Causes of Performer Violence
Violence in sport refers to physical acts committed to harm others, seen in sports such as American football, rugby, football and ice hockey. The 'win ethic' helps explain why performers turn aggressive and eventually violent, especially when a result carries high emotional intensity, e.g. a local derby or Cup Final.
- Pre-match media hype can 'over-psych' a performer into aggression, e.g. Ben Flower's sending-off in the 2014 Rugby League Grand Final
- Frustration with officials' decisions can create a sense of injustice that spills over into violence, and provocation from opponents or the crowd can trigger it, e.g. Zinedine Zidane's head-butt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final
- Causes can be remembered via WINNER: Win ethic and high rewards; Importance of the event; Nature of the sport; NGBs being too lenient with punishments; Excitement/over-arousal; Refereeing decisions causing frustration
Preventing Performer Violence
- Using more officials, or video technology such as a fourth official or the television match official (TMO) in rugby, can reduce frustration caused by poor decision-making and remove perceived injustice
- NGB strategies include: supporting officials' decisions with video replay and clearer rules; training officials to defuse situations; punishing violence missed during the match via post-match video evidence, e.g. rugby league's 'on-report' system; promoting performers with good disciplinary records as role models; imposing harsh punishments such as bans or fines; and running education campaigns or fair play awards
Causes of Spectator Violence: Football Hooliganism
Football hooliganism is unruly, violent and destructive behaviour by over-zealous supporters – a specific form of the wider term hooliganism.
- Emotional causes include the heightened importance of certain fixtures, team loyalty taken to extremes, pre-match media hype, and violent behaviour on the pitch being mirrored by the crowd
- Situational and social causes include excessive alcohol and drug-taking, poor policing and crowd control (a key factor in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster), diminished individual responsibility within a large crowd, and organised gang violence
- Other causes include religious or sectarian discord (e.g. Celtic vs Rangers), taunting between rival fans, and violence used as a display of masculinity
Strategies to Combat Football Hooliganism
- Banning or restricting alcohol sales, greater use of police intelligence, and tougher deterrents such as match bans, fines or imprisonment – following the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster, UEFA banned all English clubs from European competition for five years, and Liverpool for six years
- Further strategies include CCTV around stadiums, all-seater stadiums with fan segregation, more responsible pre-match media reporting, scheduling kick-off times to suit police requirements, and laws against pitch trespass
Negative Implications of Football Hooliganism for the Sport
- Media coverage of fan violence damaged football's public image, discouraging participation and attendance
- Anti-hooliganism measures such as travel bans unfairly affected law-abiding fans, and clubs could be excluded from competitions because of their fans' behaviour, e.g. Liverpool's six-year UEFA ban after Heysel
- Hooliganism drove up costs through increased spending on security and policing, and images of English hooliganism abroad damaged England's reputation and future bids to host major events