Friday, 8th July 2011
“Grotesque” EU flag proposal an insult to Scottish sports teams, says Scots Euro MP
Scots Conservative Euro MP Struan Stevenson has slammed “grotesque” Brussels plans to brand all Scottish sports men and women with the EU flag when they represent their country in future competitions.
The proposals, which will be released next week, could see all EU national sports sides, including Scottish football, rugby and the Commonwealth Games teams, being forced to wear the EU’s blue flag with yellow stars on their jerseys.
The new regulations, contained in a report on ‘The European Dimension in Sport’, drafted by Spanish MEP Santiago Fisas Ayxela, would also see Scottish stadia and sports grounds being compelled to fly the EU flag.
The report, which has been brought forward after the EU was given new powers to influence sport under the Lisbon Treaty, has already been endorsed by the EU’s Culture Committee and if approved by the European Parliament in September, the European Commission is likely to bring forward new legislation later this year.
Commenting from Glasgow on the proposals, Struan Stevenson MEP said:
“These grotesque proposals are just another example of Euro madness aimed at diverting attention from the crisis in Greece and the crumbling Eurozone. Why on earth should our sports men and women, with their proud heritage of representing Scotland on the international stage, be forced suddenly to play under another flag?
“Next we’ll have the Scottish rugby squad taking to the pitch at Murrayfield sporting the blue flag with yellow stars, while the pipe band plays Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ – the EU anthem!
“Scottish national sporting teams boast a proud history of competitive, yet friendly and respectful, competition with counterparts on these islands, throughout Europe and around the world. They, like the other home nations, enjoy a fiercely protected sporting independence that is a foundation of their spirit and will to win.
“That will continue, but having this EU branding exercise thrust upon them by politicians they’ve never heard of smacks of massive disrespect and arrogance. Scottish sporting identity is for Scots alone to decide, and I for one will be voting against this crazy plan when it comes to the European Parliament.”
ENDS
Notes:
1. Struan Stevenson is a Scottish Conservative MEP for Scotland.
2. Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) gives the EU a new competence for sport, calls on the EU to contribute to the promotion of sporting issues and provides that EU action should be aimed at developing the European dimension in sport.
3. For more information, please contact: Peter Smyth Tel: 0131 554 1146; Mob: 07766 166 637; E: peter@indigopr.com
