Armenia vs Turkey Soccer : Politics on the Pitch (Winter 08)

Narbeh Abdalian
n.abdalian@mac.com

The soccer world has always tried to stay clear of international politics, but once in a while, fate brings politics onto the field. On Sunday, November 25, 2007, during the World Cup Qualifying draw, the countries of Armenia and Turkey were both put in the same group to play in hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup Finals.

There are two types of matches that usually emerge in the sporting world, which consist of two rival teams meeting up on several occasions and creating very memorable matches. Some classic rivalries are between England and Scotland, Brazil and Argentina, Italy and France, Germany and the Netherlands, etc.

On the other side there are matches with political implications. Usually when a political match up occurs in International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), it involves nothing more than a small dispute between two nations; rarely does it involve two sides that, at the time, despise each other.

Small controversies that have occurred in the past include the United States’ attempt to ban Iran from the 2006 World Cup because of their uranium enrichment program. The current controversy, however, is Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. Although the match between the countries may not seem like a big issue (after all, soccer is a sport, not politics), in reality, this is the first time that these two nations will face one another.

This may very well be one of the most controversial games that the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) and FIFA will ever deal with.

The UEFA so far have expressed little concern for the two matches that must be played by these two nations. Michel Platini, President of UEFA, told reporters, "We met with the associations from Armenia and Turkey and there weren’t any problems, they said the games would be played the best possible way."

The safety of the fans and players, and the country and city in which the games will be played, whether it be neutral ground or in their respective countries have all been taken into consideration.

There are two scheduled games: one at home and one away. Thus, one will be played in Turkey and one in Armenia. Recently Armenia was involved in another situation similar to this during the EURO 2008 qualifiers.

Armenia was grouped with Azerbaijan, the country with whom they have had a long dispute over land in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In this case, the two scheduled matches were actually cancelled, because the two associations could not agree over how or where the matches would be played.

The falling out with Azerbaijan during the EURO qualifiers cost the Armenian and Azerbaijani national teams six points, which destroyed even the slightest hope each had of reaching the Finals.

Armenia’s World Cup qualifying group consists of Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia, and Estonia, with the top two teams going on to the second round.

Even though chances are slim for Armenia to qualify, in the football world, anything can happen. Like the time when Armenia overcame odds to defeat Poland and draw Portugal, both top tier European teams. Armenia has been steadily rising in the FIFA and Coca Cola World Ranking.
Upon entering 2007, Armenia was ranked 123rd out of 201 countries. When Armenia moved up and comfortably ranked in the 80’s and 90’s and topped out in 70th place.

A jump of 44 places in FIFA is extremely rare as Armenia now remains at 93. However, if Armenia were to lose six points, all hopes of qualifying for the World Cup Finals would be lost and, in this case, so would Turkey’s chances of qualifying.

Turkey being a nation very proud of their national identity, would most likely not allow this to happen and therefore continue the games as planned.

With some encouragement from the Diaspora, the mother country may have a chance to overcome the odds as it has done so many times before, and qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals.