Does UEFA have double standards? – Hungary is on watchlist; other cases neglected
The recent few weeks had been quite busy for Hungary in the international scene, getting quite a bit of media coverage. Since the kneeling incident and the passing of the “homophobic” law by the Hungarian government, many of these issues even got mixed into the EURO2020 football Championships and have followed the Hungarian team as well. But it may seem that the Hungarian team is watched more closely than some other issues.
The series of events started when during the preparatory match of the EURO2020 Championships, the Hungarian team has played against the Irish.
Before the kick-off, the Irish team has decided to kneel to protest against racism, but the Hungarian team has refused to do so,
while the fans had whistled at the Irish for doing so. This has triggered quite a bit of bad media for the Hungarian team. Later, even the Hungarian President had commented on the issue, stating that kneeling on the soccer field is foreign to Hungarian culture.
On another note, the international monitoring organisation called Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) has made an official announcement to the UEFA Disciplinary Committee because
during the Hungarian-Portuguese match, some fans held anti-LGBTQ banners high in the auditorium.
They have also commented on the kneeling incident and had asked UEFA to penalise the Hungarian Football Association (MLSZ) for announcing that the Hungarians were not going to kneel and also because of the fans expressing their anti-LGBTQ views. Additionally, Facebook has recently deleted a Hungarian page dedicated to football memes without any warning or explanation.
Allianz Arena can not protest against Hungarian “homophobic” law
What is behind the menacing march of Hungarian football fans?
On June 15th, more than 60,000 fans were present in the Puskás Arena at the Hungary-Portugal football match.
Many people were pleased with the full-house match, just as Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was, and it reminded many people of the life before the pandemic. However, not everyone was happy about it.
According to the Slovak Ministry of Health, it could have serious epidemiological consequences. You can read more about the report HERE.
The Hungarian team is observed carefully by many organisations as well as UEFA following the current political atmosphere in Hungary. Still, there are certain things that might also need looking into, which seems to have avoided the attention of any of these organisations.
What is behind the menacing march of Hungarian football fans?
Mandiner wrote that UEFA announced on Sunday that they are looking into both matches organised in Hungary because it was reported that the home team’s fans had shouted discriminatory lines. However, the French fans were not so restrained themselves. According to goal.com, there is a video on which the
fans of the French team have thrown plastic bottles and cups at the Hungarian goalkeeper after an unsuccessful attempt at scoring by the French team.
According to Telex, a Hungarian fan was quarantined because a French family infected by COVID-19 had participated in the Hungary-France match in the Puskár Aréna last week. According to the affected fan, he was contacted by the Hungarian National Centre for Public Health.
They told him that because they were in close contact with the infected family, his child, who was also at the stand, has to be quarantined for ten days.
The father does not necessarily have to be quarantined as he has received his vaccination.
When Telex contacted the Hungarian National Centre for Public Health, they have confirmed what the Hungarian fan had said. The man was notified as part of the contact tracing. The centre told the news site that
“other Hungarian fans watched the match from another sector, in the area dedicated for Hungarian fans, so they are not close contacts. The French contacts travelled home after the match. We are not aware of any contamination of the contacts”.
According to our knowledge, when the article was written, nor UEFA nor any other organisation offered to launch an investigation on the past two incidents. Still, it will continue to watch the Hungarian team and fan base carefully.
Source: Goal.com, mandiner.hu, telex.hu, Daily News Hungary