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IN TODAY’S EDITION
1️⃣ The geopolitics of football |
2️⃣ Did a nuke agency just buy the internet? |
3️⃣ Shipwreck of the day |
Hi Intriguer. I’m a tad jealous of the 15,000 folks who gathered in London’s O2 arena last night: not only did they get to see rock band The Killers but, to everyone’s surprise, the band hit pause on their own gig to instead livestream the final few minutes of England v The Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semifinals (soccer) over in Germany.
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Moments later, England clinched the win (2-1), the crowd got showered in red and white confetti, and everyone went wild as The Killers ripped straight into their famous hit, ‘Mr Brightside’. The footage on social media looks wild.
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I love how sport (and entertainment) can produce these electric, unscripted moments. The Euro tournament does, however, also get embroiled in its fair share of geopolitics, which we’ll explore in today’s briefing. Onwards!
THE HEADLINES
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More Democrats and their donors speak out.
Several more have expressed doubts about President Biden’s re-election bid, despite efforts from his administration to quell concerns about his age and fitness. Nancy Pelosi has said “time is running short” for the president to decide whether to pull out, while actor George Clooney has written an op-ed in The New York Times titled ‘I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee’.
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Macron calls for a mainstream coalition.
Speaking out for the first time since Sunday’s parliamentary election, French President Emmanuel Macron has called on political parties that “identify with republican institutions, rule of law, parliamentarianism, a pro-European stance and French independence to have a sincere, loyal dialogue” towards forming a new government. His wording seems designed to exclude both the hard right National Rally and the hard left France Unbowed.
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Israel orders evacuation of Gaza City.
The Israeli military has dropped leaflets ordering “everyone in Gaza City” to evacuate in preparation for a renewed operation in the enclave’s north. Over the past two weeks, the military has re-entered zones in central and northern Gaza it had previously declared clear of Hamas. For its part, Hamas says this could derail renewed efforts to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage deal.
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UAE hands down life sentences to 43 activists.
Over 80 lawyers, academics, and activists who were reaching the end of their prison time were unexpectedly sentenced again this week. A majority received additional prison time, with 43 getting life. The authorities accused the men, who’d called for political reforms, of starting a “terrorist” organisation.
TOP STORY
The geopolitics of UEFA football
UEFA = ‘Union of European Football Associations’
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With Europe’s UEFA men’s football (sorry, ‘soccer’) championship final happening this Sunday, what better time to have a look at the geopolitics of it all?
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Let’s dig in.
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‘The Euros’ is the top tournament for Europe’s national football teams and it’s a big deal. It’s the second-most watched football championship in the world after the FIFA World Cup, and the 2020 edition (which was confusingly held in 2021 due to Covid) had a cumulative audience of over 5 billion worldwide.
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The first Euros kicked off back in 1960, and immediately hit turbulence:
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That very year, Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco banned his team from travelling to Moscow to play against the Soviets
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Franco’s Spain then hosted the next edition, but got boycotted by others like West Germany, and this sort of thing has just kept happening
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Eg, UN sanctions prevented the Yugoslav team from playing in 1992, as the state splintered into several entities and descended into war.
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Of course, 2024 has been no exception, so here are four moments where geopolitics crushed too many beers and streaked across the Euro pitch:
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An 🇦🇱 Albanian striker got banned after leading ‘nationalist’ chants
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When his team drew against Croatia, Mirlind Daku celebrated by pulling out a megaphone and leading fans in some provocative chants against Serbia and North Macedonia (reflecting long-running ethnic tensions and periodic armed conflict in the region).
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Daku later apologised, but it might all explain why the dude only got five minutes of game-time the whole series, and why Albania returned home without a medal though as UEFA’s most-fined nation. And speaking of fines…
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🇷🇸 Serbia copped a $10k fine after fans waved ‘provocative’ flags
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Serbia doesn’t recognise Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, and their border skirmishes have repeatedly threatened to escalate. That’s why it was more than a little edgy when Serbian fans brandished flags showing Kosovo within its borders, plus a ‘never surrender’ slogan.
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Separately, a Kosovar reporter got banned for responding to Serbian fans with an ‘eagle’ hand gesture reflecting Albania’s flag (most Kosovars are ethnic Albanians). And speaking of hand gestures…
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A 🇹🇷 Turkish centre-back got banned for an ‘extremist’ hand gesture
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After scoring his second goal against Austria, Merih Demiral did a ‘wolf’ hand gesture that’s actually banned in Austria for its close links to the Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist Turkish group outlawed in France and elsewhere.
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Demiral’s handiwork also irritated Germany’s interior minister, who insisted “the symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums”. But others argue it’s a historical (rather than political) symbol, and Turkey’s president defended Demiral, insisting the guy was just “showing his excitement”.
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Interestingly, the incident happened just as a trial kicked off in Turkey over the 2022 murder of the former Grey Wolves leader, Sinan Ates. Meanwhile…
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🇷🇺 Russia is banned, but 🇧🇾 Belarus (its ally) isn’t
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Putin’s decision to invade his neighbour has not only got half a million of his own soldiers wiped out, plus international warrants for his own arrest, but also bans on Russia participating in all kinds of tournaments (including this UEFA one).
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Host country Germany tried to get Belarus banned too, because Belarus has allowed Russia to invade from Belarusian territory. But UEFA ultimately declined. Instead, it ruled that Belarus and Ukraine couldn’t play in the same group.
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And all of the above is before we even look at the governing body itself: UEFA.
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Headquartered in Switzerland, UEFA runs football, futsal, and beach football (lol) in Europe plus Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Israel. It earns waterfalls of cash by selling broadcasting, advertising, and tickets.
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And yes, when you mix that geography, history, and cashflow, you obviously get intrigue, particularly around who gets to join, and who gets to host.
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UEFA’s last big expansion took effect in 2016, growing the tournament from 16 to 24 teams – interestingly, some of the biggest members (like Germany and England) opposed it, purportedly on the grounds that it’d dilute the quality.
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And there’ve been various hosting scandals over the years, like when a Cypriot official accused UEFA committee members of accepting $12M in bribes to support the joint Ukraine-Poland hosting bid for the 2012 tournament. Authorities later closed the case due to a lack of evidence.
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Anyway, don’t let us stop you from enjoying the final. It’s this Sunday (local time) at Berlin’s historic Olympiastadion, featuring England against Spain.
INTRIGUE’S TAKE
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There’s really no better place where you can learn about the wide variety of offensive hand gestures and chants than a football stadium.
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That aside, this tournament has actually been relatively smooth and even delivered some harmless geopolitical lulz, like rival fans poking fun at one another using their beloved national foods.
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It’s mostly all now a benign space to indulge in old grudges without resorting to the old methods. But yes, beyond the stadium, old methods (war) are now back in vogue again, and that’s going to play out in sports.
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For now, the main flashpoints will remain around the peripheral symbols: gestures, songs, flags, and who’s allowed to play. That’s because each of these things, and the decisions around them, reflect deeper questions around what we accept as normal. And deep down, that’s arguably what we fight about.
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Also worth noting:
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The next two tournaments in 2028 and 2032 will be held in the UK and Ireland, and Italy and Turkey respectively.
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Current UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has been accused of making key appointments on the basis of loyalty rather than ability.
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The parallel Copa America men’s tournament is older (founded in 1916) and smaller (16 teams). Its final is also this Sunday, with Argentina facing Colombia in Florida’s Miami Gardens.
A MESSAGE FROM PROJECT SYNDICATE
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MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE…
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🇨🇳 China: According to Reuters, India is accelerating plans to develop hydro plants near its border with China, prompting China’s foreign ministry to double down on its territorial claims. The dispute involves an area in the Himalayas which both India and China claim as their own.
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🇩🇪 Germany: After years of debate, Berlin has announced it’s cutting ties with China’s Huawei, booting the telecoms giant from its 5G networks by 2029. The US and other Western powers have long warned about Huawei’s risk to national security, and have announced network bans in recent years following Australia’s earlier decision in 2018.
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🇹🇭 Thailand: In its first senate race since the 2014 coup, Thailand has elected 200 new senators who’ll replace the previous military-appointed upper house. Thailand’s senate no longer gets a say in selecting the country’s prime minister, but it remains pivotal in safeguarding the royalist establishment’s interests.
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🇲🇽 Mexico: President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has announced she’s planning to build three passenger train lines from Mexico City to several cities on the US border, nearly doubling the country’s current debt-financed rail-building program. When asked what this means for his country, the outgoing president (‘AMLO’) said “jobs, lots of jobs.”
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🇮🇱 Israel: Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said the country plans to issue draft notices to previously exempt ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in the coming weeks. Ultra-Orthodox groups have long resisted military service on religious grounds but ultimately lost their case at the Israeli supreme court last month.
EXTRA INTRIGUE
Here’s what’s happening in other worlds
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Tech: A US nuclear agency (the Defense Threat Reduction Agency) has reportedly bought access to a tool that covers more than 90% of the world’s internet traffic, as part of a vulnerability testing exercise for the US and its allies.
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Art: Tasmania’s famous Museum of Old and New Art is now embroiled in a scandal after it emerged that its Picasso portraits were actually fakes.
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History: While trudging through a sewer in Bulgaria (presumably for professional purposes), archaeologists have stumbled upon a well-preserved Roman statue of the ancient Greek god Hermes.
SHIPWRECK OF THE DAY
Credits: Royal Geographic Society/PA.
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One of the world’s most famous shipwrecks is getting an extra layer of protection after the 56 signatories of the Antarctic Treaty System backed plans to expand the conservation zone around Ernest Shackleton’s shipwreck.
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Shackleton (an explorer) and his crew of 27 set sail on the Endurance for Antarctica in 1914, hoping to make the first full crossing of the Antarctic. But the ship quickly became trapped in an icepack and sank, leaving the men stranded on the Antarctic ice. Miraculously, all the crew survived their two-year trial, cementing Shackleton as one of history’s greatest explorers.
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The Endurance’s shipwreck was discovered only in 2022, 107 years after it sank.
DAILY POLL
How do you think the Euro football hosting rights should be awarded? |
Yesterday’s poll: Would you be more likely to buy a pricier gadget if it came with a supply chain guarantee?
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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🌳 Yep, a small premium is worth the global impact (42%)
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🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ 🔎 Nope, I don’t think I can trust the guarantees (38%)
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🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📱 Nope, things are already too expensive (18%)
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⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!) (2%)
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Your two cents:
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🌳 B.B: “So long as consumer protection agencies can verify that the supply chain guarantee from the company is valid, a premium is understandable and might encourage other businesses to follow suit.”
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🔎 R.H: “I would REALLY want to trust the guarantee, but considering how corporations game the system with things like ‘net-zero emissions’, I don’t see how I could.”
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📱 I.B: “Purchasing a pricier gadget at this time will not happen. The future? Maybe.”
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✍️ J.G: “I buy everything (almost!) used/gently used. Or new old stock.“
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