Tuesday, June 15, 2021
The missing N
North Macedonia jersey angered Greeks
North Macedonia is the underdog of the current European Football Championship. Now they are attracting the anger of the Greeks. The North Macedonian Football Association is still the Macedonian. The addition “North” is missing on the jersey. The Greek foreign minister is writing a letter to his counterpart.
The smallest country, the first participation, the biggest outsider: North Macedonia, newcomer to the European Championship, is currently winning the hearts of all underdog lovers. But the wave of sympathy makes a wide berth to Greece. Rather, the politicians in the neighboring country were furious when North Macedonia stepped onto the lawn against Austria on Sunday. The simple reason: a missing “N” on the jersey. As usual, the shirts read “FFM”. The letters stand for “Fudbalska Federacija na Makedonija”, the national football association. Unlike the republic, this one did not rename itself in 2018 after years of name dispute with Greece. There is still no trace of the addition “North”.
So Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias wrote a letter to his North Macedonian counterpart. In it he suggested “NM” for North Macedonia or “RNM” for Republic of North Macedonia as an acronym. The main thing is that an “N” appears. He also asked to finally change the name of the association. Sport Minister Lefteris Avgenakis also turned to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin with a request to take up the issue.
The color red
The background to the dispute, which also concerns the cultural legacy of Alexander the Great, is the Greek region of Macedonia, which includes the city of Salonika. About two million Greeks live there. The Hellenes once even vetoed their neighbors joining NATO.
North Macedonia meanwhile rejected criticism of the kit. Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani replied that neither “FFM” nor the acronym “MKD” contradicted the Prespa agreement, which ended the dispute in 2018. “The Football Association of Macedonia is an independent and non-profit organization that is registered as an association and as such does not receive any state money. The Prespa agreement only includes institutions that receive state money,” he said.
Means: On Thursday against Ukraine, which for its part has just led a political dispute with Russia about national borders on the jersey, the well-known shirts from the Austria game will be used. But that’s not all. The “wrong” red color of the North Macedonia jersey also caused trouble recently.
Always excitement
Because the EM jersey was initially in a burgundy red instead of the usual bright red, an outcry went through the country. It was said whether North Macedonia was Latvia or Portugal. And although President Stevo Pendarovski even presented Pope Francis (“he prays for us”) with a burgundy red jersey, the association changed the design without further ado.
More than 16,000 people had previously signed a petition calling for a new jersey “before it was too late”. Even captain Goran Pandev from Genoa FC had criticized the choice of colors by posting subtle pictures of old jerseys in the “correct” red. However, there was no “N” on it. In the case of Marko Arnautovic, UEFA has now initiated ethics and disciplinary proceedings against the Austrian. He faces a penalty for his emotional, but possibly provocative goal celebration in the European Championship preliminary round, in the worst case even a tournament exclusion.
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