Scoring solidarity
Eastern approaches 2018-02-27
Summary:
SHUNNED by members of other Czech football teams, who have refused to join them on the pitch, a Roma team is winning matches without having to score a single goal. In a show of support, Western diplomats played the Roma footballers on September 21st. But the friendly has had a little impact on the naysayers in what amounts to a case study of racism in central Europe.
The Roma have had their own football club in the northern Czech town of Děčín, near the German border, since 1962. The club ceased to exist three years ago after it failed to pay a fine following an on-pitch brawl during which a Roma goalkeeper hit a referee in the face. With financial help from the town hall this season (which also happens to be a municipal election season), the team was revived in a new incarnation, FC Junior Roma Děčín, and joined the Czech Republic's ninth league.
Five out of ten rival teams balked at the news of the Roma's comeback to the competition. In exchanges with the region's football...Continue reading