Greeks wouldn't be Greeks if they don't insert politics into a sporting event. During the opening ceremony of the European Beach Handball championship in Umag, Croatia, Greece and Cyprus refused to take part because of the Macedonian national team jerseys where the country's name was visible.

The hosts in Umag were neither surprised nor rattled by this and the ceremony went as planned. Greece and Cyprus have made a hoby to protest at all sporting events where Macedonia takes part. Typically Cyprus wouldn't protest, however this time its bigger cousins from Athens forced them to.

The Macedonian beach handball players didn't seem to mind when the Greeks and Cypriots headed for the bleachers.

Macedonia and Greece do not have the best of relations since 1991, while Skopje has yet to establish diplomatic relations and recognize the divided island of Cyprus.