Why is soccer fandom so linked to violence?

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Why is soccer fandom so linked to violence?

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Soccer’s

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, yet its history is shadowed by tragedies.

At a recent

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, a controversial refereeing decision led to unrest, resulting in crowd violence that claimed more than 50 lives.

In 2022, violence at

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

during a match led to the deaths of 135 people, as security forces responded to pitch invasions with tear gas, triggering chaos and ultimately a crowd crush.

These incidents are stark reminders of the risks tied to violence in sports crowds. They stem from structural failures, poor crowd management, and often complex group dynamics that lead to violent behavior.

Soccer crowds are especially prone to violence, which raises a pressing question: what is it about soccer and its fan culture that makes such incidents more likely to occur?

Soccer fan violence: A recurring pattern

Catastrophic incidents rooted in fan violence have been intertwined with the history of this sport.

Perhaps the most extreme case is the Soccer War (more commonly known as

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

) of 1969, when World Cup qualifiers between El Salvador and Honduras inflamed existing political tensions.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and within days, the two nations were at war. More than 2,000 people died in the brief conflict.

There are other cases throughout the history of the game:

Estadio Nacional Disaster (1964, Peru)—Riots broke out after a disallowed goal during

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Police used tear gas, causing chaos as fans tried to escape through locked exits. More than 300 people died.

The Heysel Stadium Disaster (1985, Belgium)—

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

before the European Cup final caused a wall to collapse. Thirty-nine people were killed and more than 600 were injured.

Port Said Stadium Riot (2012, Egypt)—After a match between Al-Masry and Al-Ahly,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

while exits were blocked. Seventy-four people died and hundreds were injured.

The most notable case in Australia was the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, when fans stormed the pitch at AAMI Park after a flare was thrown back into the stands. Melbourne City’s goalkeeper, Tom Glover, was struck with a metal bucket, leaving him concussed and bleeding.

Further back, in 1985, a National Soccer League match

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

erupted into chaos following a controversial referee decision. The chaos remains one of the most notorious examples of soccer crowd violence in Australia’s history.

In 1985, bitter rivals Sydney Olympic and Sydney Hakoah clashed in a NSL match at Pratten Park.

Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights.
Sign up for our

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and get updates on breakthroughs,
innovations, and research that matter—daily or weekly.

Soccer fan violence can take many forms

Soccer’s immense popularity means larger, more diverse fanbases with deeply ingrained rivalries.

Fans often see their team as

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, with this strong group affiliation sometimes heightening “

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

” dynamics. At times, this can lead to hostility.

And it’s not just fan-on-fan violence: soccer fan violence

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Violent and antisocial acts range from verbal abuse and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

to property damage, vandalism, pitch invasion and physical assaults.

In some countries, soccer fan violence has worsened since the pandemic.

In the United Kingdom, recent police statistics reveal

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

compared to pre-pandemic levels, with incidents of disorder reaching an eight-year high. Notably, 70% of offenses were committed by people aged 18–30.

Players can be affected, too. A

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

from the International Federation of Professional Footballers highlighted the escalating issue of violence against professional players, emphasizing its detrimental impact on their physical and mental well-being.

The report reveals a significant number of players have experienced abuse, including threats and physical assaults, both on and off the field. Data shows fan violence against players is most common in Europe (particularly the ***, Italy and Germany) followed by Africa.

What’s behind the trend?

1. Social identity

Soccer fan violence is often deeply tied to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Studies from

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

emphasize the role of identity fusion, where fans experience an intense bond with their teams and fellow supporters.

This fusion creates a “warrior psychology,” making threats to the group feel personal, to the point that it can drive fans to defend their identity aggressively.

High-stakes rivalry games exacerbate this: violence

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

during derby matches in Germany. These studies show that match-day violence is driven more by rivalry and group dynamics than game outcomes.

In Brazil, the same identity fusion has been shown to drive hostility, especially toward rival fan groups, as

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

2. Sociodemographic characteristics

Studies have highlighted how

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

—often young, unemployed, and with lower levels of education—are more likely to engage in violence, which is shaped by group norms and accepted aggression levels.

Studies in the *** have revealed

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. While hooliganism once thrived in working-class and hyper-masculine cultures, better crowd management and gentrification have reduced in-stadium violence, though confrontations still occur away from arenas.

3. Drug and alcohol use

Substance use can

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

In the ***, ******** use among fans is

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The combination of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

with identity fusion can develop into aggressive behavior, particularly

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Alcohol,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, can also fuel confrontations by lowering inhibitions and amplifying territoriality.

What can be done?

Despite these patterns, some regions have seen significant improvements.

In the ***, decades of reforms, such as CCTV, all-seater stadiums, and higher ticket prices have fostered a more “

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

” fan culture, with fans themselves often regulating violent behavior.

However, such measures can also displace violence to less-visible spaces, where rival groups arrange confrontations to avoid police detection.

Reducing soccer-related violence requires a multifaceted approach addressing both structural and psychological drivers.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

creating positive group dynamics, rather than simply suppressing fan identity, is key.

Further strategies could also include:

• initiatives to reframe rivalries as
  This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• better policing tactics using
  This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
  rather than force
• improvements in managing crowd flows and reducing friction points, such as minimizing counterflows of rival fans during departures
• substance use interventions, particularly targeting drug use.

The challenge, however, lies in implementing these solutions while preserving the unique passion and energy that make soccer the world’s most beloved sport.

Provided by
The Conversation

This article is republished from

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

under a Creative Commons license. Read the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Citation:
Why is soccer fandom so linked to violence? (2024, December 7)
retrieved 7 December 2024
from

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#soccer #fandom #linked #violence

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up