Eurasia Net – Near to we all know that the FIFA World Cup football tournament gets underway June 12 in Brazil. But in a parallel football universe, a little-known tournament has already been completed, and the champion is a land that stretches across portions of France and Italy.
The alternative tournament featured 12 teams representing internationally unrecognized nations, places like Abkhazia and South Ossetia, separatist territories which might be formally a part of the Republic of Georgia, in addition to Nagorno-Karabakh, the point of interest of an unsettled conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Teams representing Darfur, a strife-torn region of western Sudan, Kurdistan and Tamil Eelam also participated, as did clubs from some long-lost or wanna-be nations of Europe, reminiscent of Occitania, Padania and Countea de Nissa.
Ultimately, it was the team from Countea de Nissa that hoisted the championship trophy after beating the Isle of Man on penalty kicks within the June 8 final.
The eight-day tournament was staged entirely in Östersund, a town in central Sweden that may be a few five-hour train trip from Stockholm and a miles cry from Brazil. The governing body that sanctioned the contest was the recently formed Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA), which portrays itself as an “organization for people, nations and sportingly isolated regions whom share the enjoyment of playing international football.”
Befitting a tournament of countries that exist at the fringes of the international community, CONIFA’s football soiree was a low-key affair. So low-key, in fact, that the selection of spectators at most matches numbered within the dozens and the event’s chief sponsor was an internet gambling outfit called Nordicbet.
Sparse attendance didn’t appear to bother Per-Anders Lund, CONIFA’s chief executive. He preferred to tout his organization’s aim of selling better “global relations and international understanding.”
“There is not any prize in cash, players that normally just represent local clubs, they're now competing for his or her whole region. … They're bringing home pride and dignity for his or her people,” Lund said.
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