The biggest sporting spectacle of the year, the Euro 2021 is set to kick off in less than 24 hours with the participation of the English, Welsh and Scottish teams coming under the scanner from within their own countries. The general public opinion seems to be swinging towards the fact that the teams should not be participating in the first place.
One of the biggest drawn-out diplomatic events of the past few years was the much talked about “Brexit” or the British exit from the European Union. A spirited campaign led by politician Nigel Farage and current Prime Minister Boris Johnson ensured that the British population chose to leave the EU to pursue their economic growth. Interestingly, Scotland, which is also part of the United Kingdom, had voted to stay back in the EU but to no avail.
The exit was formally in place in February 2020 despite the long drawn out drama that took place and multiple rounds of discussions and “deals” that were proposed to the British parliament and rejected. Boris Johnson rose to power after multiple leaders tried to broker a deal but were unable to do so.
New tensions have risen where the EU claims that the UK is not respecting the terms of its agreement whereby the border between the Republic of Ireland (Part of the EU) and Northern Ireland (part of the UK) is not being used to check the imports from the EU. This could result in economic sanctions being put in place on the UK by the EU.
These political tensions and standoffs seem to have rolled over into the football field as well. Keeping in lines with the general public opinion, the England, Wales and Scotland football teams may have to drop out of the Euro 2021 on the eve of the tournament kick-off. Although no one from the sports fraternity has asked for this, the general word on the streets is that post Brexit, the UK is not part of the EU and should not participate in the Euro 2021. England, Scotland and Wales should be treated like Brazil, the USA or China who are not allowed to participate on account of them being non-European.
The qualification for the Euro 2021 is not a direct qualification purely based on the country’s affiliation to the European Union. 20 teams have to go through a qualification process in a group stage format while 4 countries qualify from the UEFA Nations League. The arguments that the 3 teams should not have been eligible for even participating in the qualifying rounds are gaining momentum.
Read the full article at: http://thedailyvanilla.com/2021/06/11/rules-of-brexit-should-apply-to-euro-2021-as-well-demand-british-public/