The shocking scenes of violence at Port Said Stadium in Egypt this week were a dreadful reminder of the dark side of the beautiful game, but they must be analysed in context.
Waking up to the world news yesterday was like travelling back to a time when names such as Heysel and Hillsborough sent shivers down the spine of every self-respecting football fan.
The phrase “soccer riot” was everywhere. Perhaps it provoked knowing nods from those who associate the round-ball game only with sporadic acts of random violence.
Except, this violence doesn’t appear to have been random.
I’m a neophyte when it comes to north African politics, but I’ve been around long enough to know football fans are a convenient target when it comes to staging violence.
And there are so many aspects of the Port Said tragedy – where at least 74 people lost their lives and many more were wounded – which don’t add up.
Don’t just take it from me.
Here’s a rudimentary English-language translation from an Al Ahly fan who was at the game.
Many aspects of the violence are worth questioning.
Why would El-Masry fans (from Port Said) attack Ahly supporters after watching their team win 3-1?
Why did security forces armed with batons and shields allow unarmed people to stream down from the stands and run onto the pitch?
Why were the lights switched off at the height of the violence? (it was actually about three minutes after full-time, not “the moment the referee whistled”).
So many factors don’t add up.
And that’s because viewing the tragedy purely through the prism of ‘football riots’ ignores the political vacuum left by the ousting of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak.
It also ignores the fact Egypt’s ‘Ultras’ proved pivotal in bringing about revolutionary change.
It’s a point well made by Egyptian writer Mohamed El Dahshan, who highlights the fact Ahly supporters teamed up with the Ultras from their most bitter rivals Zamalek to harass Egypt’s brutal security forces at the height of the revolution.
Were these the same security forces who stood idly by as Ahly fans were attacked inside the locked corridors of Port Said Stadium? Perhaps.
“This is not football. This is a war and people are dying in front of us. There is no movement and no security and no ambulances,” said Ahly playmaker Mohamed Aboutrika after the match – a player I watched at the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
The failure of the security forces inside Port Said Stadium to react to the mayhem around them is deeply suspicious.
Rumours abound that the violence was pre-arranged, not least because it came so close to the anniversary of the bloody “Battle of the Camels” in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
On that occasion groups of men rode into the square on horseback, whipping anti-Mubarak protestors – many of whom were known to be Egyptian football fans.
Egyptian journalist Dima Khatib is in no doubt the events are linked.
We don’t know who caused the violence in Port Said and it’s probably safe to assume some of those involved took part as opportunistic football fans.
But it is far too simplistic to call what happened in Port Said a “football riot.”
It was a riot, certainly, but one which has its roots in the fractured political scene of a country in upheaval.
Even as the dead are buried and the mourning begins – numbering not just football fans but also security forces – the political point-scoring and finger-pointing has begun.
And maybe it’s trite to say there are no winners, only losers when 74 people fail to exit a football stadium with their lives.
But as we remember them, it’s also worth remembering thousands more have lost their lives during the ‘Arab Spring.’
We should count the victims of the Port Said tragedy among them.
Bondy
Guest
Sharminator . Now be honest how many of those sports you mention comapred to football are taken seriously by other nations or around the world. None Are you the type that try to convince people the Chinese Military play Rugby . LOL .
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
It's the 21st century - an era where information is available to everyone on the planet at the press of a button - so, it's truly astounding that anyone can maintain such a high level of ignorance on this political issue & continue to refer to it as "sockah violence"!! In Australia, according to police I know, more fights - stabbings and serious assaults - occur in pubs after people have been watching AFL or NRL matches than HAL matches. Cricket violence tends to occur in and around the ground. Additionally, the level of violence on the park & amongst spectators at local League & Aussie Rules matches is staggering. In the past few years, we have had people murdered & seriously assaulted at venues after they've watched AFL & NRL. And, the violence is not confined to the stands. At both AFL & NRL matches, spectators have assaulted players with weapons ... sometimes in games involving juniors. Rugby Union matches ... well, in Australia, the level of participation in this sport is less than volleyball! PS: Sharminator, I note that you live in Paraguay ... perhaps, the political issues in Egypt are being "lost in translation"? Maybe, you should get someone skilled in Spanish to translate the local newspapers, henceforth?
Kasey
Guest
With millions of games being played every year around the entire globe in a plethora of political and social environments, incidents are bound to happen. What football has is an image problem. People like you who are lazy in their thoughts and only too eager to make an overly simplistic link to a violent incident and the nature of the game of football rather than look at the underlying causes do not help, you only seek to perpetuate a terribly inaccurate and negative stereotype which sadly reflects more upon your poor intellect and not the safety in a stadium of your average football fan.
Sharminator
Roar Rookie
Football has a violence problem .. inside and outside of stadiums that other sports, thankfully, cant ever dream of matching. it is quite funny that at first you accuse me of being some sort of hillbilly who knows nothing outside of Australia, and then you say that although I live in a soccer dominated country that dosnt give me any insight either. haha .. whatever ... at least you could try and be coherant
Kasey
Guest
Just because you live in a country where football is #1 , doesn’t grant you any special insight to the way the game is entwined into the social fabric of countries other than Australia. How about the Carlton fan that got bashed to within an inch of his life by a Collingwood fan in the Melbourne (Carlton v Collingwood) ‘ classico’ in 2011, or doesn’t that fit your strict criteria for sports violence because he wasn’t killed or it didn’t happen in the seats of the MCG? Don’t fool yourself, anti-social behaviour exists in all sports, not just football. Please enlighten us as to how the 96 that died in the Hillsborough disaster was football’s fault rather than the fault of the South Yorks Constabulary to properly manage the event?
Titus
Guest
Sharminator--America has one of the highest homicide rates in the developed world, Australia has a strong culture of violence, disputes at a pub are settled with fists, often with little provacation, just as they are by their heroes on the football field.
pete4
Guest
Sharminator - Geez moving the goal posts from "no NFL riots ever" to "no-one has ever been killed in an NFL stadium now". I'll keep an eye on the next big Rugby,NFL game played in Egypt
Sharminator
Roar Rookie
ummm .. actually I dont live in Australia .. I live in a South American country where your world game is number 1 .. and where .. surprise surpise .. every time we have a classico between the two biggest teams .. at least a couple of fans get stabbed or shot. The country I live in isnt in political turmoil .. but soccer fans still kill each other, simply for wearing the wrong coloured shirt. Strangely, Ive never heard of anyone being killed here at a basketball or rugby game.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Sharminator, In this specific case in Port Said, the non-action of the security forces is kind of different, in the same way a gangland killing is different from someone being killed because a gun went off. What happened at Port Said wasnt about sport. At all.
Kasey
Guest
Sharminator, thank you for your over-simplistic analysis of a highly complex political situation that lead to the riots and deaths. Obviously a career in journalism with News Limited awaits you. Tying in your obvious hatred of football and complete lack of understanding of the subtleties of the role of the World Game in societies outside of Australia to violence caused ostensibly by a political and security vacuum will look very good on your job application to the Herald Sun/Daily Telegraph.
Sharminator
Roar Rookie
Next time take 5 seconds to actually read the articles your have looked up on NFL riots in your search engine of choice before posting such nonsense. NOBODY ... NO ONE ... has ever been killed INSIDE AN NFL STADIUM in a RIOT! Compare that to soccer and its abhorrent record on fan violence INSIDE staidums!
pete4
Guest
@Sharminator Next time take 5 seconds to look up "NFL riots" in your search engine of choice before posting such nonsense
Sharminator
Roar Rookie
What a joke. There was a football game .. after the game the fans decided to kill each other ... but no .. according to soccer supporters it was nothing to do with football!!! Get real ... soccer has always had violence problems .. it comes from the fact that its a non contact sport. In rugby, league, AFL, NFL fans are satiated by the on field violence .. its like boxing .. if someone is beaten up or knocked out... they cant complain it was unfair they lost. But in football there is little onfield contact .. the slightest contact results in controversial penalties, and fans get uptight, upset and need to satisfy the need for some physical combat, mano a mano .. so they fans fight. Almost every country in the world has some form of soccer violence problem. when was the last time there was a riot after a rugby game or an nfl game .. never.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I don't watch Offsiders so I can't comment on that. I do watch AFL Classified, and I think she's great. However, the main reasons I thonk she's brilliant are her newspaper articles. Some are incredibly annoying, but many IMO testify to her brilliance.
TomC
Guest
Well, I watch her on Offsiders every week, and the last thing I would describe her as is a 'brilliant sports journo'. The way she tries to bring back every conversation to AFL is absolutely cringeworthy.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
"Egyptian police incited massacre at stadium, say angry footballers" - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/05/egypt-football-massacre-police-arab-spring
sayed zaen
Guest
in all parts of the world leaders come and leave respected but in the Arab world they come carried on our shoulders and leave walking slowly on our skulls and our hearts . they will raise their feet when they are sure we are dead .
Tizzo
Guest
Australian values?
amazonfan
Roar Guru
Carro is far from perfect, and sometimes she drives me mad, but she is far from mediocre. I think she is a brilliant sports journo, and one of the best at reporting, and analyzing, behind the scenes machinations of anyone in Australian sport. I'm a huge fan of her.
TomC
Guest
It really doesn't Redb. Mike's article doesn't mention Australia once, nor any Australian headline or newspaper.