When the Georgia men’s football team takes on Spain in the European championship round of 16 on June 30, there’s no doubt who will be the underdogs. Spain are European football royalty, featuring some of the most famous, highly paid and successful players in the world. Georgia, on the other hand, 33 years after independence, are competing in their first major international tournament.
But, despite being the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Georgia have proved they are no pushover. They have produced some eye-catching performances belying their lowly status, scoring in all three fixtures so far and progressing from Group F following a 2-0 victory over Portugal, another highly regarded footballing nation.
But the positivity surrounding the greatest result in Georgia’s footballing history to date contrasts sharply with a political crisis that is dividing the country. The passing of a controversial new “foreign agent” law in May has sparked some of the largest protests and police crackdowns in Georgia’s modern history, marring the build-up to their highly anticipated tournament debut.
The country’s ruling Georgian Dream party has presented the law as an attempt to enhance the transparency of foreign funding of the country’s media organisations and non-governmental groups. But critics consider it a stealthy means of turning Georgia into a pro-Russian state. Russia adopted a similar law of the same name in 2012 and has since looked to dismantle civil society and increase its influence in the Caucasus region on its southern border.
The turmoil has raised important national questions concerning whether Georgia, as a former Soviet republic, should be looking to Russia or Europe for its future. The country’s participation at Euro 2024 demonstrates the view of many Georgians that their country is part of Europe. According to polls, more than 60% of people in Georgia are in favour of their country joining Nato and the EU.
Georgia’s national identity and political structures are shaped by geopolitics. It borders Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as Russia and Turkey. Georgia also has three autonomous regions: Adjara on the Turkish frontier, and the occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the Russian border where Russia has permanent military bases.
Conflict in the latter territories, notably during the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, has strained relations in the region. It is virtually impossible for Georgians to enter either South Ossetia or Abkhazia, despite all but five UN members states regarding these as sovereign territory of Georgia occupied by Russia.
Deepening anxieties of Russian aggression continue to shape Georgian national identity. Georgia has provided refuge to thousands of anti-war Russians and opposition activists who fled a deepening political crackdown following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Sport has also been used for political purposes within Georgia’s breakaway regions. In 2016, Abkhazia hosted and won the “World Football Cup”, a tournament organised by the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (Conifa) for unrecognised countries and minority groups unaffiliated to football’s global governing body, Fifa. Conifa’s members include de facto states such as Kurdistan, South Ossetia and Northern Cyprus.
The tournament was the subject of my documentary from 2017: “The Other World Cup: Football Across Borders”. For Abkhazia, winning this event was a significant achievement. The Abkhaz president at the time, Raul Khajimba, declared the day after the final to be a national holiday.
Hosting and competing in Conifa tournaments may be intended to legitimise statehood. But such undertakings are yet to affect any territory’s quest for sovereignty. News of the tournament barely registered in Georgia.
Turkey were Georgia’s first opponents at Euro 2024. The nations share an 170-mile border, including the frontier with Adjara, which has been an autonomous republic within Georgia since 1991.
Adjara is primarily populated by Adjarians, a regional subgroup of Georgians. It is a key tourist destination and is home to Batumi, Georgia’s second-most populous city. Adjara has relatively normalised relations with the Georgian state, although there is some concern about the growing Turkish influence.
Turkey won the fixture 3-1. But Turkey’s decisive breakaway goal in the 97th minute could easily have culminated instead in an equaliser for the Georgians from the preceding corner. It was heralded as one of the most memorable games of the group stage. Yet it was a contest also marred by crowd disturbances.
Fighting occurred before kick-off in a corner of Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion. Supporters threw punches and objects at each other as security attempted to intervene in rainy conditions. Some fans I interviewed who witnessed the violence questioned whether the scenes reflected political tension between the countries.
Politicised fandom
Fans often oppose political protests at mega-events. Yet the politicisation of football tournaments and fandom has continued at Euro 2024.
In May, before the start of the tournament, Georgian forward Budu Zivzivadze took to social media to express opposition of “everything that takes Georgia to Russia”. The statement was made in reference to the passing of the foreign agents law.
The tournament itself has seen expressions of political sentiment in post-Soviet and post-Socialist contexts. Ukrainian players and Polish and Georgian supporters have expressed opposition to the Russian leader. Romanian fans, meanwhile, have taunted Ukrainians with expressions of support for the Russian president.
As so often happens when national football teams play each other, chanting at some matches has taken on a political dimension. But, so far, direct confrontation between rival supporters has fortuitously been avoided as fixtures have brought together sets of fans who share common enemies.
Before their respective matches, Slovenian and Serbian supporters chanted controversially: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia”. And Croatian and Albanian fans joined in expressing opposition to the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić.
Georgia’s qualification for the knockout stages of a major continental competition is an unprecedented achievement. For many, the presence of this post-Soviet state among Europe’s footballing elite provides the most visible proof to date that Europe is where they belong.