We’re getting a real bashing over Sunday Football again…

At last week’s IFA EGM yet another attempt was made to scrap the law banning football being played on the Lord’s Day over here. Members voted 69 to 28 to lift the restrictions, however the vote fell just short of the 75% majority needed to change the law. This was a big change from last year, when a similar motion was defeated by 54 votes to 28. (Incidentally, the number of potential voters is approx. 850, one from each club!).

Since then, some joker is trying to sue the IFA for ‘unlawful discrimination’ for not letting him organise six-a-side football competitions on a Sunday. The report says:

The civil bill seeks a declaration that the IFA have discriminated on grounds of religious belief against the plaintiff in refusing to provide goods, facilities or services for organising the playing of competitive football on a Sunday, seeks an injunction restraining the IFA from doing this, and seeks damages.

However, as someone has asked on ILF, ‘What religion is it that requires you to play football on a Sunday?’

As usual following such a vote, Sabbath observers are getting a bashing in the press. Some punk called Eamon Sweeney launched a 2-page rant against ‘the fifth commandment’ (sic) in this week’s Londonderry Sentinel. Among other gems, he comes out with:

Biblical literalism has a lot to answer for in Northern Ireland. It has been used for excusing murder and mayhem on our streets for the best part of 40 years.

Egg-chaser Richard Bullick provides a slightly less deranged view in today’s News Letter. It’s still pretty bad. His ‘Watching the Hypocrites’ article is based on the assumption that those who voted against Sunday Football will happily sit down and watch the World Cup Final on Sunday week. Sadly this may well be true in the case of some, but Bullick leaves no room for the possibility that people exist who will try to consistently oppose Sunday sport of whatever form. He also suggests that shopowners are less likely to keep their status as conscientious objectors if they are going to be hit financially in the face of Sunday trading. The article is accompanied by a picture of Andrew Trimble, golden boy of both Ulster Evangelicals and anti-Sabbatarians, and it is implied that he is the example Christians should be following. Bullick however does mention some who refused to play on Sundays…before basically labelling them and us as sectarian!

“The issue has also unfortunate implications in terms of the religious divide in Northern Ireland as almost all opposition to Sunday sport appears to come from the Protestant community…If it supports policies or practices which pander to beliefs almost exclusively rooted on one side of the divide here, the IFA will have given Northern Ireland’s enemies within another rod with which to beat the Association…after all the efforts to give sectarianism the boot, the Sunday soccer issue has the potential to make the IFA look like bigots, which would be most unfortunate.”

“Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you.” Exodus 31:13

Related posts: The Sabbath Football issue (just over a year ago)

8 thoughts on “We’re getting a real bashing over Sunday Football again…

  1. “IFA EGM yet another attempt was made to scrap the law banning football being played on the Lord’s Day over here”

    Nonsense. Did you even read the proposal before you passed judgement?

    This is it…..

    “Article 24

    4(iii) The Association respecrts the right of leagues and divisional associations to schedule their own fixtures (subject to these Articles). No club nor individual. wether player, referee or official shall be compelled to participate in a match to be played on a Sunday, and no penalty shall be incurred by such participation or non-participation..”

    Hardly what you would call an attempt to scap anything but rather give protection to those who hold such beliefs.

    Also by the actions of those that voted against the motion they inavertantly removed all rules pertaining to playing on a Sunday leaving a situation now were there is no ban on Sunday football AND no protection for those who do not wish to play on a Sunday!

  2. So the whole media, including the BBC report I linked to above (which starts “The ban on Sunday football in Northern Ireland is to stay, Northern Ireland’s football authority has decided. A vote by Irish Football Association members to lift the ban was narrowly defeated at a specially-convened meeting in Belfast on Thursday…” and has quotes from Boyce and Wells talking about lifting the ban) was wrong?

    Mr P, as you seem to know more about the goings on at the IFA than anyone else in NI I wouldn’t try and disagree with you – but if I got it wrong, so did everyone else!

  3. Yes Steve they all got it wrong. It remains to be seen how the IFA deal with it. Basically the IFA EGM was not only dealing with this issue but also a complete overhaul of their rules. In doing so a complete renumbering of these rules took place. Without realising it a completely unrelated rule was passed which had the same rule number as the old Sunday ban rule. The proposed new rule if it had have passed would have had another rule number and when defeated there was nothing in any of the proposals to include the old rule. Company Law will be examined closely.

Comments are closed.