Football Hooliganism. Causes of Football Hooliganism - Essay Example

?Football Hooliganism Professional football is certainly the most popular spectator sport around the world. Although attending a football match is generally considered as a male activity, 12% spectators of popular derby matches are female fans. This is sometimes due to their urge for respective clubs, but the most familiar aspect is the urge for particular players they follow. Britain is one of the most popular places of football activity and this is well represented through the ever increasing fan following of the charismatic English premier league. Historical evidence shows that football attendance had dropped down significantly after the Second World War. This decline thereafter was compensated by the increased presence of spectators in knockout tournament and European Club competitions. In last thirty years and to be precise since the depressing 1985-86 season that immediately succeeded the ‘Heysel’ tragedy, number of spectators of English football increased every year. The statistics available supports the aforesaid fact. In a span of 10 years (1985-86 to 1995-96) football spectators of English football increased from 16.5 million to 21.8 million. It has also been estimated that each year around 4 to 5 million people gather to attend the football match between England and Wales. Though these figures are subject to significant doubt, yet they truly represent the general picture. Football hooliganism has been around for as long as there has been football itself, and it is present in every country. Typically this menace is more evident in those countries where the sport is played seriously and there is an organized league in place. It is one of the most discussed problems in modern sport and has been the subject of many debates among FIFA and UEFA member states (Football and Football Hooliganism, 2001, p.1). “Hooliganism” In Football There is no specific definition for hooliganism in football. The term hooliganism in football was coined by the media and much credit goes to the tabloid press that during 1960 was the foremost proponent of the mentioned term. Since then, the term ‘hooligan’ has been flexibly used in different incidents that occur in football matches around the world. According to most of the experts, hooliganism in football matches implies to different incidents of violence and disorders that occur during the matches. The incidents taking place might occur amongst the fans or amongst the players involved in the game. There are two types of disarrays that have been termed as ‘hooliganism’. Firstly, impulsive and typically low level disorder that is provoked by fans at or around football matches. For example, this type of disorder is common in away matches for England. Second type of disorder is purposeful and planned violence that occurs due to substantial involvement of gangs, who belongs to specific football clubs. These gangs tend to get into a fight with rival fans who are dedicated to other clubs (Pearson, 2007). Frenzied fans use violence as resource to create and recreate their ‘hooligan gangs’. (King, 2001, p.568) In away matches the fans of visiting teams often get into fights with fans of the home teams more because they can avoid getting arrested because of presence of large crowds. (Levinson, 2002, p.1555) Football hooliganism became recognized by the government and media as a stern problem during the year 1960. The hooligan behaviour in football has a long history. Reportedly, the ‘roughs’ were regularly the main cause of hooligan behaviour in the football matches during the end of the nineteenth century. Some clubs were located in mainly tough regions that have long records of hooliganism from the crowds. In the early era of football games, the local ‘derby’ matches provoked the worst problems. The visiting team faced the maximum problem, as the hostile crowds of the home team harassed the referee and the visiting team; the harassment sometimes led to physical torture also. This primarily occurred due to the domination of the home fans, as they were the majority compared to the visiting fans. During that period the media and the press reported the hooligan activities in much less magnitude than what has been done by the tabloid coverage during the 1980s. Between the two great wars, football essentially became ‘respectable’ and the crowd handling diminished significantly. Although the problems did diminish, it did not disappear. It was during the early 1960’s that media and press started regular reporting of football hooliganism. This time, there was general ‘moral panic’ related to the behaviour of young people that was sparked by rising criminal rates. In this climate, football as a sport was used as a platform at which fights and other kinds of hooliganism was deemed to be practiced regularly. During that period, football Hooliganism in England for a start started to take the form of a more reliable and organised characteristic that is linked with the phenomenon today. These supporters choose to allocate in the goal end terraces of the football ground, and manage to exclude themselves from older spectators and rival fans (Football and Football Hooliganism, 2001, p.2). Causes of ‘Football Hooliganism’ Most hooligan organizations are located in poor neighborhoods, where people have fewer opportunities for entertainment and they choose to go to football matches. Troubled with their lives, they prefer to spill their rage and anger on the pitch and on the stands instead of try and work on achieving more. A common cause for hooliganism in the past was alcohol but nowadays no professional club allows any kind of alcohol to be sold at the stadium or in a radius of several hundred meters. Another reason why people go wild during football games are city rivalries. The so called derbies are often filled with a lot of excitement and tension and the losing team’s supporters are not happy to see their team sink. There are also organized gangs called football firms that go to matches with the single purpose of fighting with other firms from the city rivals. Due to this inhuman behaviour by the fans there have been several large scale incidents involving deaths in Europe in the last twenty years, including the Heysel tragedy in Belgium, where 39 people died during a stampede in the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus. Street fights are also common before and after matches and football firms often fix a time and place for a fight before the game itself. Stampedes are not common in Europe anymore but they still happen in South America, where the local derbies are extremely violent, and almost every year there are casualties. A number of casual factors have been discovered that are concerned with football hooliganism. For example in the Heysel disaster, the effect of alcohol on the youths, and the irregular ticket sales were cited amongst the main reasons. Although it is to be notified that the criminal disinterest of the organizers and the coward attitude of the local police was also a hefty reason for the tragedy that took place. However, author Perryman emphasizes the fact that conditions should not be allowed to pardon the victim’s culture, which he considers to be obvious when adjudging for hooliganism. He acknowledges that there is an enveloping tendency to blame everybody else. The common suspects are, and remain, the media, the police, the authorities of the football stadium, and the fans of the opposing team (Gow & Rockwood, 2008, pp.71-75). According to Labour MP Joe Ashton (1973) that football venues are outlets for violence without which the society would look for other outlets. His logic was that ‘harmless behaviour’ during matches prevents crime (Armstrong, 1998, p.95). This research therefore began looking beyond the occurrence and type of “excuses”, and look forward to the perceptions of causality Genetic and sociological aspect Another summation of research driven reflection is performed and interpreted by Rowe, who proposes the fact that football violence is often explained by focusing on genetic and sociological theories. The genetic theories imply physical mechanisms such as aggression, which produce violent behaviour. But the sociological theory represents the football hooligan as a dummy controlled by different features in society. An analogous viewpoint was also articulated by participants in this research. One interviewee claimed that, “Being a hooligan comes from within partly. But then it’s also to do with the society you live in and what you’ve been through in life” (Gow & Rockwood, 2008, p. 74). Role of media Two significant features were considered by the researcher in analyzing media’s role in football hooliganism. They emphasized that the media play a vital role, and can even be projected that they are one of the serious cause of the problem. Several respondents acknowledged that media are partly responsible for hooliganism, as all the hype that is generated by the newspapers often instigates further hooliganism. The extra hype that is created by the media often leads to future incidents, as people presume that hooliganism is a way to get into the front-page of a newspaper. In some cases, newspaper articles often create a scenario of revenge as people do not often interpret the articles in a healthy way. Most of the respondents acknowledged that it is particularly the newspaper industry that thoroughly misinterprets the reaction and words of the spectators, and is presumed to be a reason for the future problems. The media was perceived here as a primary component of hooligan culture, which played the role of a catalyst in creating a public opin­ion of supporters. Most fans emphasized the media’s representation of the phe­nomenon to be highly negative, cause of provocation and overhyped (Gow & Rockwood, 2008, pp.71-75). Role of police administration The role of police administration is also very much significant in the context of football hooliganism. Improper police administration can create trouble as well as just not stopping it. Regarding the response to the role of police in hooliganism, individuals suggest that this often reflects a lack of understanding within the police and the crowds present in and outside the arena. This mismanagement is frequently observed in the case of managing large groups of supporters away from stadiums. It was ascertained that management tactics frequently imply that the police recognize themselves to been encountering a consistently violent crowd, although this is rarely the case. It is presumed that the psychology of the crowd changes when they encounter provocation from both rival supporters, and haphazard and disproportionate policing. Fans can potentially turn violent if they realize that the police are over exaggerating the situation. In some occasions the fans feel the necessity to counter the rival fans or the cops. Also, it is to be notified those policemen are men and women, often with spouses and families. Any kind of arrest they make that will essentially be contested may require them to return at some distance to take part in local proceedings. They would not be human if they did not efficiently try to avoid such inconvenience (Canter et al, 1989, pp.15-17). In Holland it has been seen that police traveling with fans to distant matches can have positive effect. (Giulianotti, et.al, 1994, p.188) Role of individual behaviour Football hooliganism can be linked with inherent aggressive nature of the people involved and their angry temperaments. Rioters are knows for their impulsive nature and their urge to cause sensations. Moreover, if a person has experienced violence in his past then he can be provoked towards hooliganisms with any kind of disturbance. (Van Hiel, et. al, 2007, p.172) Intensity of ‘derby’ matches, and the expectation of the fans ‘Derby’ matches are referred to the matches that involve the biggest rivals in every league. Prominent examples of derby matches are between real Madrid and Barcelona, in Spanish league, AC Milan and Inter Milan in Italian league, and others. The derby matches portray a scenario of high anticipation from the crowd. It is often witnessed that the matches in the Italian league between AC Milan and Inter Milan shows high intensity action amongst the players. The action on the field often corresponds to the fans in the stands. Commotion in derby matches is very common in the Spanish and Italian leagues. The “el classico”, is one of the highly anticipated matches in the Spanish league that involves the two Spanish giants, namely real Madrid and Barcelona. The crowds anticipate highly about their favourite team, and with any disappointing results the emotions of the fans trigger the hooliganism in the arena (Stein, 2011). The legal aspect The frequent occurrence of football disorders that has been occurring is also due to the fact that proper legislative measures have not been implied upon efficiently. The football (offences) act 1991 has been completely unable to achieve its goal of crowd control. Also the football spectator’s act 1989 has continually failed in restricting the hooligans to travel abroad. The sporting events act 1985 had also failed miserably (Greenfield & Osborn, 2000, p.197). The thing that is uncontested and unclear in the scenario of football hooliganism is what social policy and legal responses should be made in both European and national level. In England, significant amounts of legislation have been enacted, often in response to particular incidents that have led to significant media coverage. Two prominent incidents in the year 1985 televised matches at the grounds of Chelsea Fc and Luton town are of import. The two games involved spectators gaining access to the playing area and the mass fights ensuing between opposite groups. In the same year, a government enquiry leading to the Popplewell report took place after the fire at the Bradford city grounds which led to the death of 54 people. The recommendations were also based on an analysis of the tragedy at the Hazel stadium in Brussels at the UEFA cup final. Although enforced legislation was incorporated in the form of the football spectator’s act 1989, a compulsory membership was never introduced. The other dismal incident was the demise of 95 Liverpool fans FA cup semi-final in 1989 at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield. It was emphasized that the reason behind the incident was primarily safety defects and failures of policing; it was initially portrayed as being the latest manifestation of hooligan activity (Gardiner, et al, 2006, p.103-104). Football hooliganism in different countries around the world Italy According to the official data that was obtained, almost 123 football fans were arrested, 513 sustained serious injuries, and two deaths were registered during the season of 1988/89. From the newspaper reports, it was acknowledged that 65 violent incidents took place during the 686 matches that were held in the series A and B season during that year. This implied that violent incidents occurred at almost 9.5% of matches. Although government sources portray that the percentage is close to 10.5% (Carnibella, et al. 1996, pp.60-61). Belgium Study of football hooliganism in Belgium reflects that during the year 1987, serious accidents occurred in 5% of football matches. In these accidents large number of arrests and cases of serious injuries was witnessed. ‘Less serious’ incidents were reported at 15% matches. Four groups of supporters were identified as causing the most trouble: Anderlecht, Antwerp, Club Bruges, and Standard Liege (Carnibella, et al. 1996, pp.61-62). Germany Some indication of levels of violence is provided by the German Police, who expected a contingent of 1000 ‘category C’ (violent) fans to attend the Euro 96 championships, out of a total 10,000 supporters traveling to Britain (Carnibella, et. al, 1996, p.64). France Paris Saint-Germaine supporters, in particular the group known as the ‘Boulogne kop’, and Marseilles Olympique supporters are the most numerous and powerful groups, and have the worst reputations. Others involved in disorder include Bordeaux, Metz, Nantes, and St. Etienne. (Dunning, et al,1988, pp-177-178) Spain Although there have been some ‘local’ clashes between fans of rival teams, and some violent incidents at international matches, most football rivalries in Spain are inextricably bound up with sub-nationalist politics. This may help to explain the lack of data on ‘football-related’ violence, as clashes between, say, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao supporters may be seen as having very little to do with football. Members of HNT – Athletic Bilbao’s largest supporters club – describe the club as “a militant anti-fascist fan-club”. (Spaaij, 2006, p-105) Switzerland In Switzerland hooliganism is a major problem in common sports and is not only confined to football and ice hockey. Swiss hooligans are even known to create chaos abroad. (Valloni & Pachmann, 2011, p.53) Netherlands Historically, football always has a strong impact on Dutch culture and is also displayed in their flags. In 1970s, the spectators began to takes ‘sides’ in four main cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hague and Utrech. These sides caused differences and were mainly formed by teenage supporters. The emergence of these sides paved the way for spectator violence in Netherlands. (Spaaij, 2007, pp.317-318) Legal cases of football hooliganism Loopholes in law Essential loopholes were notified in the laws of Scottish and English football. The legal situations were in dismal conditions when three persons took advantage of the loopholes to stray away from a pending charge. The prosecutors had to ditch a case of football hooliganism against Colin Hamblet, his son, Damien, and another person namely David Ainsworth. The prosecutors were forced to drop the case as the orders imposed on them by the courts in England did not apply within the territory of Scotland. It signified that Scotland was the only country where the accused could still be allowed to get access to top level football games. The trio was arrested in the July of 2008, when they went to Scotland to attend a pre season match of their team, Bolton wanderers. The cops from England had already informed the travel plans of the trio to their Scottish counterparts. All the three accused were handed a 3 year banning order after they were fined for drunk and hooligan behaviour at Bolton’s Boxing Day game versus Liverpool at Anfield. In addition, Ainsworth was also booked for racism. The central Scotland cops charged the men for not abiding by the banning orders given by the English government. Although the trio was deemed to face trial at Falkirk sheriff court, but the case was subsequently dropped at the last moment. As acknowledged by a leading Scott, Paul McBride, the loophole in the law can essentially result in free travel for the banned persons between England and Scotland. He also emphasized that there are sufficient trains available in the morning of the match days that Scottish hooligans might use to travel to England. One of the accused, Colin Hamblet, acknowledged that he was delighted on the case being dropped, as he emphasized that, “I'm not a big-time football hooligan; I've been arrested in the past, but mainly for getting drunk at games. The incident in Liverpool is my only conviction." (Silvester, 2010) The case of the UEFA cup final, 2008 A severe case of football hooliganism took place after the UEFA cup final of 2008. Precisely 11 men appeared before the court as they were accused of creating the nuisance in the incident of 2008. The accused were charged of violent actions that they exhibited after the rangers’ versus Zenith St Petersburg match in May, 2008. Also, Scott McSeveney and Mark Stoddert were also charged of assaulting police personnel. The case was based on the incident of May 14, 2008 in Manchester. It was presumed that almost 150,000 football followers were present in the city to attend the final of the UEFA cup. The incident was also triggered as there was a essential failure of organising a giant screen for fans who could not get a ticket for the match. This resulted in mass disturbances. A number of rangers fan under the influence of alcohol encountered a violet collision with the local police, while they rampaged the Manchester arena for more than five hours. Most of the accused in the incident were out on bail, and were due to appear before the court on the 20th of November, 2009. (Dailymail, 2009) Prevention of football hooliganism In the past decades a variety of initiatives have been taken to minimise the hazard of hooliganism in football. Some practices summarized below gives a clear view of various ways of preventing football hooliganism. These practices reveal that successful prevention depends on the efforts of a variety of institutions and agents. They also highlight the significance of incessant, locally attributed commitment to prevent football hooliganism (Begs, et, al, 2008, p.317). A. Police forces Police are frequently criticized due to their aggressive methods of crowd control at football matches. Certain police forces in particularly those in parts of Eastern and Southern Europe and Latin America, hold a status for their arbitrary use of violence. It is often noticed that efficient policing is not practiced, as the police seem to similarly react to crowd’s hooligan behaviour in football matches. National police units increasingly cooperate in the harmonization and broadcasting of football aptitude in the preparation of European Cup matches or international tournaments (Spaaij, n.d., p.4). Via the measures taken by the police, legislation by the government and rules set in place by the English Football Association, England has shown significant progress in regulating and preventing the problem. The most triumphant yet controversial method of trying to prohibit the problem of football hooliganism is through the use of undercover operations. Primarily instances of undercover operations took place during the mid 1960’s when the FA suggested that police officials in plain clothes be used in the domestic game. The FA also made formal attires during the beginning of 1980s, for the police to penetrate gangs connected with hooliganism. However, the problem with insightful football thugs in this way often surmounted in creating difficulties as the reliability of the evidence was often disputed (Preventing Football Hooliganism, 2003). The police were permitted to stop and search in cases of high intensity football matches to prevent the consumption of alcohol within the stadium. This power was granted to them by the sporting events act of 1985 (Begs, et, al, 2008, p.322). In October, 2010 England had built a football stadium with enough seats for everyone to sit and there were no fences to allow free movement of the spectators. This effort was praised by the FIFA president Sepp Blatter. (Sepp Blatter praises….,2010) B. Cooperation between local governments and football clubs: fan projects There is a significant belief in parts of Europe that in order to prevent football hooliganism, it is essential to promote the consciousness amidst kids and the intensification of their ties with the respective football clubs. Football in this context is considered as platform for socialization and a means for preventing criminal activities. In countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and parts of Scandinavia this belief is reflected in effective and well structured efforts to diminish football hooliganism through fan projects. The local interpretation and emphasis of the fan projects often vary substantially. (Spaaij, n.d., p.5) C. Football clubs There is a common scenario of criticism directed towards the football clubs due to their lack of initiatives to diminish football hooliganism. The clubs from southern Europe and Latin America were going through such criticism. In certain countries, football clubs have long been facilitating favours to militant fan groups by providing exclusive territory within the football arena. Clubs often offer free tickets, touring preparations, and accommodation to keep their tools inside the football ground. These favors have contributed to the development of the groups, enabling them to gather more members through spectacular displays and by offering them reduced prices or free tickets. (Spaaij, n.d., p.6) D. Football fans Football fans can essentially be used in the preventing of hooliganisms in football matches. A number of supporters’ organizations have carried on significant protests against violence and racial gestures at football stadiums. Initiatives have also been taken at local levels like that in Europe. A variety of groups engage in conferences, debates, or educational programs that promote the essential function of sports in a society. The safe sports ground act was implemented that included the provision for the police to exercise extra powers to achieve certain crowd controls measures within a football stadium. The judges began to impose high detention sentences upon those who are convicted for offence in the context of football hooliganism (Greenfield & Osborne, 2006, p-91). Conclusion Football hooligan ism has become a major menace in the sport of professional football. Established football playing nations inspite of their strict control has yet not been able to bring the situation under control as hooliganism in football arenas is still a common phenomenon in different parts of the world. It is essential that the nations understand the seriousness of the problem and procure advanced ways to control them. 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