Nationalism vs. Chauvinism: Where is the line?
in Close to Politics ·
Soccer in Greece.
Chaos erupts in Greece following the big match
Massive backlash against the Albanian community
Violence has basically been baked into the fabric of the world's most popular sport for ages now—it's just part of the deal, I guess. We’re looking at one fatality, seven people injured, and at least 10 arrests following the riots that broke out Saturday night across several Greek cities. All this madness started after the reigning European champions lost their away game in Tirana, falling 1:2 during the opening round of World Cup qualifying.
So, you had members of the Albanian minority in Greece—decked out in flags and riding that high from the win—trying to celebrate their national team's victory, but the local Greeks weren't having any of it, leading to a massive confrontation. Things got particularly ugly in Athens over at Omonia Square, where police actually had to step in with stun grenades and a ton of tear gas just to stop the hooligans from completely overwhelming the Albanian groups. It wasn't just Athens, either—clashes popped up in Thessaloniki and even over on Corfu. Out on Zakynthos, things took a dark turn when a Greek man of American descent allegedly stabbed an Albanian man, who later succumbed to his injuries. The whole mess was fueled by both far-right extremists from the "Golden Dawn" group—who have a nasty history of targeting foreigners—as well as some leftist factions.
Things were pretty tense in North Mexico too, where the Albanian communities living in Skopje, Tetovo, Struga, and Kumanovo were celebrating the win by firing guns into the air.
Chaos erupts in Greece following the big match
Massive backlash against the Albanian community
Violence has basically been baked into the fabric of the world's most popular sport for ages now—it's just part of the deal, I guess. We’re looking at one fatality, seven people injured, and at least 10 arrests following the riots that broke out Saturday night across several Greek cities. All this madness started after the reigning European champions lost their away game in Tirana, falling 1:2 during the opening round of World Cup qualifying.
So, you had members of the Albanian minority in Greece—decked out in flags and riding that high from the win—trying to celebrate their national team's victory, but the local Greeks weren't having any of it, leading to a massive confrontation. Things got particularly ugly in Athens over at Omonia Square, where police actually had to step in with stun grenades and a ton of tear gas just to stop the hooligans from completely overwhelming the Albanian groups. It wasn't just Athens, either—clashes popped up in Thessaloniki and even over on Corfu. Out on Zakynthos, things took a dark turn when a Greek man of American descent allegedly stabbed an Albanian man, who later succumbed to his injuries. The whole mess was fueled by both far-right extremists from the "Golden Dawn" group—who have a nasty history of targeting foreigners—as well as some leftist factions.
Things were pretty tense in North Mexico too, where the Albanian communities living in Skopje, Tetovo, Struga, and Kumanovo were celebrating the win by firing guns into the air.