Non-Fifa
Padania get the nod
The next edition of the Viva World Cup (VWC) for Non-FIFA (NF) teams will be held in northern Italy in the summer of 2009.
Padania secured the rights to host the third VWC after a vote at the fifth annual assembly of the organisers, the NF Board, in Milan.
NF Board secretary-general Jean-Luc Kit said: “In 2009, we hope six or eight teams [attend] and an official VWC for women. No more decisions as yet. We have to work on these elements.”
The Padania team was set up by the Lega Nord political party representing northern Italy, and it is hoped that the Final of the 2009 VWC will be staged at the San Siro in Milan. Other matches could be held in a variety of locations, with Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Monza, Varese and Verona all in the running, depending on the number of entrants.
Padania were winners of the second VWC in Gellivare in Swedish Samiland - more commonly known as Lapland - in July 2008. The event attracted five teams and was a closer competition than the first tournament, held in Occitania in 2006, which took the NF Board close to a decade to organise and was plagued by withdrawals and one-sided games. Only four teams ending up taking part, and the Sami beat Monaco 21-1 in the Final.
Padania, the French region of Provence, Iraqi Kurdistan and a team representing the Arameac minority in Sweden competed in the 2008 VWC and all were admitted to the NF Board at the Milan assembly. The Maltese island of Gozo and an association representing Wallonia in Belgium were also invited to join.
How many of these teams will compete in northern Italy later this year is hard to gauge at present. The Sami and Monaco are expected to travel, but money is an enduring problem for most sides.
Gozo had promised to take a strong side, including Malta international Daniel Bogdanovic, to Gellivare but they did not travel due to a lack of funds. The relatively short trip to Milan should help this time round and the islanders will be keen to attend in order to build relations with other teams before they host the tournament in 2010.
With Gozo, Kurdistan and Padania all having bid for the 2009 competition, the NF Board decided the VWC should be held more often and a tournament has been pencilled in for 2011 or 2012 in Kurdistan. Members of the Kurdistan FA were unable to secure visas to travel to the assembly in Milan, and secretary-general Kit commented: “We need a meeting soon with the Kurdistan FA in Paris, Brussels or Monaco.”
Staging a tournament in Kurdistan will be even more problematic given concerns over the safety situation and travel costs.
The NF Board hopes that the profile of the competition, which was helped by increased TV coverage and four-figure crowds at some matches in 2008, will be raised further by 2009 and 2010, with sponsorship forthcoming to help teams wishing to travel to Kurdistan.
By Steve Menary
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