Soccer Hooliganism—Disease or Symptom?
By “Awake!” correspondent in the British Isles
“WE ARE due an exciting European Cup final worthy of the name,” the London Times of May 29, 1985, reported. But it added: “Brussels is preparing for the arrival of Liverpool’s supporters . . . A huge security operation has been mounted.”
Yet 38 died and more than 150 were injured when hooligans went wild at Brussels’ Heysel Stadium as teams from Britain and Italy met. London’s Daily Mail reported:
“The tragedy, an hour before the match had been due to start, was caused when Liverpool supporters, possibly provoked, charged a Juventus section of the crowd. There was only a flimsy barrier between the two sets of fans at that point and the Liverpool fans climbed over it and pulled it down. The wall and crash barriers collapsed under the weight of Italians fleeing in panic . . .
“After the wall collapse, men with the lower parts of their bodies trapped and being crushed by rubble screamed in agony, their arms stretched forward in appeals for help.
“But around and above them fans still fought, kicking and punching each other and hurling missiles . . . The rioting was seen on television in 80 countries taking live coverage of the match . . . More than 1 1/2 hours after the tragedy, as both team captains appealed for calm, supporters of both sides were still taunting Belgian riot police and pelting them with bottles, cans, stones, rocks and lighted fireworks.”
Such hooliganism, however, is nothing new. Rioting fans have sparked panic, stampedes, and death during and after many soccer matches. Why, the very month of the Brussels disaster, 8 were killed and 51 injured in a riot among fans at Mexico City’s Olympic Stadium! And to mention just a few other incidents:
In October 1982, 20 died after a soccer match at Lenin Stadium, Moscow. In February 1981, another 19 were killed in Piraeus, Greece. In August 1980, 16 died in Calcutta, India. In February 1974, in Cairo, Egypt, 48 were trampled to death. In June 1968, fights among fans in Buenos Aires, Argentina, resulted in 72 fatalities. And in May 1964, at least 318 died and 500 were injured in Lima, Peru, when fighting broke out after a referee disallowed a Peruvian goal.
Soccer hooliganism, however, is particularly prevalent among British fans. The London Times printed a grim list enumerating deeds of hooliganism at British soccer matches over the past 23 years. Supporters of British clubs have wreaked havoc in European cities such as Rotterdam, Paris, Saint-Étienne, Turin, Madrid, Basel, Oslo, Amsterdam, Brussels, Valencia, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, and Lisbon. No wonder Europeans call soccer hooliganism “the British Disease.”
Reporting on the tragedy in Brussels, London Times reporter David Miller echoed the feelings of many, writing: “When outside, a cavalcade of ambulances and emergency medical units tend the dead and injured in a scene reminiscent of a battlefield and when afterwards the fighting continues horrendously in the streets, a halt must be called.”
Soccer hooliganism is indeed a plague on society. But could the violence associated with the hooliganism be merely symptoms? If so, of what disease?
A Sick Society?
Soccer was described in The Sunday Times of London as a “mirror to society, and our own present society is a nasty, greedy, violent one.” The paper added: “Football is not in itself the cause of violence, but it is a perfect theatre for it . . . It attracts and canalises violence, which might otherwise lie dormant or explode sporadically.”
The violence manifest in the rivalry between soccer clubs follows a pattern found in other actions that many so-called law-abiding citizens condone. David Robins, after seven years of studying soccer hooliganism, explains in his book We Hate Humans: “The tendency of nation states to settle territorial disputes by violent means, and with only the slenderest of references to ideals or moral principles, can be read by the politically illiterate as no more than a grown-up version of soccer warfare.”
Thus the magazine The Economist advised: “As a shamed Britain ponders the tragedy of Brussels, it would do well to examine the system of cultural values that made it possible.”
Identifying hooliganism as a symptom of a sick society, the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Charles McLachlan, bewailed the lack of discipline in present-day life and called for better guidance for the young. Chief Constable Robert Bunyard of Essex Police described football riots as “the concentration of behaviour people indulge in elsewhere.”
Is the sickness that pervades human society terminal? Or is there a cure? What treatment will succeed?
Treating the Symptoms
Identity cards and body searches have been proposed to curb entry of hooligan element into football grounds. Justice Popplewell, High Court judge, conducting an inquiry into football safety, concluded that requiring membership cards for supporters would contribute to decreasing hooliganism. This proposal, if implemented, would prevent casual visitors from entering the football grounds. “That in my view,” says Popplewell, “is a price which the public and the club have to pay to try to reduce football violence.”
Among other recommendations, Popplewell advised the police to make full use of closed-circuit television to watch for crowd violence. In some areas, this suggestion has already been taken up, and the police are deploying vehicles known as hoolivans. These provide a location from which they can maintain surveillance by using colour video cameras. On spotting trouble, the police can identify and then photograph individual hooligans.
Plans to ban the sale of alcohol at, near, or even en route to the football grounds will also hopefully contribute to a lessening of the violence. The London Times editorialized: “British football may have eventually to be played in fortified amphitheatres with iron cages where there used to be terraces, and a breathalyser machine [to measure the alcohol content of the breath] at every turnstile . . . Future football matches may not have the excitement and romance of the national game of our past. But at least it may be a game again, a game worth playing and safe for export too.”
Such measures, though well intentioned, treat the symptoms but leave the disease still rampant. As The Guardian Weekly put it: “No game is worth fortifications that merely address the symptoms, but not the disease.” Then, how can the disease be successfully treated? How can hooliganism be eradicated not only from sporting events but from human society as well?
Eliminating Hooliganism
The horrifying events of May 29th were a decided contrast to what happened two months later in the halls of the exhibition park in Heysel, just 500 meters (1,640 ft) from the football stadium. It reminded one of the difference between a wild winter sea and a tranquil summer one. From July 25 to 28, 1985, a large, multilingual crowd gathered there again. But the atmosphere was so different.
This crowd came together for a four-day district convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were there to learn about Christian integrity, and they heard thought-provoking discussions on such subjects as “Integrity to Truth in a Godless World” and “God’s Times and Seasons, to What Do They Point?” While the attendance reached 27,402, there were none of the stealing, fighting, and bodily injuries that marked the previous gathering. Rather, the assemblage was marked by its peace and orderliness.
On Friday morning, the proceedings were interrupted by a bomb threat. But notice the different reaction of this crowd when under pressure: An announcement was made, and everyone evacuated the halls in an orderly fashion. A representative of the press timed the evacuation—it took just eight minutes. One hall was emptied in just four minutes! This startled one woman delegate. She had left the crowded hall to go to the rest room, where there were no loudspeakers. When she came back just five minutes later, the hall was completely empty. There was nobody in sight! She was quite disoriented until she found out what had happened.
The halls were empty for one hour while the police and 500 volunteers searched all the buildings. No bombs were found, and the convention program continued.
Similarly, in Britain some 142,859 people spent four days in ten different stadiums attending the “Integrity Keepers” conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and their association was unmarred by any acts of hooliganism. In fact, a football-club official said: “There is never any confrontation . . . The peaceful atmosphere . . . is catching.”
Contrasting the convention crowds with those who attend football matches, the police in Manchester said: “Football spectators look on us as enemies and don’t take any notice of us. But you people go out of your way to be friendly.” “If everyone were organized . . . like you, I would be out of a job.”
What made these crowds so different from those attending football matches? It was not the use of body searches or closed-circuit television surveillance. No, but it was the fact that the people themselves were committed to a peaceful way of life. Many of them formerly espoused a violent way of life. The change for them, however, came as they regularly studied the Bible, applied its teachings in their lives, and associated with others who follow the Bible counsel to “seek peace and pursue it.”—1 Peter 3:11.
However, by itself this activity will not cleanse the earth of all violence, including soccer hooliganism. This will happen when God’s Kingdom intervenes in earth’s affairs and removes all unrighteousness and violence. Then peace will prevail under the “Prince of Peace.”—Isaiah 9:6.
Jehovah’s Witnesses warmly invite you to visit their Kingdom Halls and their conventions. See for yourself how people are transforming their lives permanently by applying the principles outlined in the Bible.
[Blurb on page 20]
“An evening of sheer folly bespattered football with blood, and we will not be able to forget it.”—French magazine Onze
[Picture on page 21]
Why such tranquillity here?
[Picture Credit Line on page 19]
ROSSEL and CIE, S.A., Brussels