Hopefully that's a consistent new level of punishment for bigotry and racism in stadia. It's about time. UEFA still need to look at themselves for letting Orban's regime dictate their stance regarding Munich's request to light their stadium in rainbow colours.

[ad hoc]

UEFA investigating anti-LGBT banners and chanting by Hungary fans. Expect a fine of at least a couple of hundred quid and a tut if found guilty.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57611395

Glad to inform you that it was somewhat stronger than that. 100,000 Euro fine and two games behind closed doors (with the prospect of more punishments to come if the offence is repeated). Quite a strong response by UEFA standards, I'm happy to say

[Discordant Resonance]

On Javier Tebas and his ties to the European far-right:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...247865859.html

[Various Artist]

A tut sounds a bit strong. I'd expect UEFA to settle for an indrawing of breath between their teeth and a sad little shake of the head.

[Sean of the Shed]

UEFA investigating anti-LGBT banners and chanting by Hungary fans. Expect a fine of at least a couple of hundred quid and a tut if found guilty.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57611395

[Belhaven]

Thankfully, only almost. Had they tried to play a little bit of proper football yesterday, I think they would have won the game.

[imp]

Hungary,'s football was also terrible, ultradefensive shit. On purely footballing terms, I am glad they are out.

Blimey, that's a bit harsh given the group they were drawn in. I thought they deserved to beat Germany, who were largely unimaginative in breaking them down. I'm no fan of 11 players behind the ball either, but when it's your only tactical option and you're effective on the break then you're going to give it a go - it almost worked.

[Belhaven]

Hungary,'s football was also terrible, ultradefensive shit. On purely footballing terms, I am glad they are out.

[blameless]

I dunno. So much was made of the full ground and atmosphere in Budapest, when the conversation should have been elsewhere. It was sportswashing.

So much this. I was cringing at halftime of the France-Hungary game when Alex Scott was enthusing about the noise and atmosphere in Budapest while the camera panned across the area where the knuckle-dragging fascists were gathered. Alex Scott is a) black and b) gay - these wrong 'uns would absolutely hate her, and yet there she was talking animatedly about the great atmosphere in the ground.

I know there are lots of lovely Hungarians out there in the world (indeed, I work with some of them such is the multinational nature of my workplace), but I'm pleased their team is out.

[Sean of the Shed]

Positively? I got the impression that the coverage of the crowds in Budapest was fairly negative - partly because of the concerns about the wisdom of letting so many people in, and partly because of the clearly and obviously unpleasant nature of the ultras.

I saw little mention of the large crowds and have not read a single report on the beliefs and behaviour of the blackshirt supporters who attend the games apart from on here.
I don't see any good reason to hold the players accountable for the actions and policies of their government, however. Unless, of course, they openly endorse it. I seem to remember there was fairly strong support for the North Korea national team on here in 2010, for example.

[DCI Harry Batt]

if we pay any attention to football between national teams, perhaps they have to be proxies, because that is what "national teams" are to some extent

You won't be surprised at my "this", for this.

[Sean of the Shed]

Hungary were UEFA's benchmark of how they wanted their host countries to act. Full stadiums and VIP treatment of their officials, sponsors and guests with no restrictions. If they do this they UEFA don't give a shit about public health and will not only ignore, but silence protest against that nation's discriminatory laws.
See also Russia and Qatar.

[EIM]

Positively? I got the impression that the coverage of the crowds in Budapest was fairly negative - partly because of the concerns about the wisdom of letting so many people in, and partly because of the clearly and obviously unpleasant nature of the ultras.

I saw nothing but positivity. Both from TV and social media.

[ad hoc]

So much was made of the full ground and atmosphere in Budapest,

Positively? I got the impression that the coverage of the crowds in Budapest was fairly negative - partly because of the concerns about the wisdom of letting so many people in, and partly because of the clearly and obviously unpleasant nature of the ultras.

[ad hoc]

I'm not trying to tell anyone they should have been supporting Hungary. Like I said I had a lot of mixed feelings about the game. But when I think about the reasons I didn't want Hungary to do well it was Orban, the Carpathian Brigade and so on. But I didn't apply that logic earlier when hoping for Poland to beat Sweden, for example. And my pro-Germany feelings came from the socially liberal people of Germany, who showed up with rainbow masks and so on, not the German government. So, it leaves me confused and conflicted. After all, I know lots of socially liberal people in Hungary, and people who are genuinely fighting against an authoritarian regime, and dealing with all of the shit that comes with that. I don't have any answers to any of this, it's football, and if we pay any attention to football between national teams, perhaps they have to be proxies, because that is what "national teams" are to some extent.

[EIM]

I also don't want any vindication for UEFA by seeing their cosying up to certain regimes bear any fruit.

[EIM]

I dunno. So much was made of the full ground and atmosphere in Budapest, when the conversation should have been elsewhere. It was sportswashing. I think any success by the Hungarian team would have been hijacked to normalise Orban and divert attention away from his policies. I'm delighted they're out. But I'll accept that I'm a petty and bitter man.

[DCI Harry Batt]

It's quite high up my list, mind. So yeah.

[ad hoc]

Of course he would, but that's true of all of the teams in the competition. I can think of lots of reasons not to support England, but the fact that Johnson will piggy back on their success is fairly low down on that list

[EIM]

Orban would use them as a proxy if they were successful.

[ursus arctos]

Indeed, the duplicitous hypocrisy of German firms who have poured hundreds of millions into Orban's economy was very telling.

[ad hoc]

I think it''s fair to direct anger at the black shirted fans (a la Goretska), and Orban and the government, and perhaps even to use the football team as a proxy for that (though I;m less sure about the latter) but this feels more apt to me

https://twitter.com/JeremyCliffe/status/1407814655586750464?s=20

[DCI Harry Batt]

I'm not going to feel sorry for the representative national side because people are seeing them as a representation.

[ad hoc]

This is an alternate viewpoint from the anti Hungary vibe (Cseh is a brilliant force for good in Hungarian politics and a current MEP)

https://twitter.com/katka_cseh/status/1407984085855842306

[ad hoc]

The organisers of the Carpathian Brigade (those black shirt guys) sent a message to their members beforehand telling them where to meet so they could march to the stadium and told them “under German law, you can easily be taken away on trumped-up charges, and you can be heavily fined if you don't obey their rules... If you feel your tattoo is not compatible with local laws, make sure you cover it up or you could face a fine of hundreds of euros.”

I don't think you need to think long and hard about what kind of tattoos we might be talking about here

I'll confess to a lot of mixed feelings about the game /score etc. Obviously happy not to have to see those fascist scum again and Orbán losing is pleasing (especially that he was so scared of some rainbows that he wouldn't attend last night). But obviously know a lot of Hungarians (my own daughter is now a citizen) and the team played brilliantly (I understand Napoli are now talking to Rossi)

But having said all that Goretzka's trolling was inspired