Describe Violence Examples at Football Sports Venues (Research Paper Sample)

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Violence at Football Sports Venues
Introduction
There have been cases of violence in football since its beginning in the 13 century in England although the first incidence involving violence at a football venue remains unknown. On several occasions during football matches, footballers have been involved in violent conflict or insults with spectators. Also, spectators have been involved in confronting referees because of discontent after a referees decision. Fans have also engaged in physical conflict with their opponents which resulted in serious injuries or even death. This paper contains a review of football violence at sports places. Emphasis is given to the history of violence in football, examples of incidents that involved violence, and the causes of violence. This paper aims to evaluate the causes of violence at sports venues with the aim of developing a solid solution.
History and of violence in football
The behavior that was named ‘Football hooliganism’ brings us back to the origin of violence in football. The first incidence of football hooliganism in modern football dates back to 1980s in England. In the period, groups of spectators would attack referees, oppose other supporters and even the players (Marsh, 1-28). Elsewhere in 1885, football teams were attacked by stones, sticks and even punched when Aston Villa lost 5-0 to Preston North End in a warm-up match. The most terrible of all was the demise of one of Preston players who were brutally beaten until he became unconscious (Ingle, n.p). The University of Liverpool published a paper in which they record ed a conflict at a football match in Derby, England in the year 1846 that led to a call for the two dragoons groups to respond to the disorderly crowd. Furthermore, the paper identifies cases of people invading the pitch occasionally during the 1880s in English football CITATION Pea07 \l 1033 (Pearson).
In 1970s cases of hooliganism augmented and extended to other European nations like Italy Netherlands, German, and Argentina. For instance, Jorge Valdano who is a former football player in Argentina gave an estimate that over a hundred people were killed by violence in Argentina's stadium between 1978 and 1993 (Cardenas, 69).
High rates of sports-related violence are still prevalent in some other regions of the world, including parts of Eastern Europe, North America, and South America. On July 14, 2014, The Atlantic Magazine reported that in 2013, Argentina had 18 football related deaths, Columbia suffered 40 and Brazil recorded 30, such record had never been reached before in the country’s history.
Examples of Violent football Incidents
It is indisputable that at least some type of unruly behavior has happened in almost every country in which football is played. The violence of some kind appears to be a nearly universal and seemingly usual accompaniment to the game though there is no organized recording on each nation.
In a majority of the European nations, violence during football matches is currently mainly an internal predicament with the majority of problems happening at club-level events. There is a typical pattern in Europe where fans tend to cause more trouble at away matches that when supporting their team at home. Examples of matches where violence erupted in Europe include The match between Woolwich Arsenal and Burton Wanderers that was played on 26, January 1895, after referee John Brodie was beaten by a spectator and knocked down resulting to the closure of Manor stadium for six weeks. In the 2015-16 Greek Football cup that was played on March 2, during the semifinal match Robert Mark, PAOK midfielder, was knocked down in the penalty area and thereafter there was no call on the play late in the second half with Olympiacos leading 2-1, crowds were outraged and threw flares onto the field in the 89th minute. Security and riot police escorted the players and officials off the field CITATION Bar16 \l 1033 (Bardstown). Another incidence of violence in Europe was during a domestic league game between Bastia and Lyon which was abandoned at halftime after fans from the Corsican side twice invaded the pitch to attack opposition players. After the incidence, there were clashes between Lyon players and home fans.
America also has experienced cases of football violence on the rise. In 2013 Brazil recorded a high number of football violence deaths. It was just by good luck that nobody died in the festival of thuggery that took place on the 8th December during the match between Atletico Paranaense and Vasco de Gama in Joinville whose shocking images were beamed around the world. The violence occurred during soccer matches in Mexico in the year 2014. The supporters of Atlas FC club attacked the Monterrey FC club supporters who had paid a visit to the local stadium. The violence was initiated due to the loss in pro championship playoffs when Atlas lost 2-1 to Mont CITATION Tuc14 \l 1033 errey (Tucker).
Cases of violence during football matches have also been experienced in Asian countries like China, Israel, and Iran.For instance there in China where Jiangsu fans attacked a defenseless supporter of rivals Shanghai Shenhua by stamping on his head CITATION Tob \l 1033 (Cannon). In the year 2000 Tension surrounding Arab-Israel conflict spilled over into sporadic riots between Jewish and Arab Israeli football fans which saw every club in Israel on final warning following escalating violence and intimidation at matches CITATION Woo00 \l 1033 (Woods)
Causes of Violence during Football Matches
Football related violence is not essentially of the same nature or influenced by the same casual factors in all of the cultures in which it occurs.
Various factors influence violence at sports venues. Historical, societal, political, economic and literary factors in different countries across the globe have been associated with football violence. Most countries experience an initial stage of casual violence directed mainly to referees and players, followed by a second stage that involves violence between opposing groups of fans and against police or security officers inside the stadium and the third stage involves an increase in violence between these groups outside the stadium. Causes of violence during matches are explained below:
Firstly, consumption of alcohol during football matches.In Britain, violence during matches is frequently reported as being caused by alcoholism. The view is not communal to the majority of scientists who have researched football hooliganism neither is the view held by most European countries. Some investigations, however, show that drinking can influence football violence and have supported calls for restrictions on alcoholism at football grounds.
Secondly, cases of racism have also been shown to result in violence during football matches mostly in international football clubs. Forms of racism include racist chanting and abuse from the terraces when football players from around the world began to join the English league.Racism is evident where some members of a spectator crowd make monkey noises aimed at black players which at times cause a fight between opposing supporters or worse still a player might get angry, get off the pitch to fight the person insulting him.
Thirdly, violence might arise in football due to the feeling by die-hard fans that their team must win to uphold their name and identity.The association between a particular team and its fans can be the main cause of violence especially if a fan is being insulted by opponents in the case when their team loses a match or is not playing well.
Another cause of violence in football is the accumulation of frustration due to successive loses by a team.If a fan is frustrated, slight irritation from a fellow about the losing streak can result in anger that causes a fight between the two parties. Also, the fact that fans do not have any influence on the results of a match however much they may be devoted adds to the frustrations which can make them react violently if agitated.Frustrations seem to be more in cases where there are huge crowds because supporters of the other winning team are also likely to be many and also after match celebrations create anxiety among other fans. Furthermore, some people might start up a fight in a crowd because they feel that they won't be easily noticed among many people as they can hide and get away with any act however bad it might be.
Lastly, violence might erupt due to dissatisfaction on the part of fans because of referees decision or behavior of players on the pitch.If a referee's issues a red card to a player in the event where spectators feel that it is not fair or the player did not deserve that fans can get off their stands, enter the field to protest hence violence.Also, violence can start amongst players mostly if another player hurts the opponent but the referee fails to recognize the act hence that particular player plans revenge which in turn causes violence in the field.
Tackling Violence at Football Venues
The move taken by British authorities to reduce football hooliganism has largely been reactive. For...