Nations Not Fit for FIFA

A recent 4-4-2 magazine article about marginal nations banned from FIFA piqued my interest in some fascinating cultural enclaves. It’s hard to define or draw comparisons between these places/groups of people, but football appears to be a common thread. Combined with some fascinating geography, here are four of my favorite non-state footballing nations.

Basque
As non-FIFA teams go, the Basque football team is more internationally recognized than others. According to Phil Ball’s excellent book Morbo, the Basque Country of Spain and France (so named due to its border with the Bay of Biscay) has historically been a rich source of talent for professional Spanish teams. Even now, Atletic Bilbao has a strict policy of using only Basque players, and it’s possible to construct a very impressive team from among the Basques across the world, with Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso at the heart of its midfield. In general, Basques can be identified by their names, which contain more of certain letters like x, z and k than Spanish names. Here’s an example of the uniform and a formidable starting XI.
A sample Basque Starting XI

Sapmi
The Sapmi football team represents the Sami or Lapp people of northern Scandanavia. Players like Morten Gamst Pedersen and Sigurd Rushfeldt are Sami, and may play for the Sapmi national team after retiring from the Norwegian national side. Mostly a reindeer-herding people, the Sami were instrumental in organizing the Viva World Cup, which they will be hosting in 2008. They won the 2006 tournament in Occitania, scoring 42 goals in 3 games.
Sapmi Football Uniform

Occitania
Defined as the regions in France, Italy and Spain where the language of Occitanian is spoken, Occitania founded its football association in 1901. However, the Occitanian national side was only created in 2004. They hosted the inaugural Viva World Cup in 2006, and have played matches against Chechnya, Northern Cyprus and neighbors Monaco. Interestingly, Eric Cantona is elligible for the national side, while the Occitanian cross is the symbol of Toulouse FC.
Occitanian Flag

Tibet
The football-mad Tibetans have suffered under Chinese rule since they invaded the country in 1950. The international community’s failure to stand up for the Tibetans is reminiscient of tolerance for South Africa’s apartheid. As such, Tibet officially remains part of China and therefore has no chance of fielding its own FIFA-approved national team. A documentary called “The Forbidden Team” followed the selection, training and matches of Tibet’s first national game away against Greenland. China attempted to gazump the game by threatening to suspend trade with Denmark if it went ahead. However, the Danes allowed the game to be played and Tibet lost 4-1. Though they’ve still got no wins, every international match is a statement of independence from China. On the eve of the Tibetan selection tournament that was to determine who would represent the nation, Sonam Wangyal said:

“We are taught by our parents and everybody that you never pray for yourself, you pray for all beings in the world. All living things including the beings because that will include you. You’ll be uplifted with the beings. I just prayed that everybody gets selected.”