Hezbollah shoots... on goal

Beirut

The Shia Hizbollah movement this week struck another blow at its Sunni pro-government opponents, albeit in this case the shots were on goal and not of the lethal type.

The movement’s Al-Ahed football team for the first time ever took the Lebanese league title, beating out by a whisker two teams supported by the powerful Sunni Hariri family who almost have had a lock on the trophy between them.

In Lebanon, football is war, as evidenced by the total ban on match attendance for the public since the political troubles started in 2005. “It was hell inside the stadiums,” said journalist Lelia Mezher, who researched the sectarian and political divisions in football.

The simmering tensions between pro-Syrian groups, led by Hizbollah, and the western-backed government, erupted into serious fighting in May, when more than 80 people died in clashes. The violence has persisted on a lower level ever since.

On Thursday night, though, things stayed calm in Beirut as Al-Ahed beat a team from the southern city of Tyre 2 to 1 and the two pro-Hariri teams, Al-Ansar and Nejmeh, drew. Ironically, had either one of the pro-government teams won, it would have clinched the title regardless of Al-Ahed’s result.

Abdo Saad, a pollster and analyst who is also a former director of Al-Ahed, was ecstatic about the win. “Hizbollah only still has to win the miss Lebanon title” he quipped.

On a more serious political note, he said that Hizbollah had invested a lot in the team, that used to be independent when he headed it in the mid-1990’s. Al-Ahed fields several foreign players, among whom one Brazilian.

“This will help Hizbollah to say that it is not only about arms and the resistance to Israel,” said Mr Saad. “It shows that they are also investing in social issues, education, culture and sports.

The Nejmeh grounds on Beirut’s seafront bear the scars of the political violence that has hit Lebanon in recent years. Its perimeter wall has been patched up to mask the spot where pro-government MP Walid Eido was killed in an explosion in June 2007. Two Nejmeh players were also killed in the blast.

But on Friday there was not much sign of animosity. Nejmeh claims the largest supporters base in the country, among whom many Shia. One supporter just shrugged and laughingly agreed that Al-Ahed’s win was, “very bad for Hariri.”

Supporters of Al-Ahed and the other teams may have something to celebrate in common on Sunday. Most of them are fervent Germany supporters in Euro 2008, like many other Lebanese.