Azerbaijan the “Land of Repression,” to host Euro 2020

Last week UEFA announced the 13 cities that will be hosting the Euro 2020 Championships. I like many people was pleased that the finals would be coming to Wembley. However, after closer inspection of the other host cities, I came to realise that Baku in Azerbaijan was also on the list to become a home for a series of group stage matches as well as a quarter final. 

According to Amnesty International the list of human rights violations regularly perpetrated by the Azerbaijani authorities is long and includes clamping down on the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association including persecution of activists, arresting them on trumped up charges and denying them the right to a fair trial. They currently count at least 17 prisoners of conscience behind bars solely for peacefully expressing their views.

This leaves us asking the question; should countries with poor human rights records really be allowed to host the European Championships? I personally don’t think they should be able to. Although, that sadly leaves us asking which countries truly have a perfect Human Rights record? Sadly, not many.

More information on Amnesty International’s work on Azerbaijan can be found here.

Free Ghoncheh, Jailed For Wanting To Watch Volleyball

Earlier this summer, Ghoncheh Ghavami stood outside Tehran's majestic Azadi (freedom) stadium, wearing a white scarf and holding up a placard.

With Hassan Rouhani promising a more moderate stance in Iran, she wanted to enter the stadium alongside male fans, hoping that the Islamic republic's ban on women attending big sporting events would finally be over.

As Iran's volleyball team hosted Italy later that Friday, Ghavami, 25 – who holds dual British and Iranian citizenship – was arrested with a number of other female fans who were peacefully demanding to be allowed into the match. She was released after several hours in detention but re-arrested in late June when she went back to collect her mobile phone, which had been confiscated after the protest. Nearly three months on, she remains in jail.

Amnesty International says she is being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where she was kept in solitary confinement for more than 40 days before being moved to a shared cell.

"She is a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for taking part in a peaceful protest against the ban on women attending volleyball world league matches in Tehran's Azadi stadium," said Amnesty.

Give My Goals for a Better World along with thousands of others are demanding her immediate release. Please take action here and/or here. #FreeGhonchehGhavami.

Allez les Algeriens! Part 2

In 1958, in the midst of Algeria’s war of independence against their imperial rulers France, Algeria formed a football team which for the first time wore the national colours. Its line-up included Rachid Makhloufi, Ben Tifour and other Algerians who were professional players in France. Makhoulfi had also been capped for the French national team.

Blockaded by the colonial power, Algeria only managed to play against Monocco – who were then banned from FIFA for several years – and engage in several low key but significant games organised by sports unions in some Arab and Eastern European countries. FIFA and the French football league blacklisted  the players involved and they were barred from ever returning to professional activity. This showed the bravery of the footballers who were prepared to give up everything, including a comfortable life as professional footballers, for the independence of their homeland and its people. 

However, after Algeria won its independence, the French football league had no alternative but to call up the players the fans longed for.

Further turmoil for the Football Associations of Africa’s World Cup Heroes

 

Much has been written about the turmoil surrounding Africa’s teams in the World Cup focusing on player bonus payments, corrupt administrators and indiscipline. The two African teams widely seen as faring the best of all the African nations involved, both on and off the field, were Nigeria and Algeria. Despite this success, both countries Football Associations have found themselves locked in controversy since the World Cup, which saw both teams qualify for the round of 16. 

In Algeria, football has been suspended indefinitely following the death of Cameroonian player Albert Ebosse, who was hit by a stone thrown by fans after his side JS Kabylie's home defeat by USM Alger in Tizi Ouzou in August. It is believed that the stadium in which the attack took place was under maintenance at the time of the game and fans threw loose stones that were lying on the ground. The question needs to be asked why the venue was used when construction works were still in progress.

Algeria's football federation made a statement stating it had postponed the league "in protest at the irresponsible actions of certain fanatics and hooligans who resort to violence in the stadiums which has reached an unacceptable level". 

An investigation into Ebosse's death, and a deeper inquiry into football hooliganism in the country, has also been ordered by the Algerian interior ministry. This comes as a major blow to the Algerian F.A. who have benefited from the positivity generated by the performance of their team in the World Cup and their much heralded support for the Palestinian people.

Nigeria's football championship has also been suspended indefinitely because of a referees' strike in protest at the crisis surrounding the leadership of the countries Football Association. Referees have taken strike action following a controversial Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) ‘election’ on Tuesday, which has split the governing body. The Nigeria players' union and top club managers have also joined the boycott of the Nigerian league.

Outgoing NFF president Aminu Maigari was to preside over a scheduled meeting to design a road map for elections to the NFF executive committee. But Maigari, along with the secretary of the organisation Musa Amadu, was unable to attend because he was detained for "general questioning" by the Department of State Security. In his absence Chris Giwa was elected NFF president by a group of members backed by the country's Ministry of Sport. 

This situation contravenes a directive by football's world governing body FIFA, who said a in a letter to the NFF last week that it must decide on a new date for "an electoral process that is free and open to everybody". The developments have resulted in a situation where Nigeria is in danger of being suspended from world football for government interference. 

The disputes within the NFF have already led to a Fifa intervention, international suspension and the enforced return – twice – of Maigari. Another ban could affect Nigeria's 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Congo and South Africa early next month. 

In addition to the deep divisions in the NFF, the Super Eagles are still without a permanent coach after Stephen Keshi's contract was not renewed after the World Cup.  He has agreed only to take temporary charge of the team for their two upcoming Nations Cup qualifiers, having grown impatient with negotiations over a new deal.

Football is an incredibly popular sport in both countries like it is throughout the continent but this is another example of how administrators and governments are failing the people they claim to act on behalf of.