The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has apologised to China for listing Tibet as a ‘neighbouring country’ of China rather than part of the People’s Republic of China on an official website of the FIFA World Cup 2006 launched last week (3 December). FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, confirmed today that it had apologised to Beijing after receiving complaints from the Chinese Football Association and people in China.
The People’s Daily reported today (10 December): ‘The misinformation, spreading worldwide through the Internet, drew the ire of the Chinese people. Many domestic websites are awash with complaints from indignant readers and surfers who sent missives to FIFA, seeking an explanation.’ The People’s Daily said that according to a message posted on the Chinese website www.sina.com, the feelings of the Chinese people were hurt by the FIFA wording. A FIFA spokesperson said: ‘We simply made an editorial error. We are a sporting association, not a political one. Our correction was not a reflection of political views or a particular position but an acceptance of a situation.’
The mention of Tibet was in the list of countries neighbouring China in the ‘country information’ section of the FIFA World Cup website, www.fifaworldcup.com . Tibet has now been taken off this list, and FIFA also refers to the highest point of China as being Qomolongma, the Chinese name for Mount Everest (known as Chomolungma among Tibetans) which is in Tibet.
In 2001, China attempted to prevent a football match in Denmark between a Tibetan team, the Tibetan National Football Association, comprising exiles from India, Nepal and Europe team, against Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. China could not impose pressure through FIFA on Greenland because Greenland is not a member. Instead the Chinese authorities attempted to sway the Danish government, as Denmark is a FIFA member, by stating that as neither the Tibetans nor Greenland were members of FIFA, the match could not be recognised as an official or ‘international’ game. The Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen stated that it was ‘strongly opposed’ to the football match ‘because Tibet is a part of China.’ The Embassy said: ‘This fact is accepted by 160 nations that have diplomatic relations with China – including Denmark. Tibet is not a nation, and does not have an international team. This game is not about sport, but about politics.’ According to one press report, denied by the Danish authorities in Copenhagen, China even threatened to stop its lucrative shrimp import from Greenland. Despite the pressure, Denmark billed the match as a private event, and allowed it to go ahead.
A member of the Tibetan team who played in Denmark, Karma Samdup, who lives in London, said: ‘I can understand that FIFA was in a difficult position over the wording on its website as China has a particularly intimidating approach to organisations, and governments, that challenge its position on Tibet. But as far as Tibetans are concerned, it is not correct to say that Tibet is part of China, and FIFA should be aware of that too. To accept Beijing’s position without taking into account that of the Tibetan people would also be in breach of FIFA’s non-political stance.’
This is one in a series of independent reports by Kate Saunders commissioned by the Australia Tibet Council, Free Tibet Campaign and the International Campaign for Tibet.
