I am sure you are aware that the UEFA EURO 2024 starts in just a couple of days from now. One of the world’s leading football events will gather the best in Europe as teams will try everything in their power to win the trophy. Sadly, like any other big event nowadays, this one had its controversies.
According to Nostrabet.com, it all started during the EURO 2024 draws that took place in late 2023. In case you do not remember, things got heated up during the event when a sound there was a sound that was taken straight out of an adult movie. “The situation was weird, to say the least, and it raised many questions about why and how it happened. According to some fans, it seems like this was a popular online prank that someone from the public stumbled upon”, said Veselin from NB.
There is no arguing this will go down in history as one of the most embarrassing moments in sports. The presenters and everyone else managed to maintain composure, but it was clear that something was wrong.
For better or worse, this is not the only EURO 2024 controversy that deserves more attention. Let’s learn more information about everything.
The Apolitical Euro 2024
Unfortunately, politics and sports are much closer than many would want them to be. This became clear many years ago, and the situation has not changed. In fact, many fans believe it is worse, so one of the 2024 UEFA EURO controversies is related to it.
Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA’s president, said in an interview a few months ago that he is hoping for a politic-free EURO 2024. This comment came after the controversy during the 2022 Qatar World Cup. During this event, some players wanted to use the so-called “One Love” armband.
The idea behind the armband was to fight discrimination, and several European countries decided to participate. However, the event’s organizers did not allow them to use it. What’s more, there was an issue with Belgium’s second shirt because the country had the word “Love” in it.
Following what happened, UEFA’s president said he doesn’t want anyone to use EURO 2024 for his political or personal ambitions. He also assured people that the organization is doing everything possible to fight discrimination and abuse in all forms.
The new controversial rule
When talking about the EURO 2024 controversies, we need to address UEFA’s new rule regarding the referees. This is another interesting change after the first one, which was related to managers having access to 26 players instead of 23.
The new rule that some people are worried about is related to the fact that only the team’s captain will be able to approach the referee. If the captain is the team’s goalkeeper, there will be a “selected” player who will have the ability to talk to the referee.
Players who approach the referee and show specific signs of disrespect will be booked. The idea here is that referees should be able to make better decisions, and they will be able to explain the captain why they’ve made a specific decision.
England’s Controversial EURO 2024 Kit
Considering that EURO 2024 will be one of the biggest football tournaments of the decade, it’s no surprise many fans want to buy a jersey of the teams they support. This especially true for countries like England because the latter is one of the big favorites to win the event.
Speaking of jerseys, Nike, one of the biggest sports brands in the world, received severe backlash over England’s kit. According to leaked images, it became clear that the kit features St. George’s flag, but instead of featuring the traditional red and white, Nike decided to use purple, red, and black and add a purple cross.
Even though this may not seem that important, the new kit faced serious backlash from fans, as well as politics. Rishi Sunak and even Keir Starmer, his political rival, said that no one should mess with the national flag.
It seems that Nike’s inspiration for its kit comes from England’s 1966 World Cup victory, which is the country’s biggest football success to date. Nike also said that they’ve been working with the FA since 2012 and never wanted to offend anyone. With that said, it seems like there won’t be any changes to the kit prior to EURO 2024.
The Germany Kit Controversy
England is not the only nation that has had a controversy about its football kit for EURO 2024. It seems like Germany is in the same boat, but the “scandal” here is completely different than the previous one.
Since Germany is hosting this year’s EURO finals, the country wanted everything to be perfect. There are no issues with the kit in terms of how they look, however, there was a problem with one specific shirt – Number 4.
Due to Adidas’s decision to use an exciting design, the number 44 resembled something that no one in the country wanted to think of. Unsurprisingly, this shirt faced severe backlash, which is why Adidas and the DFB decided to remove the number 4.
According to Adidas’s spokesperson, the similarities of the number 4 with Germany’s symbols from WWII was unintentional. Unlike Nike, however, who decided to leave England’s jerseys as they are, Adidas made changes.
Matheus Nunes Will Miss Out EURO 2024
Manchester City won the English Premier League for the 4th time in a row and proved once again it is the best club in England. Matheus Nunes was one of the players who had a role in his club’s success. However, because he hasn’t played much, he won’t be a part of Portugal’s squad for 2024.
What’s interesting is that Nunes played for Portugal in March, when the country defeated Sweden. Despite that, Roberto Martinez, Portugal’s coach, decided not to include him and added Ruben Neves instead. It became clear that the coach decided to skip on Nunes because the latter only played 15 games for Manchester City.
Following the decision of Portugal’s coach, Matheus Nunes is also among the footballers who will miss out on Euro 2024. Portugal is among the hidden favorites to win this competition, so we’re yet to see if this decision was for the better.
Currently, Portugal is in Group F, which consists of Georgia, Czechia, and Turkey, meaning that the country is the biggest favorite.
Fagioli Is In Italy’s Provision Squad Following a Betting Scandal
Many professional football players have been involved in betting scandals over the years. One of them is Nicolo Fragioli, a promising young Italian. He has been a part of a betting scandal that resulted in a 7-month ban. Despite that, Italy’s coach decided to add him to the country’s provisional squad.
Before the ban, many people thought that Fagioli was one of the best midfielders in Italy. A lot of people still believe that, but he hasn’t had that many opportunities to shine following his ban in October of 2023. We’re yet to see if he will shine in Germany a few weeks from now.
Spain’s Euro 2024 Scandals
Spain is one of the strongest football nations in the world and for a good reason. However, the last couple of months were not easy for the country’s football squad due to the many issues outside the pitch.
It all started with Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation. A lot of people were not happy with his actions because he kissed Jenni Hermoso on the mouth. After that, some people also claimed he was involved in corruption, so in the end, he was removed from his position.
The bad news is that his replacement, Pedro Rocha, also came under scrutiny and was also removed. This is when the Spanish government decided to take action and intervene in the situation. Even though many people thought this was a good idea, this decision caused serious backlash in FIFA and UEFA. The two organizations do not allow political interventions in national football.
There were rumors that this decision could lead to Spain’s removal from the UEFA EURO 2024, but this hasn’t happened. Spain is in Group B, and it will have to play against Italy, Croatia, and Albania. Needless to say, this will be one of the most intriguing groups at EURO 2024.
The fact that there are so many EURO 2024 controversies should not be a surprise because this is one of the year’s biggest sports events. Besides that, 2024 will also give us access to the Esports World Cup 2024 and the Paris 2024 Olympics. Both will gather fans from all over the globe.
All eyes are on Germany now because the EURO 2024 starts really soon. Many people questioned the decision that led to Germany’s host, so it will be interesting to see if the country will live up to the expectations. We must remember that Germany has hosted the EU championship in 1988.
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