CONIFA World Cup 2018

[Ray de Galles]

It's been mentioned a few times but don't think we have a thread.

There's a wallchart.

and some of the kits are out :

https://twitter.com/JustinWalley10/status/984017467579224065

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

I hope Padania lose all their games

[Ray de Galles]

There is always the worry that some of the teams may be formed for dubious or ludicrous reasons, research needed before attending any games.

[Jobi1]

I'm based not a million miles from Bromley at the moment, so would consider checking out a couple of games there. Presume you'll be able to pay on the gate, and not give booking fees to Eventim?

[ad hoc]

I'd say Székely Land are legit. It's a genuine region with a genuinely different ethnic group who live there (here) that has a long history. I don't perceive the football team as the thin end of a dodgy independence movement wedge

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

There is always the worry that some of the teams may be formed for dubious or ludicrous reasons, research needed before attending any games.

Here's my list from most to least legitimate:
1. Tuvalu (OFC member, representative side of independent state)
2. Abkhazia, Northern Cyprus (representative side of a de facto independent state)
4. Ellan Vannin (politically autonomous, not represented by any of the UK home nations)
5. Tibet (has historically been an independent country, arguably occupied)
6. Tamil Eelam (fought a war for its independence, though no longer territorial, strong support for autonomy)
7. Kabylia, Szekely Land, Western Armenia, Matabeleland (regions populated by ethnic/linguistic minorities)
11. Panjab, Barawa, United Koreans In Japan, Felvidek (diaspora teams)
15. Cascadia (a construction that is politically dubious and has been linked* with white nationalist sentiments)
16. Padania (literally a construction of a fascist political party)

* This is probably not a representation of the Cascadian football team or even Cascadian separatism as a whole, but if neo-nazis agree with you about something you probably should think about whether/how you express it.

EDIT: moved Panjab/Felvidek to diaspora teams, due to comments below

[Uros Predic]

I was looking forward to this... then realised it's being sponsored by Paddy Power, who've already started to try and content the shit out of it on their social media. That, and the creation - and acceptance by CONIFA - of the Yorkshire team have waned my interest.

Still there's a game at Fisher and I've nowt else on that weekend, so I might still give it a go.

[ad hoc]

(in response to BLT)
I'd quibble with a couple of those (I'd put Tibet over Northern Cyprus for one thing, and I think Szekely Land is somewhat less problematic than Felvidek (Felvidek has always had a majority of Slovaks over Hungarians, so it is in danger of being a bit irredentist. Plus the Szekely are a defined ethnic group separate from Magyars)

[Diable Rouge]

One wonders why Tuvalu don't just join FIFA, given NZ, both Samoas, Fiji and New Caledonia would be OFC rivals? Somewhat more problematic for the Manxmen, after the abolition of the Island Games football tournament, and UEFA rejecting Jersey, but could they still play friendlies against Europe's minnows?

[N est ŕ?]

Aren't Panjab more of a diaspora side as well?

[Bizarre Löw Triangle]

One wonders why Tuvalu don't just join FIFA, given NZ, both Samoas, Fiji and New Caledonia would be OFC rivals? Somewhat more problematic for the Manxmen, after the abolition of the Island Games football tournament, and UEFA rejecting Jersey, but could they still play friendlies against Europe's minnows?

They don't have the infrastructure. They're an associate member of OFC.

[Ray de Galles]

I was looking forward to this... then realised it's being sponsored by Paddy Power, who've already started to try and content the shit out of it on their social media. That, and the creation - and acceptance by CONIFA - of the Yorkshire team have waned my interest.

Still there's a game at Fisher and I've nowt else on that weekend, so I might still give it a go.

Have CONIFA actually accepted Yorkshire now? Fuck that!

I may make a game at Fisher too, will let you know.

[Capybara]

Yeah, the Paddy Power thing put me off a bit also. And the tickets in advance. I thought about picking a team and following it wherever it went - Tuvalu was my first pick - but that would mean watching several games at the same venue which is not really what I want to do. So I might try and get to the grounds I haven't already been to, which is most of them, and finally achieve a long-held ambition to watch two games at different places in the same day.

[Jobi1]

Yeah, the Paddy Power thing put me off a bit also. And the tickets in advance. I thought about picking a team and following it wherever it went - Tuvalu was my first pick - but that would mean watching several games at the same venue which is not really what I want to do. So I might try and get to the grounds I haven't already been to, which is most of them, and finally achieve a long-held ambition to watch two games at different places in the same day.

I managed that a couple of times while I was living in Italy - a Serie B or lower division game in the afternoon and a late kick off at San Siro in the evening.

Proving that kick-off times being all over the place is not as recent a phenomenon as some seem to make out, my dad, while living in London in the 70s, once managed THREE Football League games in one day, which he still regularly mentions as one of his proudest achievements (what a life). Maybe Sky's introduction of late Saturday kick-offs will open up that possibility again...

[Antepli Ejderha]

Northern Cyprus has its own league with foreign players and all, it's genuine for me.

[HeavyDracula]

Anyone thinking of taking in any games? I’m waivering but I could be persuaded by an OTFathon...

[Sits]

I like the idea of any tournament which is non-FIFA/UEFA. Paul Watson (former manager of Ponpei and on the CONIFA board) was on Football Weekly talking about it yesterday. While I can see that some of the teams are clearly representing groups/movements which are seriously dodgy, a good number are legit/harmless and I like the concept. At least it gives us some teams to hate.

If Tuvalu are taken I'll choose Matabeleland, for that kit alone.

[Sits]

And having consulted the wallchart, Matabeleland's first match is against none other than Padania.

[ad hoc]

Somehow I am inexplicably linked to Paul Watson. I read his book about managing Pohnpei, and communicated with him on Tiwtter for a while afterwards (I used to play football in Pohnpei, pre-Watson, and we knew some of the same people. Now he's involved with this event, and I'm living in Szekely Land, one of the entrants. (I realise on paper that this probably doesn't sound like that much of a spooky coincidence, but Pohnpei is a very small place that almost no-one goes to, and the countries/regions represented by CONIFA are all also pretty obscure, so while it's not exactly evidence of a divine hand at work, it is quite curious. Ok Ok just to me)

[RobW]

Am off to Coles Park next weekend to watch Matabeleland v Székely Land and Tuvalu v Padania, as it's local.

[Diable Rouge]

Somehow I am inexplicably linked to Paul Watson. I read his book about managing Pohnpei, and communicated with him on Tiwtter for a while afterwards (I used to play football in Pohnpei, pre-Watson, and we knew some of the same people. Now he's involved with this event, and I'm living in Szekely Land, one of the entrants. (I realise on paper that this probably doesn't sound like that much of a spooky coincidence, but Pohnpei is a very small place that almost no-one goes to, and the countries/regions represented by CONIFA are all also pretty obscure, so while it's not exactly evidence of a divine hand at work, it is quite curious. Ok Ok just to me)

What took you to FSM?

[Antepli Ejderha]

I'm probably heading to Fisher on the 3rd.

[ad hoc]

What took you to FSM?

Spent two years there working at the College of Micronesia

[Ray de Galles]

I am busy with work on both weekends of the tournament and a lot of the weekday fixtures are in the daytime.

I think I may make Barawa v Tamil Eelam at Bromley on the 31st (but the T20 at Lord’s between West Indies and a World XI for Caribbean hurricane relief is a competing attraction) and the semi-final at Carshalton in June 7th.

[ChrisJ]

5. Tibet (has historically been an independent country, arguably occupied)

Arguably?