Monday, February 19, 2007
Soccer too violent a sport???
In the wake of the Italian Soccer League's recent law passed saying that football would be played without spectators to curtail the violence and Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy facing criticism for hitting a teammate with a golf club, has football become associated primarily with violence?
The ISL, formerly a football powerhouse haven, passed a law that prevents spectators from watching live matches after a police officer was killed in the midst of a violent riot during a match between cantania and Palermo. Matches were immediately suspended temporarily until a decision could be made.
This is the latest scandal to tarnish the ISL's reputation and probably further reduce its sponsorships. Few months ago, the league was engulfed in a match-fixing scandal involving four major teams.
More recently, the English Premiership League's Bellamy hit a teammate with a club after a dispute over, get this, Karaoke!!! The incident has many wondering if football has become the most dangerous of sports.
When it comes to player on player violence, then soccer isn't the sport to look at, but it has definitely become the sport to point a finger when it pertains to spectator or non-player violence.
Although it isn't quite popular in the United States, football has taken on a life of its own in other countries. Players get taunted with racial slurs by fans, some even get objects thrown at them during play. Referees are mugged for making perceived wrong calls and players are even killed by country-men for scoring own goals. Something needs to be done to curb the increasing number of violent activities related to the sport.
And the ISL's decision may be a starting point. It's hard to imagine watching a match with no fan involvement. There's little or no incentive to perform at your best as a player. From the management's point of view, it is costing teams millions of dollars in ticket and concession sales. But it is the right decision. When lives are being threatened on a match-to-match basis, nothing else should come into play when penalties are being considered. Hopefully, this decision would serve as a warning call to other soccer leagues to enforce better control of their matches.
The ISL, formerly a football powerhouse haven, passed a law that prevents spectators from watching live matches after a police officer was killed in the midst of a violent riot during a match between cantania and Palermo. Matches were immediately suspended temporarily until a decision could be made.
This is the latest scandal to tarnish the ISL's reputation and probably further reduce its sponsorships. Few months ago, the league was engulfed in a match-fixing scandal involving four major teams.
More recently, the English Premiership League's Bellamy hit a teammate with a club after a dispute over, get this, Karaoke!!! The incident has many wondering if football has become the most dangerous of sports.
When it comes to player on player violence, then soccer isn't the sport to look at, but it has definitely become the sport to point a finger when it pertains to spectator or non-player violence.
Although it isn't quite popular in the United States, football has taken on a life of its own in other countries. Players get taunted with racial slurs by fans, some even get objects thrown at them during play. Referees are mugged for making perceived wrong calls and players are even killed by country-men for scoring own goals. Something needs to be done to curb the increasing number of violent activities related to the sport.
And the ISL's decision may be a starting point. It's hard to imagine watching a match with no fan involvement. There's little or no incentive to perform at your best as a player. From the management's point of view, it is costing teams millions of dollars in ticket and concession sales. But it is the right decision. When lives are being threatened on a match-to-match basis, nothing else should come into play when penalties are being considered. Hopefully, this decision would serve as a warning call to other soccer leagues to enforce better control of their matches.
