The Sorbs, the Cimbrians and the Welsh are among the teams bidding for European glory this week at an unusual international football tournament being played on the fringes of the Euro 2008.Reaching its climax on June 7 in the Swiss city of Chur — just as Euro 2008 kicks off in Basel — the Europeada tournament is being contested by amateur teams representing minority language groups from across the continent.“The idea started with a football game that was organised at the 2006 World Cup in Germany between the national minorities union FUEN (Federal Union of European Nationalities),” tournament spokesman Andrea Rassel said.“The tournament grew out of that and we now have 17 teams taking part — which by the way is one more than they have at Euro 2008.”For football fans more familiar with Serbians than Sorbians, the latter are a Slavonic nation with a population of around 50,000 in the Lusatia region straddling Germany and Poland.Other title contenders, as designated by country on the Europeada website, include Switzerland’s Rhaetians, the Aromunians of Romania and the Occitaniians of France.Enjoying the gameAlthough many of the teams share common concerns over the dwindling of their communities or a frequent lack of political recognition, Rassel says the aim of the event is simply to enjoy football. “By organising this tournament we do hope to show that Europe’s linguistic minorities add up to quite a large number of people, roughly one in seven of the continent’s population,” he said.Rassel acknowledges that the tournament has faced plenty of logistical challenges. Two teams from Eastern Europe pulled out due to a lack of funds. Another was turned back at the Swiss border because of problems with their visas.While the tournament boasts some exotic-sounding participants, it seems even the world of minority language soccer has its big guns.“I’ve heard that the team from Flensburg, representing the Danish minorities in Germany are pretty set on winning the title,” says Rassel. “Then you have to consider the Catalans as contenders given the importance of football across Spain.”
