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The Roar

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An opportunity for football to lead in the battle against domestic violence

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Expert
1st October, 2018
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There are few endeavours that stir up human emotions more than sporting competition.

In a footballing sense, that passion has sometimes turned ugly. Historically, many supporters have struggled to maintain a sense of dignity and decorum, thanks to frustrations around the team they support and a hope that it could do better.

Whether it be mayhem in the terraces, public brawling or rather unsportsmanlike tactics used by home fans to disrupt the preparations of a visiting nation, the game is littered with examples; none of which should be condoned or encouraged.

No sport is immune and football has its challenges like any other.

While aggressive fan behaviour across all sports could be seen as confined within the walls of the game itself, there is growing evidence of a potential ‘bleeding’ into people’s domestic situations.

Last Thursday, The Age featured a piece by Melissa Cunningham and Chloe Booker which I read with particular interest. The article referenced the concerns of the Chief Commissioner of Victorian Police and the predicted spike in family violence on AFL grand final day.

The authorities were anticipating a 20 per cent increase and the need to attend an incident every seven minutes.

Reading a little more broadly, it became apparent that an increased occurrence of domestic issues on grand final day had a historically undeniable precedent. Similar increases have been noted on rugby league State of Origin nights by the Australian Bureau of Crime Statistics, where over a six year period domestic assaults jumped an average of 40.7 per cent.

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Further data seemed somewhat consistent, with a pattern emerging across the more significant days on the Australian sporting calendar.

When the Commissioner referred to grand final day as ‘one of our biggest nights of the year’, with New Years Eve still the most troublesome, I reflected rather somberly on what sport had apparently become to some people.

Intrigued and alarmed at the data, I kept digging and stumbled across a disturbing graph on the Medibank website, under the Media Centre sub-heading. The graph represented the percentage increase in online counselling web chats registered by the 1800RESPECT organisation during major events.

The NRL and AFL grand finals saw the most significant increases, yet the 2018 A-League grand final was comparable with Game 2 of the State of Origin Series, the Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open Men’s Final at Melbourne Park.

While media attention has been focused elsewhere throughout 2018, with violent attacks and brawling becoming a significant problem in Australian rules football, the issue encompasses the entire community and football has a key role to play in the education process.

As the game continues to grow in Australia, derby passions rise higher and club allegiances build more solid roots of strength, every effort must be made to prevent passionate support from morphing into violence. Acting now may avoid the ingrained cultures of aggression evidenced in other codes and other parts of the football world.

Researchers at Lancaster University in the UK discovered a 38 per cent increase in domestic violence figures when England’s national football team suffered defeat during the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

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Logic suggests that alcohol and a little baiting from others fuels the issue. Watching matches in pubs, clubs, at parties and the venue itself can bring out the worst in people, both the aggressor and those who retaliate. It appears that frustrations borne of the match itself can filter back to the domestic setting, yet the point of origin is undoubtedly the contest.

Apart from the sheer disappointment of a loss, much violence is fanned by words; the most powerful commodity on the planet. Violent confrontation should be far removed from baiting and antagonism and certainly not the natural postscript to it, yet when alcohol driven, some seem incapable of any other course of action.

brisbane-roar-supporter-a-league-football-2012

Can sport be a source of positive change? (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Australia is fortunate that fans are rarely cordoned off in separate areas to protect themselves from each other, yet there are moments when this does prove a prudent move. The A-League is a relatively tame environment and most fans are able to ignore any attempts to bait, however, there will always be a minority that are more easily engaged.

Football has a culture of banter that, at times, can be clever and witty, whilst at others it is just plain offensive. These days, much of the vitriol and insult takes place post-game and the digital world provides an impenetrable avenue of insult.

Many football fans appear obsessed with which team arrived in a city first, whether a particular league is real or tin-pot and which clubs’ supporters are deemed to be plastic.

Social media provides a fortress for such questions and their associated answers to be launched venomously around the globe. Some rather socially compromised people then claim bragging rights in a rather pathetic game of one-upmanship; designed to do little more than tease and insult their target.

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Sydney FC fans Football A-League Grand Final 2017

Most football supporters do so responsibly. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

None of this is good for the game and potentially damaging in the long term.

It appears that the dynamics around passionate support across all sports have changed and physical and virtual insults aren’t bouncing off the recipients as they may have previously. Contrastingly, they are fueling much anger. That anger is then, sadly, filtering into homes and relationships.

As the monetary stakes in sport continue to elevate the passions in supporters, a win or a loss appears to be meaning more to some fans than ever before. Potentially, it is all being taken far too personally and violence at matches and at home, suggests the need for intervention, for those whose perspective on what is ultimately a game has been lost.

Football is a beautiful game. Yet it is also one that should attempt to set the standard in this country and never infringe on the basic human rights of dignity and respect that should be enjoyed by all.

As stewards of the game, we should all keep working on it.

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