Many people are this year supporting Brazil, one of the world’s most popular teams, because of the role its government played, along with Turkey, in snubbing Western countries by negotiating a deal to ship 1,200 kg of low-enriched uranium from Iran to Turkey to make into nuclear fuel for a Tehran reactor.

The agreement was signed in Tehran following three-way talks involving Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“I chose to support the Brazilian football team this year because of the Brazilian president’s decision to vote against sanctions on Iran at the United Nations. I already like the way Brazil plays football, but these political developments are important,” said Mohammed Al-Yossefi, a Saudi engineer who works for a private construction company in Jeddah.

Marwan Humaid, a Syrian engineer who works and lives in Jeddah, said he wished Turkey were playing in this year’s tournament. Humaid has become a huge fan of Turkey after Israeli commandos stormed the Freedom Flotilla, which was mainly carrying Turks and was on its way to break the siege on Gaza. “I wish Turkey had qualified. If they had qualified I would definitely have supported them,” he said.

Spain is one of the World Cup’s favorites and won the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship that was held in Austria and Switzerland. “After Sept. 11, many Saudis were treated poorly in many foreign countries. The situation was different in Spain. They respect Arabs and Islam very much. This was enough to make me support Spain in the World Cup,” said Saudi businessman Abdullah Abu-Shanga. “My passion to support Spain began during the 2002 World Cup that was held in South Korea and Japan. I think Spain will most likely win the World Cup this year,” he added.

Algeria is the only Arab team to qualify in the tournament after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Tunisia failed. Clashes between Egypt and Algeria during qualifying matches have not stopped the majority of Egyptians from supporting Algeria. Algeria qualified for the World Cup after defeating Egypt in Algeria 3-1, losing the second leg match in Cairo 2-0, and winning a final and deciding match in Sudan 1-0.

These matches were, however, dogged by violence. Algerians claim their players were attacked in Egypt before the first match and that three of them suffered head injuries after being pelted with stones. Egyptians, on the other hand, say their fans were attacked in Sudan and threatened at the stadium.

“The violence faced by Egyptians in Sudan made us angry and confused over whether to support Algeria. Now that the World Cup has started, I am proud of Algeria and have decided to support them and forget what happened to Egyptian fans in Sudan,” said Mahmoud Ashmawi, an Egyptian technician who works for a private Saudi company. “We are Arabs and we should support Arab teams. Football should unite us, not divide us,” he added.

Meanwhile, some people continue supporting teams while ignoring politics. “If we rely on politics, then we’d end up in a difficult situation. We’d be unable to support anyone. I support Brazil because of the quality of football that they play,” said Saudi businessman Saeed Al-Ghamdi.

“I’m supporting the team that plays the best football. It’s foolish to link politics to sport. In the 1998 World Cup, Iran beat the US 2-1. The US accepted defeat well and showed excellent sportsmanship. Politics has never entered previous World Cup tournaments. Sports should gather people, not divide them,” said Abdullah Al-Zahrani, a Saudi teacher who supports England.

The memory of the 1990 World Cup final is still fresh in the minds of many when Germany faced Argentina in the finals in Italy. Many supported Germany because of Diego Maradona’s visit to Israel in the late 1980s, something that caused many Arabs to support Germany in protest at his visit. It is a similar situation with many Arabs not supporting England and the US because of their support for Israel and the situation in Iraq.