What causes football hooliganism and what procedures are in place to combat these offences?
The two columns below will try to explain what makes football fans react in the way they do and what has been implemented, or should be implemented to help abolish hooligans from the beautiful game.
CausesResult - If fans are seeing their team lose, they are likely to become frustrated and angry and take this out on opposition fans or the police.
Player behavior- If a team gives an unsportsmanlike performance then this could encourage the supporters to do the same. Alcohol- Football fans can be fueled full of alcohol which often sends them into a state where they lose self control and act out of character or succumb to peer pressure and commit offences they may later regret. Peer pressure - As most clubs take a large following to football matches people may feel safer in large numbers especially in a city they are not familiar with, therefore they will stick with their own crowd making it harder for the police to intercept potential hooligans. |
SolutionsSegregation- Separating the home fans from the away fans is very popular in the modern game, with majority of opposing fans now sitting in different stands this has reduced the violence.
Punishment- A stricter punishment on and off the field, such as when Luis Suarez was given an eight match ban for racially abusing another player. Clubs are also being punished a lot tougher for failure to control their fans with heavy fines and being forced to play games behind closed doors. Fans are being punished themselves with only recently seven Charlton Athletic fans were jailed and given a 52 year banning order after chanting on a train. Alcohol reduction- An solution has been attempted to combat the issue of intoxication by increasing the price of alcohol at football grounds so people cannot afford to buy ridiculous amounts. Also at football matches that are suspected of having trouble, alcohol is not sold in the ground. However there is not much that can be done to stop people drinking excessive amounts before the game in pubs or at home. Community - As the steward in the interview below states, the authorities try and treat fans as best as possible to be proactive in preventing trouble. This has been possible through social media as Preston police force has taken to Twitter to direct fans to pubs which will provide a friendly atmosphere, leaving the few that want to try their luck troubling home fans can be picked off and dealt with easily.
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The full interview can be found here.