Punishing Dundalk FC for fans waving a Palestinian
Flag during a match against Croatian side Hajduk Split is a gross example of selective myopia. The town is reeling, and there are damn good reasons why.
The size of the fine is maddening and the club can ill
afford it. To compare, Villarreal
were fined €12k when someone threw a banana at Dani Alves; an action designed
to hurt and offend, and it did. The waving of a Palestinian flag by Dundalk FC
supporters was designed to do neither, and it didn’t.
It should be noted that Dundalk FC were fined for two offences, one for an inappropriate flag and the other for standing in the stadium. The latter comes under health and safety which is taken very seriously: In a highly comparable case from earlier this year, Bayern Munich had part of the stadium closed for fans standing. They too were issued with a fine, €10k, for inappropriate flags. How the fine is proportioned between the two offences will be interesting to see.
But I’m struggling to see the logic behind issuing the
fine at all. I am no UEFA, LOI, FA, ETC... aficionado; but it doesn’t take one
to see the myriad of comparable situations that have not incurred the wrath of
footballing authorities.
The road between Dundalk and Glasgow is a well worn
track. A small army makes the regular pilgrimage to matches of varying
importance and follow them across Europe. I’d dare say, if there were as many
committed Dundalk FC supporters in Dundalk as there are Celtic supporters, club
finances wouldn’t be taking so hard a hit. And in the bags of every platoon
that travel to Celtic games are the tricolours that those of us watching at
home use to spot the Irish in the crowd. And if Celtic were fined for every
tricolour...well you can start to see the argument that this was a politically
motivated fine.
And it’s not just a Dundalk or Celtic thing; from what
I can see flying a national flag as a signal of solidarity is part of the
fabric of football support. Since the news broke about the fine social media
users have been quick to point to many other instances of national flags flying
as signs of solidarity with something or other. There are so many it hardly
seems an uncommon occurrence. That’s why I’m struggling to understand how UEFA
have acted to issue a fine at all.
There is already a strong belief that the problem is
that flying the Palestinian flag was politicised, whether it was the fans that
flew the flags in the first place or UEFA’s disproportionate response that
really introduced that political question remains to be seen. The weighting of
the €18k fine between the two offences could be telling in this regard.
I don’t view the flying of a national flag as an
overtly political act; the national flag does not belong to the government, but
to the people. They are visual signifiers for where someone is from and if we
know the country represented, we might know something of what that country
has experienced. It is not a description of an individual or even a group’s
political, religious or any other opinions.
It is not clear to what degree the conflict in Gaza
has played a part in the fine or its scale, if it did at all. But considering
the size of the fine and so many other situations when flying a national flag
went without comment, it seems likely. But, there is no logic in presuming that
the flying of a national flag is an antagonistic act based on recent conflict.
If you follow that logic then every tricolour flown would be viewed as an
anti-British act, or the flying of a Union Jack and Stars
and Stripes would be anti-Iraqi, and so on until presumably, hopefully, someone
realises how foolish this line of thinking is.
There are examples where UEFA have issued fines when a
national flag has had a political slogan on it, or when it has been used in a
way that is intended to cause offence to the people of that nation. Celtic were fined €50k last year for a tricolour
with Bobby Sands on it being flown at a match against AC Milan. Earlier this
year Russian-side Zenit from St Petersberg was fined €15k for fans burning a
German Flag. The German Football Association was fined €25k when a
neo-nazi flag was flown at their Euro 2012 match against Denmark.
However, it is difficult to find
examples of national flags being flown in isolation, without some sort of
potentially offensive slogan or action that has incurred a UEFA fine.
€18k is a considerable sum for the club. There are
already calls for the fans to dig deep and help pay the fine. But it would be a
stomach churning response for the town raise funds for this fine and not for
the countless resource-starved charities and community groups that desperately
need money.
So if UEFA do not revoke the fine, in the face of
every other national flag that has appeared at a UEFA match, despite issuing
lower fines for worse acts and what appears to be their ignorant and illogical
presumption that flying a Palestinian flag in Dundalk was designed to inflict
harm or offend, then let’s be clear and determine exactly why they are
punishing anyone at all.
