A group Belgian fans with no team to cheer for during the Euro 2012 tournament put themselves up for auction and were snapped up by the Dutch for a cool €3,000.
After last night’s defiant singing in the face of crushing defeat, we all know that Irish fans are the best in the world. But not every legion of fans gets the opportunity to even see their team play in international championships, which is why a group of Belgian soccer fans put their support up for auction on eBay.
Second-hand but mint condition, and not used since the FIFA World Cup in 2002, bidding started at a bargainous €5.
“Since tournaments are much more fun when you have a favourite team, we decided to put our fandom for sale at eBay,” read the description. Specifically, the lot was 20,303 members of a Facebook group of Belgian soccer fans. The winning bidder would see the fans switch their allegiance (temporarily, of course) and support the national team of their new owner’s choice – “even if it’s Holland”.
Hup Holland Hup!
In a predictable twist, that’s just how things turned out with their Dutch neighbours securing the deal as in time for the match against Germany on Wednesday. Bought up by an anonymous Dutch buyer, €3,000 has been raised through the auction for Nordschool, a Unicef project providing education to children living in countries hit by confilict.
The terms of the deal involved a promise to watch the games, wear the colours and – possibly – buy the flag and learn the national anthem, all supported by photographic and video evidence on www.belgiansoccerfansforsale.com. They would even throw in a spot of hooliganism, for an added cost.
Start the bidding…
Sadly, singing ‘Hup Holland Hup’ and performing a Haka war dance didn’t bring the fans’ adopted team much luck, and the Dutch now face an end to their Euro 2012 campaign after their match against Portugal on Sunday.
As part of the package, the Belgian fans will grieve for a full 24 hours when the Netherlands are eliminated – before putting themselves up for sale again, of course.
So, let the bidding begin! But first, a reminder of what Irish fans bring to the game: pure, unadulterated support, even in a situation with no hope.
Our fans, we know, are priceless.
Euro 2012 image via Shutterstock
