The Eastern League

The Champions League is a rich man's club, complain football teams from the south and east from nine European countries. They are willing to create an alternative: the League "oriental". The revolt is led by Dinamo Bucharest and Greece's Olympiakos Pireu and joined 14 other clubs: Steaua and Rapid from Romania, the Turkish Galatasaray Istanbul and Besiktas PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece, the Serbian Steaua and Partizan Belgrade, Hajduk Split in Croatia, Cyrpiot Apoel Nicosia, Maribor Slovenia, equipment and TSKA Sofia: Levski Sofia and Ukraine's contribution Donestk and Dinamo Shakhtor Kiev.It is part of the pride and partly from the Eastern decade money.In players, defeated by well-heeled competitors from West, consistently failed to qualify for joining the Union of European Football Associations and the Champions League. This translates into a loss of up to one million dollars a year for each losing team in their advertising for profit and is involved in transmission, in comparison with the giants of Spain, Germany, Italy, or even Eastern England.The League is not a fact, however. First, it must be voted and approved by the International Federation of Football Association and UEFA, world and European football associations, respectively. This can be difficult. The game is being organized as a cartel, old style, with each regional association of envy of their market share and clout.Still, football in the underworld of the East is at its lowest point. That its economy will get worse - the inventiveness of managers and players from both clubs. In January 2003, the Bulgarian team Levski offer, with great fanfare, 250,000 of its shares to the fans in order to break the Guinness Book of Records of the Manchester United.It was immediately criticized for having snatched the innocent. The shares of "free", which is that buyers not bitter, was attached to a season ticket at full price. Alternatively, shareholders may request to purchase a membership club for $ 25 - a couple of days of wages in the impoverished country. Newswires quoted by Presstext.Europe and NewsFox, an official of Levski Todor Batkov said that "true fans should not give and take by the club." Football teams in the former communist countries realize that it is neither big or no time. Romanian club Universitatea Craiova has recently courted Paul Gascoigne, a British asset, known for his exploits off the field for all he has done in him. The floating figure was $ 170,000 - a fortune in Romania where the average annual consumption is around $ rarely 2000.Omnipotent President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov granted citizenship immediately - with a presidential decree constitutionally dubious - Cup of Bulgaria, Georgi Georgiev Alexs Dionisiev attacker and defender. This allowed them to keep their Bulgarian passports, even when he played for the host country in the world has always been Cup.Football politics. Violence inspired by virulent nationalism mouth are often more visible in bilateral matches.In a typical case last year, three policemen were injured and nine Bosnian Serb fans were arrested after a fight after the first football match since 1992 between Borac Republika Srpska and Sarajevo Zeleznicar. The team of Muslim and Croat fans who needed police escort in Banja Luka, to escape the wrath of local thugs. Borac had to play two games in empty stadiums and in part with $ 1500 in the Football Association of Bosnia fines.The - representing 14 clubs from the parts of the Croat-Muslim country divided - joined in May 2002 with 6 colleagues in the Republika Srpska. They formed a league policy and a common professional association. Moreover, the two entities already sent a joint team at the Olympics in 2000 and maintain a single basketball federation. However, even this apparent reconciliation failed to prevent the effusion of hostilities.Nor is football-related aggression merely nationalistic fervor. Slovak fans taunted black English players Emile Heskey and Ashley Cole with racist slogans in October last year. The vast majority of people - and medical equipment outside - threatening recited "monkey, monkey" at the top of their lungs for minutes end.Quoted by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Michal Vesecka, researcher at the Slovak Institute of Foreign Public in relation to the abuse of the problems in cultural development and identity: "Slovakia is a country that is the most ethnically diverse in Central Europe, but the" culture of tolerance "is not well developed [ here], as in the European Union, "or even against neighboring countries like the Czech Republic