A LEADING criminologist yesterday called for the formation of a task force dedicated to containing sports-related violence, but also to look into understanding the phenomenon.
“We urgently need this. It’s time we stopped talking about hooliganism and started doing something about it,” said Andros Kapardis, a University of Cyprus professor.
Kapardis was commenting on the latest bout of violence – this time between fans of clubs who were not even playing each other – that left one youth in a critical condition.
“We need a long-term national strategy to contain the violence and then reduce it. The first step would be prevention: tougher sentences for offenders, greater powers to the police such as surveillance,” he told the Mail.
But for the strategy to work, there needs to be more than just containment.
Kapardis said the university would be happy to host a workshop for the administrations of rival football clubs, such as Omonia, APOEL and AEL.
“If we can get the clubs talking about the problem, that might be a good start. All are welcome, even troublemakers.”
Kapardis said it was time to change the ethos of football culture: “At the moment, football is all about confrontation. Even the media are doing their part, for example when describing upcoming matches as ‘battles’. Nonsense. Why not make football a celebration?”
The professor acknowledges that an enormous task lies ahead. For one thing, an entire industry has grown around the sport.
“There are interests out there who encourage violence. Not to mention the political angle – the appearance of neo-Nazi elements is something we should really start paying attention to.”
Kapardis rejected outright the notion that the troubles are restricted to the football culture.
“Without a doubt it’s related to violence in the schools [and] in the family. Many of these guys commit offences outside sports grounds.”
His view is shared by Dr Dino Domic, assistant professor in consumer behaviour at the European University Cyprus.
He says hooliganism fulfils “a primitive human need, the need to express one’s self.
“Football is just an arena where this type of behaviour is ‘acceptable’. The question we need to ask ourselves is why do these young people have so much bottled-up anger?”
Domic thinks violence stems from a lack of direction, but is quick to add that the older generations need to take “a long, hard look at themselves and stop pointing the finger elsewhere, which is the easy thing to do.
“We’ve raised young people who have no cause – no objectives. If we look at the past, we had World War II, the hippy movement, the feminist movement. Nowadays, there is no common unifying objective.
“Forging an identity has become consumer-orientated. It’s about who wears label jeans and has the fastest car. The kids are totally lost.”
According to Domic, parents are at fault for pampering their children:
“We haven’t taught them the value of work. We’ve made it too easy for them. And yes, it reflects our failure as a society.”
