Bahrain and Syria shooting...to score

I am not a football lover. Nor am I a football hater. I am indifferent but I never thought I'd write a post about football. However, there is a first time for everything and today is my first post about football.

Yesterday, when I was perusing the headlines for "Today's 4" content I stumbled upon an article entitled "Bahrain gear up for Syria clash". Instinctively I thought this sounded like the Bahraini royals were planning on accusing Asad's Shia regime of provoking anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain, (Bahrain regularly accuse Iraq and Iran of the same crime, with some justification) and that such an accusation had lead to a diplomatic clash.

But to my pleasant surprise the headline actually belonged to the sport pages of the Gulf Daily News website. Glancing over the article, I soon realised that today, 22 February 2012, Bahrain's under 23 football team take on their Syrian counterparts in a qualifier for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Being a qualifier game, the article emphasises the importance of the Game and what the teams have been doing in the past 48 hours to prepare for the match.

Considering the current situation both within and between the two countries, I cannot express how refreshing it is to read an article about Syria and Bahrain which does not focus on the two countries fractious relationship. And it certainly is a fractious relationship. The two countries are sectarian opposites: Syria is ruled by a brutal Shia minority regime with allegiances to Iran and would like to see an end to Sunni rule in Bahrain. Bahrain is ruled by a strict minority Sunni regime eager to retain power in the face of continued Shia uprisings...uprisings which undoubtedly receive support from Iran and by association Asad's regime in Syria.

Despite all these reasons for discord, I found an article yesterday in the sport pages of the Gulf Daily News website which mentioned none of this. There was one subtle implication of tense relations when the article mentioned efforts to ensure cooperation between the Bahraini and Syrian football associations, but arguably such cooperation between FAs is not guaranteed when any two international teams meet for a qualifier, regardless of their political relationships with one another. 

Instead of focusing on street battles in Damascus and Homs or demonstrations and arrests in Manama, the article talked of preparing for battles on the grassy pitch, with eager fans demonstrating their support in the stands of the Riffa Stadium.

I for one will be celebrating this occasion where the only shooting between the Syrian and Bahraini sides will be shooting to score.