North Korean Football team get Harsh Treatment upon return home
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the North Korean football team performed admirably well for a side whose last appearance was in 1966. Even though they lost all three of their group stage matches, the team was performing pretty well until a horrendous 7-0 defeat to Portugal. However, upon the team’s return to North Korea they faced a severe grilling and a six-hour public inquiry into what happened. It was a bit unfortunate that this happened to them because they played with a lot of heart, but at the end of the day this is North Korea and it is not really known for fair human rights.
North Korea’s football team made their first appearance at the World cup stage since 1966. In qualifying for the 2010 tournament, the team performed very well but in their previous matches at the World Cup in South Africa, not a lot of people would have been able to name even one North Korean player. During the group stage of the tournament this year they faced one of the most opposite teams to them that anyone could have imagined, Brazil. The Brazilian footballers are global superstars and football fans almost worship them all over the world and especially in their home country. A more mismatched contest could not have been imagined on a world stage before this match.
North Korea is an odd place. It has been ruled by its supreme leader Kim Jong-Il for as long as anyone can remember. It has an almost foreign media blackout and is known for human rights abuses on numerous stages. From this stifling environment emerged a very impressive football team made up of some very skilled and talented players. No one expected the team to perform well and in North Korea there was a total television ban on showing the team’s matches because of a fear that it would cause national embarrassment. This was very unfair of the government because the fans of the team in their own home country could not support their own team. It seems the problem occurred when the team rallied to a narrow defeat by the Brazilians by only a single goal. This performance was so impressive that the national broadcasters decided to show the team’s next match live on TV. The next match to be played against the Portuguese team was broadcast all over Korea, and unfortunately for the team and its coach, North Korea were defeated by 7 goals. It was an absolute goal fest and the flustered and out of sorts Koreans could find nothing in response.
This was very unlucky for the North Korean team because as it so happens with human nature people forget every past victory and only remember the disastrous defeats. This is exactly what happened to the North Korean team upon their return home. The coach, Kim Jong-hun, had expected a very warm welcome for the team when they touched down at the airport. What he got instead probably surprised him as it did most foreigners listening to the scant news items coming out of the isolationist state.
The entire team, except for two players who went to Japan straight after the tournament, faced a six hour public grilling. The poor coach who led his team to a very impressive showing for the first time since 1966 was sentenced to 14 hours hard labour. The public grilling was attended by journalists, government officials, officials from the sports ministry and students. The coach was also stripped of his membership to the Workers Party. This was a very sad state of affairs to hit the football association of the country. It is strange whenever a government meddles in matters of football. FIFA takes a very hard stance against government interference and it seems North Korea will probably face some sort of reaction from the biggest football association in the world.
It is very sad that this had to happen to the North Korean team and its coach. But at least the team can be thankful that they got off lightly. Previous failing teams have been sent to prison and made to suffer years of hard labour. Hopefully in the years to come North Korea will realise that a team that plays with all its heart and intense bravery sometimes also loses. It is all about the process of competing and taking part and not always about winning.
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