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The specter of the scandal which eliminated Algeria at the World 82 looms over the Euro

The big scandal of the 1982 World Cup, which eliminated Algeria in the first round, still hangs over world football. 39 years ago, Algeria was the victim of a shameful scheme between Germany and Austria during the group stage of the Spanish World Cup, which deprived the Greens of qualifying in the second round.

Thirty-nine years later, the specter of this scandal which shook world football and forced FIFA to review its regulations hangs over the Euro which is currently taking place in several European countries. Chance of history and calendar, it is again Austria which is at the heart of the concerns.

And for good reason, she must play the third meeting of Group C opposing Ukraine. The two teams each need a draw in order to qualify for the second round of the tournament. Ukraine would then finish second in the group behind the already qualified Netherlands, while Austria would be guaranteed to advance to the second round by finishing among the best four thirds in the tournament.

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โ€œIt’s ancient history. This is not going to be repeated โ€

Such a pact would however be reminiscent of the tacit arrangement that took place during the shameful match between Austria and West Germany (FRG) during the 1982 World Cup . The 1-0 victory of the FRG had notably enabled the two teams to secure the qualification for the round of 16 at the expense of Algeria.

This time, the Austrian football team has taken the lead by publicly committing that “history will not repeat itself “, reports the British newspaper The Guardian on Saturday.

According to the president of the Austrian Football Federation, this situation will not happen again this time around during Euro 2020. โ€œI don’t think it comes down to that,โ€ said Leo Windtner. โ€œIn all respects it would be the wrong tactic to go out and play the draw,โ€ he said.

Stating that โ€œhistory will not repeat itself,โ€ President Windtner stressed that โ€œit would be best not to even discuss it. This is ancient history. This is not going to be repeated,โ€ he said.

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