Missing out on Euro 2008 could present adventurous England fans with a chance to see some very different football instead of moping around Austria and Switzerland.

This summer at Gällivare in Sweden will see the second edition of the Viva World Cup. Staged by the NF Board for Non-FIFA nations, the tournament is being staged by the Sami Football Association, the SSL, from July 7 to 14.

The Sami – better known as Lapps but they see that as a derogatory term – won the first edition held at Hyeres in southern France two years ago. That first competition was plagued by withdrawals and a schism between the NF Board and the original hosts, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

'The Sami – better known as Lapps but they see that as a derogatory term – won the first edition held at Hyeres in southern France two years ago'


Northern Cyprus went ahead with their own tournament, anyway, poaching potential VWC contenders like Greenland and Tibet. As a result, the inaugural VWC was reduced to three teams: the Sami, Monaco and Occitania – a team made up of players mostly from southern France, who can speak the ancient medieval tongue.

The NF Board hope to have a women’s competition at the second VWC, which will see the first game kick-off at 11pm as Gällivare is in the land of the midnight sun. The Sami live in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia and the team they sent to Hyeres included a handful of Under-21 internationals and ran away with the competition, beating Monaco 21-1 in the final.

The Sami will be the favourites again. Ivar Morten Nomark – formerly the boss of Norwegian top-flight side Tromso – managed them in 2006 and is interested in doing the job again.

Applications to enter the second VWC close on January 31 and the NF Board hope the three teams from 2006 will be joined by a side from the Maltese island of Gozo, maybe Greenland and a team representing the Indonesian island of West Papua, who entered two years ago then pulled out.

Daring football fans that fancy more than one trip into the unknown could also take in Europeada 2008.

Despite the rather dubious title, this is another ‘international’ tournament for minorities. Organised by the Federal Union of European Nationalities, Europeada 2008 will be staged from May 31 to June 7 in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.

The deadline for registrations for Europeada 2008 was the end of December and the organisers are hoping to announce the line-up soon. Unlike the VWC, the organisers of Europeada 2008 are offering free dormitory accommodation for teams entering.

With funds limited, this may sway some teams away from the VWC, such as Occitania, which has already expressed interest in Europeada 2008. The organisers hope to attract 16 entries and stage two mini tournaments each of eight teams: one for minorities with a defined border; another for minorities whose identity is defined in a different way, such as the Roma, who promised to send a side to Hyeres but also withdrew.

Any fans booking up trips to either tournament may need to be patient as the schedules in either event could well face late changes but they will experience something very different and far less ‘corporate’ than UEFA’s Euro 2008.
  • Steve Menary is the author of Outcasts! The Lands That FIFA Forgot
http://outcasts-book.blogspot.com