North Koreans receive unfriendly welcome
Junior soccer team shows up for match only to find 'no qualified referees available'
Members of the North Korean junior soccer team are no strangers to the world of dysfunctional politics.
After all, they come from a country that is a loose cannon in the roiling seas of global politics.
It is run by a leader who revers old-style Soviet militarism, is isolated from most of the world's political alliances and is only a few atoms away from possessing a nuclear bomb.
But North Korea's U20 soccer team has discovered the Canada's soccer establishment can be dysfunctional and enigmatic in its own way, especially when it comes to organizing friendly matches that are crucial to warming up and sharpening competitive edge.
The team landed in Canada on Sunday, June 17, for the U20 World Cup after a 14-hour flight from Beijing to Toronto and a connection to Montreal.
North Korea, which has to be considered one of the quality teams in the tournament after winning the Asian U19 championship last year in India, expected to begin shaking off the effects of jet lag and time difference with an international friendly match against the Attak of Trois Rivieres on Tuesday.
It was to be part of a double-header at Jarry Park, with the second game between the Jordan U20 team and Panellinios, a perennial power in Senior Men's Division I of the Quebec Elite Soccer League and one of the top amateur teams in Canada.
But the Attak, which had agreed to the game three weeks earlier, cancelled out on Monday after reviewing the insurance coverage for its players.
Attak general manager Stephane Chiarello said the team made the decision after speaking to Joey Saputo, president of the Montreal Impact.
"He advised us to check our insurance policy, and we discovered it did not cover the game," Chiarello said.
The Attak, a member of the semi-professional Canadian Soccer League, has a close working relationship with the Impact.
The Impact sends players to the Attak for development and rehabilitation after injuries.
But the team would not have provided players for the game against North Korea because they were needed for Impact games this week in the United Soccer Leagues schedule, said Patrick Vallee, the team's media official.
With the Attak a non-starter, promoter Anderson Izagbo turned to Outremont, which leads the Senior Men's Division I of the Quebec Elite League.
The team showed up at Jarry Park, but the Canadian Soccer Association refused to allow the game to proceed, saying there were no qualified referees available, although they had been ready to go 24 hours earlier for the Attak-North Korea game.
North Korea team manager Kim Myong Chol was diplomatic about the foul-up. He said the squad was looking forward to the match to help it recover from the long trip to Canada.
"They are upset, and I am more than upset," Izagbo said. "Canada doesn't recognize soccer as a major sport.''
Francis Millien, chairman of the Montreal Organizing Committee for the U20 tournament, said he was unaware of the cancellation until he arrived at Jarry Park for the game.
He said he would have to find out what happened, but he did not return a phone call later in the week seeking more comment
Millien, who is technical coordinator of the Quebec Soccer Federation's elite development program, is one of the sport's most influential officials in the province.
Panellinios president Andy Kontogiannis said the club was ecstatic at being asked to act as host for the friendly matches.
"We felt this was the cherry on top for all our hard work and our performances at the Canadian soccer championships," he said.
Kontogiannis said the city did its part by getting the showers running and the toilets functioning in the team club house for the matches.
"We had been asking the city since early May to do the repairs, but because of this event, things were finally done," he said.
In the second game of the doubleheader before several hundred Mile End soccer fans, Panellinios and Jordan battled to a goalless draw.
Another friendly scheduled for Friday between Panellinios and Brazil was cancelled when the latter team decided to stay in Toronto for a few more days.
North Korea beat Jordan 1-0 in another game on Friday. No other friendly matches are planned.
Izagbo said the North Koreans arrived in the country early to get a taste of Canada.
What they got was a taste of hapless organization that plays too large a role in soccer in this country.
DAVID YATES, Freelance
Published: Monday, June 25, 2007