In a tense last vote, with every vote being crucial, Gozo saw its hopes to organise a World Cup succumb to the winner, Padania.

The World Cup in question is not, needless to say, the FIFA World Cup, but what is known as the Viva World Cup, for “unrecognised nations”. The Viva World Cup is organised by NfBoard, the international organisation, which includes football federations that are not FIFA members because they do not represent sovereign nations.

Gozo’s candidacy, described in Italian papers, as “fearsome” lost out in the final nail-biting vote to Padania, the alternative name for Northern Italy politically represented in the Italian Parliament by the Lega Nord, which holds out for the separation and possibly independence for Padania, from the clutches of the Italian State. A third contender was Kurdistan.

The decision was taken recently at Varese and the World Cup in question will take place in 2010.

With doubts arising whether the Ukraine and Poland can really hold the European games of 2012 since the works in the Ukraine are very late, the Padanian organisers say that the 2010 World Cup in Padania will show how skilful and how organised the workers of the Northern Italian state are when compared to “the others”.

Among the other quasi-States represented were: Fiume, Lapponia, Vallonia, Northern Cyprus, Quebec, the Chagos Islands, Tibet, Occitania, South Cameroon, and Monaco.