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Scotland and England play in the European Championship this summerScotland will participate in the opening match against Germany on Friday, June 14. But why do Scotland and England, along with Wales and Northern Ireland who did not qualify for this tournament, play as separate nations, when they are all united? Part of one country, the United Kingdom.

The UK’s position is not only as the inventor of football, But also as leaders in the international game, it is why the UK’s four members – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – are allowed to compete as separate national teams.

150 years since the first international match between England and Scotland

after The first international laws of the game were drawn up by the English Football Association (FA) in 1863In the year the organization was founded, England and Scotland played what is known as the first ever international football match. 0-0 draw in Glasgow on Saturday 30 November 1872.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) was founded the following year, followed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) in 1876 and the Irish Football Association (IFA) in 1880 – and beginning in 1884, the Four Nations, which by then was Ireland Before the split, they then began facing each other on an annual basis in what was initially called the British International Championship (later the British Home Championship).

“The whole idea of ​​countries playing against each other actually comes from Britain […]”,” “Only at the end of the 19th century did other countries start playing,” Stefan Szymanski, co-author of Soccer Science and a professor at the University of Michigan, said in an interview with Business Insider in 2018.

Furthermore, British influence over the then nascent game was strengthened in 1886, when the four national associations came together to form the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body responsible to this day for devising and approving changes to the international football system. . Rules of the game. (Although the British quartet are no longer the sole members of the FIFA Council, they continue to exercise enough power among themselves to block potential new laws.)

The original countries were allowed to remain separate when FIFA was founded

All of which meant that by the time FIFA was founded in 1904, it was felt that the UK’s national associations were too powerful to be forced to merge into a single association, at the same time as it was accepted that their participation was essential to the credibility of the association. International football. Newly established global governing body.

“For FIFA British membership was considered vital to the union “They claim to represent the interests of a global game that was invented and developed in Britain,” Kingston University professor Peter J. Beck said in a 1999 paper published on FIFA’s website.

The English Football Association, the SFA, the FAW and the IFA – the latter of which saw its governing powers limited to Northern Irish football after the partition of Ireland in 1921 – joined FIFA by 1911. Over the next three and a half decades, they left the organization twice and returned en masseThey finally became members forever in 1946.

A special status stipulated in the FIFA Statutes

The exceptional status of the home nations as separate football nations had to be written into the FIFA laws. In order to be a member of FIFA, and thus gain permission to compete as a FIFA-recognised country, current regulations stipulate that a country’s football association must first be part of its regional association – in this case, UEFA, the European game’s regulator. . body. All four are, but FIFA adds in Article 11, paragraph 1: “Only one union should be recognized as a member in each country.” Given that FIFA continues to define a “state” as “an independent state recognized by the international community”, this would pose a problem for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland if they were not given a way out of such a requirement.

After all, although the United Kingdom refers to itself as a union of four different countries, none of them enjoy internationally recognized independence; This description applies only to the United Kingdom as a whole. Fortunately for the FA, the Saudi Sports for All Federation, the FAO Team and FIFA, the FIFA Statutes add that Article 11, paragraph 1, is subject to Article 11, paragraph 5, which states: “Each of the four British associations should be recognized as a separate member of FIFA.”

Team UK has competed in the Olympics – but only once in the past 60 years

The United Kingdom has provided The men’s team has participated in the Olympic soccer tournament on 10 occasionsThe most recent was in 2012. However, this is the only time this has happened since 1960, amid British concerns that it could be used as a precedent to force local nations to play as one team in all competitions. This is particularly true for the three smaller nations of the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Not least because of the prospect of a British team centered around England. At the 2012 Olympics, 13 of the 18 members of the men’s team were English.

For the four UK nations, their national football teams are an important outlet for expressing their individual identities – but again, this is particularly the case in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. “England has maintained political power over other countries within the United Kingdom throughout history Tom Gibbons wrote in his book English National Identity and Football Fan Culture: Who Are You? Given that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have in recent years gained greater power for self-government in devolved assemblies, The combined British national team would be politically at loggerheads with this trend Towards decentralization

In fact, even Shimansky He believes this will contribute to the breakup of the United Kingdom. He told Business Insider in 2016: “I would go so far as to say, if FIFA actually forced Britain to form a single team, rather than have four home nations, the Scots would effectively demand independence.” “They held a referendum on independence.” A few years ago [in 2014]Which they lost by a narrow margin It would be overwhelmingly in favor of Esteghlal if they lost their football team, Because this is the only way to get their football team back. That would be important enough for the Scots, I have no doubt about that in my mind. Brexit may have made this idea inevitable anyway.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed to the British Football Associations the participation of the British team in the men’s Olympic tournament. “It certainly would not jeopardize in any way the 130, 140 or 150 years of history of the original four nations,” However, the UK will not participate in the Rio 2016 Games or the postponed Tokyo Games this summer. However, a British women’s team played in Japan.