The pro European Union (EU) political elite are being very quiet about what might happen to national identity, as they really do not want anger sports fans. But just as they’re keeping quiet about forthcoming regulation, and just as there was sweeping denial (until recently) about a European Union Army – they’ve got designs on our Three Lions too.
Europe-based national football teams, (indeed all national sports teams), are quite incompatible with the principles of the EU. Toine Manders, a member of the European Parliament and part of the notoriously pro-EU Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) let slip plan is to eliminate national teams in 2007. At the time, he was part of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy in the Netherlands. The party leader and Prime Minister is now David Cameron’s good friend Mark Rutte.
The Scottish Sun noted in 2007:
SCOTS soccer heroes last night teamed up to blast plans to scrap our national side. Former players put the boot into the proposal by Dutch MEP ToineManders – which would consign our famous dark blue shirt to history. He wants all countries teams within Europe scrapped – insisting national football is against the principles of the EU.
In 2014, Mr. Manders spearheaded a proposal to look at equipping vehicles across the EU with number plates in “common colours”, attempting once again to eradicate the Union Flag, Cross of St George, Scottish Saltire or Welsh dragon.
The long term aim of the EU is to dismantle all the European nations by breaking them up into EU regions. England is listed to become nine regions. Nation states cannot exist in the future EU, and you will no longer be English or French but ‘European’.
The excitement and drama generated by inter-nation competition will cease. The questions must be asked: will the Commission allow an ‘England’ sports team to exist when they have gone to such lengths to remove England from the map of Europe? Would they allow an ‘England’ team to be selected from nine regions, but a ‘Scotland’ team from only one?
It may be that parts of eastern England will be lumped together with bits of Western Europe to form a new area from which to select a soccer team – called ‘Trans-Manche’ perhaps? Who would want to cheer for such an artificial area?
The Commission has already signalled its desire, with the Manders’ plan, to close down national teams and take full control of European football. The EU particularly wants this control for its potential as a platform for propaganda. If you eradicate national identity and national symbols, it is far easier to make people bow to Brussels. We’ve seen sort of anti-nationalism for decades from the EU.
The European Commission is intent, sooner or later, to have the EU Anthem being played at every European championship match even though it was removed from the Lisbon Treaty.
Football clubs linked to a town/city, such as Liverpool and Manchester, will be safe, but certainly not national teams.
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