PUNISH THE UNRULY FANS

With no end to racism, hooliganism and violence in sight, it’s always good to shine light on the efforts to erase the negativity from the beautiful game.

According to FIFA Law 5, the referee has the power to stop, suspend or terminate the match because of outside interference of any kind: “If an object thrown by a spectator hits the referee or one of the assistant referees or a player or team official, the referee may allow the match to continue, suspend play or abandon the match depending on the severity of the incident.”

When the fans throw stuff onto the pitch they never get punished. Remember Drogba and Carragher were banned three matches each for throwing coins back (giving back?) to the fans. Also, during this year’s game between Marseille and Liverpool at Anfield, there was a missile throwing incident involving Marseille fans and Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard. Gerrard was waiting to take a corner kick in the first half of his team’s 1-0 win and was hit by an object-believed to be cigarette lighter. It follows a similar incident when the two teams met in September for which Marseille have been fined £12,644. That’s peanuts and what punishment did the fans get? None. That’s why fans will keep on being unruly.

I suggest that instead of continuing with play the ref should halt the match and give an ultimatum to the team whose fan threw the coin and give them say 5 minutes (say £50,000 pounds fine for each minute) to find who threw the object. If they fail to find the object thrower then the game should be abandoned and points awarded to the other team. In addition to that, the next three games of the team involved should be played away.

I can assure you that if FIFA can revise the powers and duties of the ref and include what I have suggested most of the fan misconduct (mainly throwing stuff onto the field, hurling racial slurs, etc) will come to a halt. Innocent fans would be willing to “snitch” on the unruly fan. Most fans would start self-policing themselves. The fans would have a “zero-tolerance” policy toward violent and racist behavior. On top of that, the actual professional soccer clubs should have the same policy, if not stricter one- banning the unruly fans from the stadium for life.

Let me end my post by citing FIFA’s Fair Play Code Golden Rules 7 & 9

7: Reject corruption, drugs, racism, violence, gambling and other dangers to our sport

Football’s huge popularity sometimes makes it vulnerable to negative outside interests. Watch out for attempts to tempt you into cheating or using drugs. Drugs have no place in football, in any other sport or in society as a whole. Say no to drugs. Help to kick racism and bigotry out of football. Treat all players and everyone else equally, regardless of their religion, race, sex or national origin. Show zero tolerance for gambling on games in which you participate. It negatively affects your ability to perform and creates the appearance of a conflict of interests. Show that football does not want violence, even from your own fans. Football is sport, and sport is peace.

9. Denounce those who attempt to discredit our sport

Do not be ashamed to stand up to anybody who you are sure is trying to make others cheat or engage in other unacceptable behaviour. It is better to expose them and have them removed before they can do any damage. It is equally dishonest to go along with a dishonest act. Do not just say no. Denounce those misguided persons who are trying to spoil our sport before they can persuade somebody else to say yes.

Also…remember nobody wins all the time. You win some, you lose some. Learn to lose graciously. Do not seek excuses for defeat. Genuine reasons will always be self-evident. Congratulate the winners with good grace. Do not blame the referee or anyone else. Be determined to do better next time. Good losers earn more respect than bad winners.