EM & election campaign fever

How “King Football” also helps to govern politics

Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (1st from left) and Chancellor Karl Nehammer (3rd from left) were at the Holland match of the national team with German FDP leader Christian Lindner, among others.

(Bild: Dragan Tatic)

Between the green pitch and the green table: King soccer has also long been involved in red-white-red domestic politics. Numerous top politicians attend national team matches in the hope of scoring political points. The football-loving political scientist Peter Filzmaier is already warning against "over-staging".

The interview that FPÖ Secretary General Christian Hafenecker gave to ORF presenter Armin Wolf on ZIB2 was remarkable in many respects. "I'm also happy about our national team winning their group. But I don't understand why the Federal Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor then turn up in the team cabin and drink the beer there, but don't manage to get a ministerial council together," explained the eloquent blue general live on ORF.

It was a message that he was determined to get across without being asked, because Hafenecker, as a political professional, also knows that the black-green federal government is currently surfing at least a little on the wave of success of our team kickers. "When you win and are successful, it creates a sense of unity and identification effects, which government parties in particular like to make use of," explains political scientist Peter Filzmaier.

Danger of "over-staging"
However, according to the expert, politicians must also be careful that surfing along on the wave of success does not turn into a belly flop. Filzmaier identifies the danger of "over-staging" and advises the parties: "These effects will be difficult to maintain". And the political penalty shoot-out is only on election day, September 29.

From the Federal President downwards, several top Austrian politicians published postings, pictures and videos in the run-up to the round of 16 or during the red-white-red group stage. Chancellor Karl Nehammer not only visited the team players in the dressing room, but also attended the match with Finance Minister Magnus Brunner and German Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner beforehand.

Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (1st from left) and Chancellor Karl Nehammer (3rd from left) were among those at the national team's Holland match with German FDP leader Christian Lindner.

(Bild: Dragan Tatic)

Green sports minister and vice-chancellor Werner Kogler used his stay in Berlin not only to visit the stadium, but also for an exchange with ex-Rapid footballer Christopher Trimmel, who now plays for Union Berlin, and working talks with his German party and ministerial colleague Cem Özdemir. 

Christopher Trimmel in conversation with Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler.

(Bild: BMKÖS/Fritz)

NEOS youngster Yannick Shetty also kept his fingers crossed for the team on site and posted a "goosebumps video" of the Poland game. "If the fans have their way, then we're already European champions. Let's go lads," can be read under an Instagram post by outgoing National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka live from Berlin. 

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP), who usually travels a lot, watched the game on Tuesday evening at Yppenplatz in Vienna. He had lived in Ottakring for many years, which is why he was always drawn there, the minister revealed as he mingled with the soccer fans. 

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg at the public viewing at Yppenplatz in Vienna.

(Bild: zVg)

SPD Chancellor Scholz criticized
The political appropriation of the European Championship spectacle is also an issue for our neighbors in Germany. SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for example, was criticized for his "tired appearances" in the stadium. "He looks like a foreign body in the stands," criticized sports journalist Lucas Vogelsang on the well-known talk show "Markus Lanz". "As a soccer fan, seeing him in the stands makes him seem foreign, strange," he said.