I have lost myself on countless occasions searching for a safer path to avoid the ugly sight of this
monster tormenting our beautiful game of football by killing, incapacitating and crippling many lovers of
the game whose only fault was to find themselves at the stadium.
Perhaps, the birth of this monster and its age may not appear important, as the cry for its demise
becomes earsplitting because the damage this monster has unleashed on homes, families and precious
properties are just unbearable to say the least.
THE BIRTH
Football hooliganism dates back to 1349, when football originated in England during the reign of King
Edward III. When villages played one another, the villagers main goal involved kicking the ball into their
rival's church.
As a matter of fact, historians say King Edward banned the game as it distracted his subjects and caused
constant social unrest. However, some Scholars believe modern hooliganism did not begin until the
1880s in Europe.
In 1885, Preston defeated Aston Villa 5-0 in a friendly match. The losing team’s fans went mad and
began to attack the players from both teams. They threw stones and even came into direct contact with
players, throwing blows which left one player unconscious. Safety provisions for the players did not
exist due to both the lack in security guards and little-known previous acts of hooliganism.
The following year, Preston’s fans once again involved themselves in a scuffle. They fought against the
fans of Queens Park, another crosstown rival, at a local railway station (Ingle, 2001; Milojević, 2013).
The fight marked the first instance of hooliganism attacks outside of the stadium, which further
reflected in everyday life. Citizens not affiliated with firms entered harms way at the risks of danger and
injury simply standing as an innocent bystander.
IT ATTACKS DECREASED, BUT STILL LURKS
Researches reveal, in recent years, hooliganism fatalities have decreased. It is more likely to have small
injuries or no damages at all than killing of fans. Still, the rare occurrences of extreme violence occur
which lead to serious injury and death.
Police forces also play a significant role in the deaths and injuries of fans. Police Troops opened fire at a
match in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998, ultimately resulting in four casualties (CNN,
2001). In 2000, Galatasaray fans stabbed two fans of the opposition the night before an important
match (Gow & Rockwood, 2009).
Despite the injuries and tragedies, hooliganism continues, just as the fan’s love for the game and their
team remains the most important aspect of their identities and these actions are their ways of showing
support.
What I find interesting in all the conversations surround the capture, and subsequent killing of the
“Hooligan Monster” is that we seem to know its habitat, some forces(security) were deployed to
capture it BUT, this monster’s offspring keep growing with vim and vigor and always ready to unleash
mayhem on us.
Four years ago, I chanced upon a feature article beautifully scripted by Benjamin Owusu (Bengee), titled
“Hooliganism and Violence; The ugly side of Ghana Football”. He carefully outlined some intriguing
case studies on the activities of this monster’s offspring in Ghana, and how this offspring has grown
from strength to strength.
“The truth is that Ghanaian clubs have fans with hooligans’ tendencies. Instead of pinpointing the most
hooligans club, let us condemn the act and find solution to them.
To be frank, hooliganism has been rapidly increasing day after day, months after months at both Ghana
Premier League (GPL) and Division One League (DOL) centers, and it's getting out of hands. And that has even prevented most teams from getting more away wins.” He writes.
THE HOOLIGAN MONSTER ATTACKS IN 2021
You see, prior to the start of the 2020/21 Ghana Premier League season, the Kurt Okraku administration
outlined some innovative and creative ways of preventing this monster from further attacks. He met
with Inspector General of Police, discussed ways to train some officers as stewards, strengthened the
security and safety department of Ghana Football Association (GFA) that helped the clubs to train clubs
security safety officers.
All these seem not to work as planned because we have experienced attacks on football stakeholders at
the highest level, with players and club officials receiving various punishments with the hope to, if not
kill this global adversity maybe tame it.
For instance, in the Ghana Premier league this year various cases involving fans attacks on referees,
coaches and players have occurred, a very disappointing and sad phenomenon in our league
development.
CASES IN THE GPL AND DOL
Elmina Sharks vs Medeama Sc. Referee attacked by Sharks supporters and four players also attacked the
referees.
Chelsea vs Ebusua Dwarfs
Chelsea supporters attacked Dwarfs coach Ernest Thompson.
Ebusua Dwarfs vs Legon Cities
Dwarfs’ fans threatened to beat the referee in the first half and he decided not to continue the second
half.
Wamanafo Mighty Royals and Tano Bofoakwa incidentRTU and Nkoranza Warriors as well as the women’s league case of fabulous ladies and Kumasi Academy where referee Faizatu Jakpa was attacked.
THE TRAPS HAVE FAILED
In June 2016, Justin Parkinson of BBC News Magazine indicated his five ways of stopping football
hooliganism, which includes: Alcohol Ban, Empty stadium for teams, Segregation of fans, early kick off
and fan coaching as ways to trap this monster.
It is sad to admit that all these traps appear not to solve the real issues. The most heartbreaking part of
this conversation happened just the Sunday May 9,2021. While the entire country was commemorating
the 20years of the stadium disaster that claimed 127 lives in 2001, a GPL match involving Ebusua Dwarfs
and Legon Cities ended abruptly because the referee says he did not feel safe to continue the match
owing to threats from home fans. Very Ironic!!
HOW WE CAN FIX THIS: COMMUNITY BUILDING.
I sincerely agree with Justin Parkinson’s school of thought on community building, which deals with the
youth especially children. Justin is of the view that, community building among fans is just as important
as anything we have previously covered. He made reference to the fact that "fan coaching" should be of great priority to any country who has football at heart. Thus, fans in each country should be taught about respect for opposition, as well as the correct ways to accept defeat by avoiding violence.
This must begin with our children and young people who play and watch football. This generation needs
to be taught to hold higher values, and this can be taught by their own coaches as well as their favorite
star athletes.
Also, law enforcement agencies should also take up a role in this education, as a way to enforce the
message, as well as educating them on the consequences of hooliganism.
State laws and punishments on property damages, must be implemented without fear or favor to any
club official(s). As a country our empathetic tendencies rather create more problems for us, thus
preventing us from doing the right things.
We must therefore strive to learn from best practices, and find solace in some policies which are bent
on making hooliganism go away by any means possible. Therefore, we should not be limited to the
“usual’’ ways of tackling hooliganism.
We should look further on how to tackle this global canker, with some of the suggested ways below:
*An annual report to be produced on hooliganism;
*More care to be taken over media strategy;
* An annual meeting of experts to be arranged for the exchange of relevant experience.
*The exchange and management of information by the police;
*Effective cooperation between the police forces at the match venues
*Effective cooperation between the police and the organizers of the league.
*Collectively, we must see this hooligan monster as a national security threat and it must be trapped and dealt with all the arsenals the state can afford.
