Hooligans Holiday
By Seikholen Thomsong
The World Cup kicks off today in 12 cities around Germany. More than 30 billion people would watch it on television. Hooligans once again would be on a holiday. “Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA's president, has vowed to crack down on racist behavior during the tournament.” Reports, the NYT reporter Jere Longman, from Hamburg.
Hooligans on a Holiday
Hooliganism and unruly fans going berserk in stadia around the world has never ceased to hog the limelight from the sports pages of newspapers around the world. Remember the infamous match between Liverpool and Juventus many years ago that resulted in so many deaths. But of late this - hooliganism- has taken a racist kind of hue.
Colored players around the globe have come under racial prejudice more evidently in recent times. The news report cited above had mentioned how players such as the Nigerian forward Adebowale Ogungbure and Marc Zoro of Ivory Coast “were spat upon, jeered with racial remarks and mocked with monkey noises” in Germany and Italy respectively just recently. It would be unfair to accuse but it seem true that countries with long known history of social and ideological turmoil exhibit this trait all the more.
Understanding Racism
Certain amount racial bias is there everywhere. Imperialism, in the previous centuries, was one extreme manifestation of this. At certain places it is against Afro-Americans, Eurasians or Asians. At some other places the bias is on how your eyes slant or your nose is structured. It may sound too simplistic but it is because where cultures co-exists there is certain amount of self consciousness or curiosity that people find by virtue of looking different from, say, the neighborhood barber, tailor or the guy operating the ice cream machine in some downtown bistro. Many reasons besides consciousness of being a minority, imagined or real wrongs that a community holds against another give vent to such biases. Such consciousness when submerged beneath the posterior gives us all an image of tolerance of civilized society. Beneath it all, till the time we are human beings, we would certainly have some idea of the self being different. And if we choose to believe that there are no better people than our own than we become what we call as Racists, by definition. To generalize would invite criticism but there lurks in our souls certain amount of superiority or inferiority that we feel in comparison to people who differ from us in color, looks or birth. We keep this consciousness under control and let it remain submerged owing to the change in values and scientific knowledge that has proved certain medieval theories and values wrong.
Who are the perpetrators?
Hooliganism or racial slurs on the field is not limited to fans, we might strongly argue and cite the incident between Rudi Voeller of Germany and Rijkaard of the Netherlands. The German - offended due to a foul in the course of a match - had an altercation and spat on the face of the Dutch in front of million of fans watching the match. Players, besides being celebrities and role models are humans too. They always cannot keep their biases under control. All humans have their weak moments. It was unfortunate that World Cup level players like Voeller could stoop to that. At the heat of the moment, for instance during the course of a match, people do get carried away. This is not in support or justification of actions of anybody who willfully hates and harms another man belonging to a race other than his own.
What course of action has the FIFA taken?
The act is despicable and it has to be criticized, condemned and strict actions taken against anyone perpetrating it. So the question now is what course FIFA has taken and what are the means to ensure it. FIFA is said to have included this issue on its agenda for its biannual Congress, scheduled to be held this week in Munich. A campaign against bigotry includes "Say No to Racism" stadium banners, television commercials, and team captains making pre-game speeches during the quarterfinals of the 32-team tournament are the measures that FIFA had mentioned that it would employ wrote Jere Longman. But one wonders if these would be enough to bring under control the unruly behavior of fans. There has been no mention of the official view or suggested measures of the government of Germany.
FIFA – the NYT further says - has threatened players, coaches and officials with sanctions. However “punishments like halting matches, holding games in empty stadiums and deducting points that teams receive for victories and ties have been ruled out by FIFA” Jere Longman had quoted the authorities in his report. This is worthy of a study. Its implication is simple. It means FIFA as a responsible organization would do its best to give a clean image to the sport but would not go all out to ensure it on ground that fans don’t get out of control, as a harsher penalty like shutting out fans etc would mean loss in its earning. Football like all other spectator entertainment has become a money-minting pursuit though the game largely remains for many as a game of pleasure.
How effective are the Control Measures?
People have expressed doubts that the FIFA control measures would work. Such disbelief could come from even the same organization that is the world football governing body. "Racism is a feature of many football leagues inside and outside Europe," said Wachter, an official of the FIFA. According to him most problems would occur outside stadiums where crowds are less controlled. The fans are more under control inside and better checked with so many security personnel around the galleries. "We're sure we will see some things we're used to seeing. It won't stop because of the World Cup." Wachter was quoted in the report.
Conclusion
Thus in fact it would be fool-hardy to think that fans would suddenly toe the FIFA line and behave well during the World Cup. FIFA’s concern for racism in the World Cup is more of a token gesture than being really seeking solutions sincerely. So as the fever boils up, hope none of the matches or the game in general would not be slurred. It would be an eternity to wait for the next football extravaganza.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cover Ups and reactions on it
In a news report, David S Cloud and Eric Schmitt of the NYT said Marine commanders in Iraq learned within two days of the killings in Haditha last November that Iraqi civilians had died from gunfire, not a roadside bomb as initially reported, but the officers involved saw no reason to investigate further, according to a senior Marine officer.
Disturbing was the fact that, “the commanders have told investigators they had not viewed as unusual, in a combat environment, the discrepancies that emerged almost immediately in accounts about how the two dozen Iraqis died, and that they had no information at the time suggesting that any civilians had been killed deliberately” as quoted by the reporters.
An investigation is in progress and the findings and opinions are awaited. It is believed that the investigation would conclude that the act was perpetrated by some small group of marines over the killing of a US marine.
The investigation is being led by Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell of the Army. On conditions of anonymity an officer of the US army investigating team was quoted as saying "It's impossible to believe they didn't know".
The report also claimed that the interviews with all senior officers in the chain of command were supposedly a routine inquiry and did not establish any truth or connivance of whoever was interviewed.
The World Cup kicks off today in 12 cities around Germany. More than 30 billion people would watch it on television. Hooligans once again would be on a holiday. “Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA's president, has vowed to crack down on racist behavior during the tournament.” Reports, the NYT reporter Jere Longman, from Hamburg.
Hooligans on a Holiday
Hooliganism and unruly fans going berserk in stadia around the world has never ceased to hog the limelight from the sports pages of newspapers around the world. Remember the infamous match between Liverpool and Juventus many years ago that resulted in so many deaths. But of late this - hooliganism- has taken a racist kind of hue.
Colored players around the globe have come under racial prejudice more evidently in recent times. The news report cited above had mentioned how players such as the Nigerian forward Adebowale Ogungbure and Marc Zoro of Ivory Coast “were spat upon, jeered with racial remarks and mocked with monkey noises” in Germany and Italy respectively just recently. It would be unfair to accuse but it seem true that countries with long known history of social and ideological turmoil exhibit this trait all the more.
Understanding Racism
Certain amount racial bias is there everywhere. Imperialism, in the previous centuries, was one extreme manifestation of this. At certain places it is against Afro-Americans, Eurasians or Asians. At some other places the bias is on how your eyes slant or your nose is structured. It may sound too simplistic but it is because where cultures co-exists there is certain amount of self consciousness or curiosity that people find by virtue of looking different from, say, the neighborhood barber, tailor or the guy operating the ice cream machine in some downtown bistro. Many reasons besides consciousness of being a minority, imagined or real wrongs that a community holds against another give vent to such biases. Such consciousness when submerged beneath the posterior gives us all an image of tolerance of civilized society. Beneath it all, till the time we are human beings, we would certainly have some idea of the self being different. And if we choose to believe that there are no better people than our own than we become what we call as Racists, by definition. To generalize would invite criticism but there lurks in our souls certain amount of superiority or inferiority that we feel in comparison to people who differ from us in color, looks or birth. We keep this consciousness under control and let it remain submerged owing to the change in values and scientific knowledge that has proved certain medieval theories and values wrong.
Who are the perpetrators?
Hooliganism or racial slurs on the field is not limited to fans, we might strongly argue and cite the incident between Rudi Voeller of Germany and Rijkaard of the Netherlands. The German - offended due to a foul in the course of a match - had an altercation and spat on the face of the Dutch in front of million of fans watching the match. Players, besides being celebrities and role models are humans too. They always cannot keep their biases under control. All humans have their weak moments. It was unfortunate that World Cup level players like Voeller could stoop to that. At the heat of the moment, for instance during the course of a match, people do get carried away. This is not in support or justification of actions of anybody who willfully hates and harms another man belonging to a race other than his own.
What course of action has the FIFA taken?
The act is despicable and it has to be criticized, condemned and strict actions taken against anyone perpetrating it. So the question now is what course FIFA has taken and what are the means to ensure it. FIFA is said to have included this issue on its agenda for its biannual Congress, scheduled to be held this week in Munich. A campaign against bigotry includes "Say No to Racism" stadium banners, television commercials, and team captains making pre-game speeches during the quarterfinals of the 32-team tournament are the measures that FIFA had mentioned that it would employ wrote Jere Longman. But one wonders if these would be enough to bring under control the unruly behavior of fans. There has been no mention of the official view or suggested measures of the government of Germany.
FIFA – the NYT further says - has threatened players, coaches and officials with sanctions. However “punishments like halting matches, holding games in empty stadiums and deducting points that teams receive for victories and ties have been ruled out by FIFA” Jere Longman had quoted the authorities in his report. This is worthy of a study. Its implication is simple. It means FIFA as a responsible organization would do its best to give a clean image to the sport but would not go all out to ensure it on ground that fans don’t get out of control, as a harsher penalty like shutting out fans etc would mean loss in its earning. Football like all other spectator entertainment has become a money-minting pursuit though the game largely remains for many as a game of pleasure.
How effective are the Control Measures?
People have expressed doubts that the FIFA control measures would work. Such disbelief could come from even the same organization that is the world football governing body. "Racism is a feature of many football leagues inside and outside Europe," said Wachter, an official of the FIFA. According to him most problems would occur outside stadiums where crowds are less controlled. The fans are more under control inside and better checked with so many security personnel around the galleries. "We're sure we will see some things we're used to seeing. It won't stop because of the World Cup." Wachter was quoted in the report.
Conclusion
Thus in fact it would be fool-hardy to think that fans would suddenly toe the FIFA line and behave well during the World Cup. FIFA’s concern for racism in the World Cup is more of a token gesture than being really seeking solutions sincerely. So as the fever boils up, hope none of the matches or the game in general would not be slurred. It would be an eternity to wait for the next football extravaganza.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cover Ups and reactions on it
In a news report, David S Cloud and Eric Schmitt of the NYT said Marine commanders in Iraq learned within two days of the killings in Haditha last November that Iraqi civilians had died from gunfire, not a roadside bomb as initially reported, but the officers involved saw no reason to investigate further, according to a senior Marine officer.
Disturbing was the fact that, “the commanders have told investigators they had not viewed as unusual, in a combat environment, the discrepancies that emerged almost immediately in accounts about how the two dozen Iraqis died, and that they had no information at the time suggesting that any civilians had been killed deliberately” as quoted by the reporters.
An investigation is in progress and the findings and opinions are awaited. It is believed that the investigation would conclude that the act was perpetrated by some small group of marines over the killing of a US marine.
The investigation is being led by Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell of the Army. On conditions of anonymity an officer of the US army investigating team was quoted as saying "It's impossible to believe they didn't know".
The report also claimed that the interviews with all senior officers in the chain of command were supposedly a routine inquiry and did not establish any truth or connivance of whoever was interviewed.
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