Shamrock Rovers supporters group Love Rovers Hate Racism hosted their inaugural Muhammad Khalifa Cup on Saturday 26th July. It was an event which is increasingly meaningful but also rare in a city where many community events are constrained by red tape and where there is a rapid rise of far-right activity on the streets.
The tournament was named after Muhammad Khalifa. He was a young Palestinian footballer who had visited Ireland and attended a Shamrock Rovers match. Muhammad was known by the rovers community and kept in touch with his friends in Ireland. In 2024 he was murdered in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. His name is now permanently marked on the walls of Tallaght Stadium. This tournament was another way to preserve his legacy.
Organising an autonomously run community event in Dublin is a very hard achievement. Irish law places extremely strict regulations on public consumption of alcohol, public serving of food (Dublin City Council has attempted on numerous occasions to outlaw food banks and soup kitchens) and large public events. Everything in Ireland requires multiple levels of insurance and licensing. Organising this type of event is almost impossible without official involvement and cooperation from local government authorities and police. When events like this do take place they often must charge huge fees to participants or attendees in order to cover the significant costs. Inevitably these events end up sanitised, defanged and immersed into the institutional apparatus.
The Muhammad Khalifa Cup organisers pulled off a huge achievement by bypassing much of this and organising the event autonomously with no involvement from official channels, only the community.
This was helped massively by the help of the wider fanbase at Shamrock Rovers. Shamrock Rovers is Ireland’s most successful football club. It is also democratically run by its members and is known for its strong community of passionate fans and volunteers. Due to this support items such as tents, sound systems, cooking gear, expertise and even the venue itself were able to be supplied for the event free for free.
The tournament took place in the context of a rapidly escalating far-right movement in Ireland. Self proclaimed neo-Nazis now march openly on the streets of Dublin. In the same neighbourhood as this tournament, a brutal attack had taken place just a few days before where an Indian immigrant was nearly beaten to death by a racist mob.
These escalating attacks on refugees and immigrants, as well as coordinated attacks on asylum centres, have made public displays of anti-fasicst solidarity increasingly more risky.
This event was about more than just football. It was about showing a strong community can stand up and operate in an environment of solidarity and mutual aid.
The day ran smoothly and was a success. Months of fundraising meant that Love Rovers Hate Racism were able to offer a wide range of items such as barbecued food, homemade dishes, desserts, drinks and alcohol all completely free of charge to the roughly 250 people at the event.
Twenty teams participated. These consisted of local community groups, Shamrock Rovers supporters clubs and teams from refugee centres across Dublin. There was live music and DJ sets as well as talks from Irish Sport for Palestine and Red Phoenix Antifascist Gym. The pitch was decorated with messages of solidarity and Rovers flags. The winner on the day was 78 Shooterz. A team of 17-year olds who may have had an unfair advantage seeing as they were the only team who was not drinking beer and enjoying a barbecue in between fixtures!
On the same day as this the Anti Racism World Cup took place in Belfast. Another similar showing of solidarity against a growing fascist movement in the country. As the far-right continue to mobilise and grow, it is abundantly clear that in Ireland, the football community remains steadfastly anti-fascist and open to everyone.
(Photo Credits: Cian O’Brien)
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