N Korean Army v Hezbollah in final
NEW DELHI: After weeks of confusion surrounding the venue for the final of the AFC Cup, Kuala Lumpur will finally host the clash on Monday. Initially scheduled to be held on November 2 in Pyongyang, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) moved the final to Shanghai, before moving it back to Kuala Lumpur.
The AFC said it was ‘compelled’ to move the final from Pyongyang due to ‘challenges affecting the commercial, broadcasting, media, accessibility and logistical arrangements’. These ‘challenges’ were visible when North Korea hosted South Korea in a World Cup qualifier last month when the game was played in front of empty stands and blacked out to the rest of the world.
Like in previous international games in Pyongyang, it meant no live broadcast and no visiting fans. AFC didn’t explain reasons behind its second venue change, but its overall handling has already drawn sharp criticism.
Fair to say, the build-up to the final of Asia’s equivalent of the Europa League has been far from ideal. Nevertheless, the final will be of interest to fans for more reasons than just football.
It has to do with the two finalists of the competition, North Korea’s April 25 and Lebanon’s Al-Ahed.
April 25, North Korea’s most successful club with 19 league titles since 1985, are a multi-sport club operated by the country’s Army. All athletes representing the club are also considered serving officers of the Army, according to reports.
Having regularly featured in the AFC Cup in recent years, they are playing their first ever final on Monday. Winning a major continental trophy will come as a major boost to the club as well as to North Korea’s ruling regime.
On the other hand, April 25’s final opponents, Al-Ahed, are also backed by a powerful, controversial force. For many middle-east observers, the name ‘Al-Ahed’ will ring a bell or two — it is the name of the print media outlet run by Lebanon-based Shia militant outfit Hezbollah. While Al-Ahed FC are not officially funded by Hezbollah, the relationship between the club and the group isn’t a secret. Over the years, senior officials of the club, whose supporters are largely Shiites living in Beirut and who sport the same colour as Hezbollah— yellow, have been directly associated with the group.
This isn’t unusual in a country where politics and sectarianism are significantly intertwined with football. For instance, the family of Saad Hariri, who resigned as Prime Minister of Lebanon last week amid countrywide protests, has funded, over different periods, Al-Ansar, Nejmeh, Racing Beirut and Safa.
In his UN speech last year, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of hiding missiles at Al-Ahed’s stadium. Lebanese authorities fired back by taking journalists and diplomats to the stadium. While Netanyahu’s claims couldn’t be substantiated, Al-Ahed’s links with Hezbollah, listed as a terror group by the US and the European Union, are evident.