In 1924, there were two major sporting events around the world, one was the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, and the other was the Copa del Rey, which was held every four years in Sydney, Australasia.

Although the history of the Olympic Games far exceeds that of the Football King's Cup, it has been held by major countries such as Britain, France and Australia, attracting dozens of countries to participate in each edition, and more than 2,000 athletes compete in the games.

But if you look at it from the point of view of popularity and the richness of the prize money, the current football Copa del Rey is not inferior to the Olympics, and even slightly exceeds it in terms of attention.

This is no joke, the first edition of the Football King's Cup in 1920 cost more than $3.78 million, and the prize money was around $500,000.

In addition to the cost of hosting and prize money, at least $2.5 million has been spent on publicity, which is why the Copa del Rey has quickly become a world-renowned sporting event.

In Australasia in particular, the winner of the Copa del Rey was received by Arthur, which was a fatal temptation for the Australasian Football Association and a reward that could not be refused for those Australasian footballers.

In order to ensure the attractiveness of the football Copa del Rey to other countries, the first edition of the Copa del Rey was held without any favoritism and was basically fair and just.

However, at present, it is the European countries and powers that have the advantage in sports events, after all, only the people of these countries have enough funds to engage in sports.

Most sports events are not something that people can do if they are interested, basketball needs a basketball court, football needs a football field, and even running needs a corresponding professional training facility, even if it is just a pair of ordinary sports shoes.

In particular, participating in the Copa del Rey requires a formal national football association, and the political situation in some small and medium-sized countries is not very stable, so it is naturally impossible to form an official football association.

As a result, only 22 countries signed up for the first edition of the Copa del Rey, with the Australasian football team winning the tournament without favour.

After all, Australasia is a homegrown battle, which saves time spent on the road. In addition, since Sydney hosted the Olympic Games, the country still attaches great importance to sports, and will invest part of the funds every year to subsidize all kinds of athletes, and will also build corresponding sports facilities and venues, so that the training level of Australasian football players has been rising.

Because of the experience of later generations, Arthur knows that before asking people to make achievements in a certain aspect, they must create a corresponding stable environment for development.

For Australasia to make a difference in football, the establishment of football stadiums and corresponding training facilities has given the public enough time to watch sporting events and develop interest in sports, which is of paramount importance.

Fortunately, the people of Australasia still have a certain amount of spare time, which has also laid a certain foundation for the vigorous development of the sports industry in Australasia.

Coupled with the current rating and registration of athletes by various sports associations and sports departments, athletes who have been registered and recognized by the state can receive high subsidies from the state, turning athletes into a substantial job in exchange for more people's attention to sports events.

Even amateur athletes who are not officially registered can receive subsidies from the government as long as they have achieved certain results in a certain event or have made a certain contribution to a sporting event.

This year's second edition of the Copa del Rey is not much different from the previous one in terms of format, after all, there are only so many countries that can participate in sporting events during this period.

It's still the old rule, the registration deadline is May this year, and June to July is the collective training stage.

The qualifiers start at the end of August and the beginning of September, followed by the group stage and the knockout rounds, and in October the real champions will be contested.

The timing of this would be a collision with the Olympics, but the good news is that the Games will start in May, and by the time the Copa del Rey is officially held, the Summer Olympics will be coming to an end.

This year's Olympic Games, which were held in Paris, France, were also the first time that the Olympic motto of Faster, Higher, Stronger was introduced.

As one of the great powers, the Paris Olympics have attracted more attention than Antwerp, and are considered two of the world's biggest sporting events, along with the Australasian Copa del Rey.

Of course, a big factor in this is the amount of publicity spent in Australasia. If it weren't for the huge investment in publicity, the Copa del Rey would not have been able to compare the Olympics in a short period of time, even if the Olympics have only been held for eight times so far.

As the time came in May 1924, in addition to the Olympic Games in Paris, France, Europe was about to usher in the coronation ceremony of three new monarchs.

Arthur still attached great importance to his only brother-in-law, Dmitry, and decided to attend his coronation in person.

Finland was the most powerful of the three new monarchies, and Australasia's ability to control Finland was an advantage of the Anglo-French struggle.

But Arthur did not feel embarrassed in the slightest, and decided not only to attend Dmitry's coronation in person, but also to take Queen Mary and a few little ones with him.

Dmitry's coronation is scheduled for June 19, which means Arthur will need to arrive in Finland to prepare for at least mid-June.

Fortunately, it only takes about a month for the fastest Australasian warship to go to Finland, and even a little more than 20 days to France and Spain.

It just so happened that Arthur also planned to take the opportunity of attending Dmitry's coronation to make another diplomatic visit to some European countries after many years.

I remember the last time I went to Europe was at the funeral of Edward VII, when Germany was still the second largest power in the world, and now it is no longer human.

Once a pseudo-power that needed the help of other countries to secure its position as a great power, Australasia is now one of the most powerful countries in the world.

Although it has not yet competed for the strength of world hegemony, after Britain and the United States, it is no problem to compete for the third place in the world.

Australasia's competitors are France and the island nation, and France's industrial strength has been damaged, and its industry is no longer comparable to Australasia.

The island country has a natural limit in size, and the country may be able to sit on the throne of the great powers, but it is still too difficult to become a top power.

On June 14, 1924, Arthur's family successfully arrived in Helsinki, Finland, where they were warmly welcomed by the Finnish government and Grand Duke Dmitry.

The welcoming procession waited for more than two hours in the port of Helsinki, and as soon as Arthur and his party arrived, Dmitry rushed to the port and looked at his sister and brother-in-law with great respect.

"Dmitry, how is it feeling in Finland?" Arthur asked with a smile.

"It's the same cold as in Russia, but the Finns are much more enthusiastic than I thought." Dmitry said very gratefully: "Thanks to the weapons and equipment you gave me, the training progress of the Grand Duke's Guard is now halfway through, and the situation in Finland can be regarded as stable. ”

"Dmitry, you're hungry!" Queen Mary held the two little ones by the hand and looked at her brother with some distress.

"Finland's financial situation is not good, and as the Grand Duke of Finland, I should naturally take the initiative to reduce my living expenses." Dmitry explains with a smile: "But it's okay, I like the life here and the kind and lovely Finns. ”

After a few words, Nicholas John Fitzgerald, the interim prime minister of the Finnish government, walked up very respectfully and said to Arthur and Queen Mary: "Your Majesty Arthur, Her Royal Highness Queen Mary, welcome to Finland!" ”

Arthur nodded blandly, in response to Nicholas's greeting.

For such a self-interested politician, Arthur does not have much favor. Moreover, Nicholas was the first politician of a small country to dare to make conditions to Australasia, and Arthur naturally did not have any good feelings about him.

If it weren't for Dmitry's position and prestige in Finland, and as a test for Dmitry, Arthur would have had the Australasian government purge Finland long ago.

Under the control of a great power, a small country cannot guarantee independence in the fundamental sense.

Especially when Britain, France and Australia have agreed, the political situation in Finland is just Arthur's words.

However, now that we have entered the 20s of the 20th century, the stability and circulation of the monarchy is more important than the rights of the monarch.

Although, with Arthur's help, Dmitry may be able to gain absolute power in Finland. However, this power may not be sustainable, let alone inherited by the next Grand Duke of Finland.

Rather than expecting the consolidation of the power of the Finnish monarchy, it is better to expect the Finnish monarchy to live on in Finland.

At least for the reign of Dmitry and his children, that is, for decades to come, the relationship between Finland and Australasia can be guaranteed.

Arthur refused Prime Minister Nicholas's invitation and went with Dmitry to the Grand Duke's palace of Finland.

The Grand Duchy of Finland dates back hundreds of years, and although it was a vassal state of Tsarist Russia, it still had its own independent government and Grand Duchy's palace, although it was not inhabited by rulers for many years.

Dmitry did not come to Finland to fight for power, nor did he propose any plans to improve or expand the palace, which made the Finnish people at least not disgusted with Dmitry.

In addition, Dmitry's arrival brought further cooperation between Finland and Australasia, and Finland received assistance from Australasia, including a certain industrial base and power equipment.

Although this has not changed the lives of the Finnish people, some of the infrastructure projects that Australasia has helped to recruit workers, and the Finns have more job opportunities, and this gratitude has naturally shifted to Dmitry's side.

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(End of chapter)