Through the eyes of the few
An interesting battle has been going on at Euro 2008 between Uefa and Swiss and Austrian public broadcasters, one which goes to the heart of who actually produces the images we see on our television screens.
The TV companies say Uefa has been censoring images of the tournament, a claim which is strongly denied by the game's governing body.
Their complaint came after a goal scored by Croatia in their match against Austria. Croatians fans lit flares in celebration, but this image was not shown.
Following a complaint by the Austrian and Swiss broadcasters, Uefa has reacted sharply, saying this decision was not only that of the director of the match coverage but of all broadcasters who were present, and all broadcasters who had access to the feeds.
Uefa says there were 28 unilateral cameras, in addition to 30 cameras from the host broadcaster, all of which were capable of showing any incident. In addition, some 70 TV commentators were also free to comment on events off the pitch.
"Uefa does not dictate to any broadcaster an editorial policy, but on the contrary, allows broadcast partners all the means possible to access a high level of production that allows each broadcaster to adapt its transmission according to its own needs," said an official statement.
"The technical set-up put in place for the tournament simply does not allow for censorship, as Uefa gives the television partners all the means to control their own broadcast."
The nub of this dispute is that in previous tournaments like Euro 2004 in Portugal, the host country also arranged the host broadcaster.
But some people considered the television production of that tournament to be unsatisfactory, so for Euro 2008 Uefa itself is the host broadcaster.
The Swiss and the Austrians have to take their images from Uefa. The broadcasts are directed by five international directors, two of them from Britain, shared between the BBC and ITV.
This dispute may seem like a lot of fuss over nothing but it reflects a profound change in the way sports organisations, not just Uefa, want to have their products televised.
Previously, they were content to let a broadcaster come and show the game. Now they not only want to stage the matches but also produce their own pictures - in other words, become a television production company as well.
Although Uefa will not say so publicly, I am told they were never convinced that the Swiss and Austrians had the expertise to televise such an event, and while the hosts may bleat about the coverage, Uefa feel their decision to become a broadcaster is justified.
Another big difference about this tournament is the absence of any of the British national teams for the first time in a European Championship since 1984.
Then, the British media showed little interest as France, led by Michel Platini, won their first major tournament, but this time it is very different.
The British press is providing detailed coverage of Euro 2008, and although some of the stories centre on player transfers, a great deal of space has also been given to match reports, even where there is no Premier League interest.
The absence of the home nations also seems to have led people in Britain to forget about nationalism and just enjoy the football (which has of course been helped by the fact that the football has been of a very high standard).
I experienced the tension-free atmosphere of Euro 2008 at first hand when I went to a small Black Forest village called Badenweiler (not far from where England were based during the 2006 World Cup).
It was fascinating to monitor the nationalities clustered round the huge screen showing the matches every night.
The Germans dominated, but with Basel a short drive away, there were plenty of Swiss and with Alsace just across the border, there were a fair few France fans as well.
The various supporters sat side by side and there was no disguising their enjoyment of the games they were watching.
It was a far cry from the hype when England were in the neighbourhood two years ago and there was not a WAG to be seen.
Yes, it is a pity the UK is not represented at the European Championship, and our teams are being missed, but the tournament can teach us how to enjoy football without using it to parade the more unpleasant side of our patriotism.
I'm 
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Excellent article.
Its been a breath of fresh not to suffer jingoistic tabloid headlines and cars/houses/pubs/everything else for that matter adorned with flags of St George.
For once the game can speak for itself
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Excellent observations by Mihir Bose in the second half of his article. To be honest, our national team's on-field performances, the fans' performance off it and the emergence of the WAGS leads me to conclude that the World Cup and the Euro Cup are better off without us.
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"Joshworrad" this is not a dig at you but -
I live in Swizerland and have to say how wonderful it is to see the flags of competing nations adorning cars, bars and apartments around the country. People in Britain need to show some national pride and perhaps respect for one another no matter their country of origin.
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Excellent article, I too find it a breath of fresh air to be able to watch tournament football without the constant feeling of dread with regards to England and their prospects.
This tournament has been excellent for the attacking play on display, with those teams who take a positive approach generally faring better than those who are intent on the "catennacio" style.
I must also praise the BBC for their, in my opinion, quite excellent coverage with the addition of pundits such as Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan providing a more considered and insightful analysis than the platitudes often employed by Shearer and Co.
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R.E. comment 3 from Gillzurich:
It's Interesting that a person from Switzerland, a country that has just elected a right wing ruling party, should suggest that Brits need to show some respect for people of other origins.
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What do you mean the "British" press, Mihir?
There's no coverage by BBC Scotland, and we get the English commentators, and pundits.
Why no Richard Gordon, or (thankfully not) Chick Young in the British team?
English still equals British in the BBC Sport department.
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Tengsted, I understand where you're coming from, but there is Hansen (1/2 Scots), Strachan and O'Neill providing punditry and some balance. What is irksome are the interviews with Capello.
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Tengsted, are Gordon Strachan and Alan Hansen not Scottish?
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"Tengsted, I understand where you're coming from, but there is Hansen (1/2 Scots), Strachan and O'Neill providing punditry and some balance. What is irksome are the interviews with Capello."
I disagree. It's always good to hear from Don Fabio! I wonder what he makes of it all? He could well have been Italy manager had he not gone to Real Madrid. Instead he's got to contend with a group of very unmotivated players with over-inflated egos. Apart from Bobby Robson I can't think of an England coach whose career hasn't nose-dived after taking such a job, he's a brave man.
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I completely agree about the nationalism aspect - I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the magnificent Holland-Italy game last week in Bern. The Swiss, although slightly overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of Dutch fans, were excellent hosts. It was wonderful to able to sit in the stadium around Dutch, Italian, Swiss, German and Portuguese fans and enjoy a brilliant match of football. Sometimes it's nice not to have an Anglo-centric view of events!
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Why do you write these endless lets all slag of the English articles. All writing an article like this does is make a whole load of self satisfied people come on reel of a list of why the English are so terrible, including English people who seem to have self loathing issues. It basically ammounts to kicking somebody while they are down and inviting a whole load of other people to join in. Of course England has a lot of problems but please don't act like were the only ones. All I know is I am English, I am not a thug or a lager lout, I don't wave the St George flag and I behave respectfully to everyone unless they behave disrespectfully to me , so please stop with sweeping generalisations.
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Strachan is the one token gesture. Yet why him? He's a well kent face down south. There are better pundits from Scotland that the Ginger Fonz.
Hansen is always a pundit on the (English) MOTD, and England Internationals. He's nowhere to be seen when Scotland are playing, and its shown on the BBC.
We have our own very good BBC Scotland sports reporters, none have been sent to the Euros.
Why not? By sending the normal team of English MOTD commentators its another case of EBC at work.
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Mihir, is this a piece written to accomodate a BBC PR slant that two "of the five international directors posts" have been assigned to organisations from the UK with no representation in the tournament? I expect that some of the anger from other nations is directed towards the decision by UEFA to give such key contracts to BBC and ITV.
Anyway, I agree to some extent that it is enjoyable to watch a major these Euros without the trepidation that many of us are used to feeling when we turn on the sports reports. There is a lot of unfair anit-English bias present in the European football media at the moment (particularly a hypocritical analysis of how our clubs are run) in reaction to the current period of domestic English success. Unfortunately, its hard to argue that English nationalism is an embarrasment that obscures the pure footballing enjoyment of major tournaments for a lot of fans.
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If you're looking for Scottish commentary, tune in to the ESPN (USA) broadcasts of the games. All 4 of the commentators (the A-team and the B-team) have Scottish pedigree and of course Scottish accents.
In one case during the Spain v. Sweden game, one of the commentators said, after mentioning their Scottish background, "Scotland aren't here at these European Championships, but that's OK" and the color commentator jumped in with "NO IT'S NOT - speak for yourself"
It's also funny listening to them do promos for the NBA basketball finals - none of them can remember to call the Boston team the "Celtics" - it's always "Boston Celtic" - and one (I forget which) said he'd be much happier if they were the "Boston Rangers".
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