Rid the game of hooliganism

19 Aug, 2016 - 00:08 0 Views

The ManicaPost

ESTEEMED followers of the game of football, thank you for finding time for interaction.
The football fraternity was last week rattled by the disturbing incident at Babourfields where violence erupted at the end of a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Bulawayo Derby between hosts Highlanders and defending champions Chicken Inn.

Going into the details of what exactly transpired during that ill-fated afternoon would be a bit cumbersome, but the long and short of it all is that hooliganism in sport is deeply deplorable and highly retrogressive.
To begin with, Highlanders supporters had no business invading the pitch. After all, it was their opponents Chicken Inn who felt they had been screwed up and hard done by the referee for a disallowed effort “scored” right at the death of the contest.
Yours Truly shudders to think what would have happened if the situation that stirred all the trouble had been reversed – if it were Bosso who had had that “goal” ruled out!
In their anger, whatever it is that had aroused it, Highlanders fans turned blind and ran amok, throwing missiles onto the pitch and attacking match officials. Whatever cause they were advancing during that moment of madness, there is always a better and civilised way of airing out grievances.
Hooliganism at football matches is a serious plague that is threatening to blight our local game.
We can’t continue watching and have the game degenerate into a free-for-all, a freefall that can turn our stadia into hardhat areas. It sets a dangerous precedence and awful example, especially considering that some come to watch and enjoy the game with their families.
While violence in team games goes against the tenets of good sportsmanship, it is also a criminal offence that attracts a fine or prosecution before the courts of law.
The culture of hooliganism in sport is a bad habit that must be nipped in the bud. It gives a bad name to football, with the ugly scenes taking away the beauty of the game. It only foments antagonism between the rival fans, with emotions running high as people get injured and property damaged during the ensuing melees.
Football has over the years grown to become a serious and big business the world over that we run the risk of jeopardising the interests of stakeholders like the sponsors.
Does hooliganism not soil the brand of the game’s sponsors?
Does violence at games not hurt relations among stakeholders?
Friday Football Echoes urges the relevant authorities to look into such cases as the Highlanders/Chicken Inn one as well as similar others and descend heavily on the perpetrators so that the culprits are brought to book.
Offending clubs must be charged and if found guilty should be penalised with stiffer sentences and heavy punishment to deter would-be offenders so as to send a deterrent warning out to the rest of the clubs and their fans.
They must simply face the music.
Stern measures that shout out against hooliganism must be put in place and ensure that they are reigiously adhered to in order to prevent it from occurring in the first place.
These thugs dressed in guise suits as football fans, out to cause mayhem at match venues, must be weeded out because they have no place in the game.
Football is not for the barbaric.
We must save our football from their savagery.
Friday Football Echoes lends it’s voice to the growing chorus on calls to kick out hooliganism from the game and show it the red card.
While Sport and Recreation Minister Makhosini Hlongwane’s exhortation for all to curb violence at games resonates with sense, those in the corridors of power and overseeing sport in various portfolios must be compelled to do more and be decisive in effectively dealing with and rooting out the menace.
“The ministry would like to state in categorical terms that hooliganism and other forms of violence have no place in football, in particular, and sport in general as it defeats the very well established axioms of sport, i.e promoting peace and a culture of tolerance,” Minister Hlongwane talked tough as he spelt out Government’s strong stance against those bent on aggression towards others in sport.
Other authorities, like the Premier Soccer League and the Sports Commission, have also come out charging and sang the same chorus as the minister this week in condemning hooliganism and it remains to be seen if they are going to walk the talk in confronting and slaying this monster.
We must rid football of hooliganism.
Is it Zlatan time already?
The pony-tailed Swedish star has had a burst to life at Old Trafford. Fresh from helping his side to gold in the English Premier League curtain raiser – the Charity Shield – as he fired in the winner that sank champions Leicester City recently, Ibrahimovic was back at it again last weekend as he chipped in with one of the three goals as the Red Devils defeated Bournemouth on their way to the top after the opening round of the 2016-17 campaign.
With that feat, the gangly forward set another milestone as he has scored on each of his full debuts in the Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1, the Uefa Champions League and now England’s Premier League.
Zlatan is a serial winner, no doubt about that, and he should be taken seriously when he declared, upon signing for United, that he was in Manchester to win trophies. Two goals in two winning starts for Man U is not a bad return and, powered by his huge ego, Zlatan is set to go all the way and illuminate the EPL like he has done wherever he has been before.
It’s Game On, Play On!
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