Football Crowd Violence

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/platini-ponders-response-to-surge-in-crowd-violence-439119.html

It is a sad fact of life that when people are part of a large group, their mentality can become very different and we find this with fans in a football crowd. They know they can behave irresponsibly but as they are part of such a big group, it will be very difficult for them to be made to suffer the repercussions of their actions. This added with the passion they have for their teams and the hatred they have towards the opposition, can fuel a very nasty fire.

The webpage I have found comes from The Independent newspaper and includes an interview with UEFA president Michel Platini and even he appears a little stumped in finding a solution to this increasing problem. One suggestion he makes is to give the referee ''the authority to stop matches when violence breaks out in the stands.'' This could encourage those fans looking for a fight to stop at the threat of losing the football. On the other hand, you could argue that these people are not really true fans and if we let crowd violence stop games, then we are ultimately letting the idiots win.

He also calls for extra help from police which I feel could help, although I think more work needs to be done by the games governing bodies in reminding fans that they attend matches to support their team, not fight and they must bare in mind that there are many children and families attending these games. Platini needs to take more responsibility rather than distancing the game from this issue, "What happens in the street, like in Paris or Catania, I don't see how a football club can control this type of event.'' Instead he should be putting in place strong rules which punish clubs whose fans become violent and showing this will not be tolerated by football. Those clubs whose fans fail to behave should be forced to play behind closed doors. It is a sad situation for the game to be in but we can't keep allowing people to be killed or injured by these idiots!