It’s not often you get to glimpse icebergs and whales while watching a game of soccer, but that’s only one of the reasons why the Greenlandic football season is perhaps the sport’s most unusual tournament in the world.
Source: Greenland: The world’s shortest football season – CNN
Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland (CNN)It’s not often you get to glimpse icebergs and whales while watching a game of soccer, but that’s only one of the reasons why the Greenlandic football season is one of the sport’s most unusual.
It is the only one to take place inside the Arctic Circle, while the country’s major tournament itself lasts just a week. Compare that to most major European leagues which run over nine months.
Then there are the considerable geographical challenges Greenland faces in putting on football matches. The country is as big as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium combined but only 20% of the country is habitable.
Moreover 80% of the country is ice sheet, the second largest in the world following Antarctica. There is also no flat land, few suitable grass areas and for nine months of the year no football can be played outside as the pitches are covered by nearly two meters of snow.
The vast distances between cities and unpredictable weather conditions make travel at times near impossible, even in the summer, ensuring organizing games can be problematic.
