1

Content Table
Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 3 1. Researching guidelines ............................................................................................... 4 1.1. Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 4 1.2. Limitations .......................................................................................................... 4 1.3. Delimitations ....................................................................................................... 5 1.4. Basic Assumptions .............................................................................................. 5 1.5. Questions ............................................................................................................ 6 1.6. Hypothesis ........................................................................................................... 7 2. Problem/ Research interests ........................................................................................ 9 2.1 Forms of Violence ...............................................................................................12 2.2. Fanaticism ..........................................................................................................15 2.2.1. Instinct Theory .............................................................................................16 2.2.2. Frustration-aggression theory .......................................................................17 2.2.3. Hooligan Addiction Theory ..........................................................................18 2.3. Violence and Crowd Dynamics ...........................................................................18 2.3.1. Emergent Norm Theory ...............................................................................19 2.3.2. Contagion Theory ........................................................................................19 2.3.3. Convergence Theory ....................................................................................20 2.3.4. Collective Mind Theory ...............................................................................21 2.3.5. Value-Added Theory....................................................................................22 3. Social and Contextual Variables ................................................................................23 3.1 Alcohol Consumption and its Impact on Violence ................................................23 3.2 Violence and Socio-Political-Economical Context ...............................................25 3.2.1. Lack of adventure approach .........................................................................25 3.2.2. The social context ........................................................................................26 3.2.3. Educational- Economical juncture ................................................................27 3.2.4. The Search for Adventure ............................................................................28 3.3. Socio-demographic variables ..............................................................................31 3.3.1. The Unruly Poor: Is poverty determinant in hooliganism incidence? .............31 3.4. Geography ..........................................................................................................32 3.4.1. Size and distance do matter ..........................................................................32

2 3.4.2. The case of American College sports............................................................34 3.4.3. The away culture ......................................................................................36 3.5. Sporting Culture .................................................................................................41 3.5.1. Football-Dominant Societies ........................................................................42 3.5.2. Multi-discipline cultures ..............................................................................43 3.6. Emotional Invest ment in teams performance......................................................44 3.7. Team administrative approach ............................................................................46 3.7.1. The Club and Verein model ......................................................................47 3.7.2. The Franchise Model ...................................................................................50 3.8. Locality as the externalization of social alienation ...............................................51 4. Conclusions...............................................................................................................55 4.1. Football is a perfect storm ...................................................................................55 4.1.1. Popularity and Exposure ..............................................................................56 4.1.2. Away Game Culture ....................................................................................57 4.1.3. Heavy Emotional Investment .......................................................................59 4.2. A more peaceful alternative: the Scottish Tartan Army and the Dutch Carnivals ..61 References ....................................................................................................................67 Appendixes ...................................................................................................................72

Abstract
Football has become one of the truly universal elements of humankind; being played on every corner of the planet, and its professional leagues being followed even with more intensity. However, the fanaticism for this sport has gone array and violence at its matches has become common. In this study, we intend on gathering different views on the plausible causes of hooliganism in order to analyze the diversity of variables influencing this phenomenon. Methodology Given the nature of this subject, the thesis will be conducted following deductive principles. It will be documentary and descriptive research, focusing on gathering qualitative instead of quantitative data through basic researching methods. Conclusions The number of elements that have been pointed out as triggers for violent behavior in football matches is considerable and pertinent to several disciplines, ranging from psychology to anthropology, from law to economics, and anything else in between. From a sociological standpoint, the factors present in the everyday life of hooligans outside of football (alienation, unemployment, lack of adequate education, social role conflict, among others) weigh in as considerable elements in the equation of violent behavior in football stadia. Aspects such as the sale of alcohol, large or short distances between the teams host cities, etc., provide a contextual understanding, yet not a background to the issues causing the need for violence. Discussion The set of variables addressed in this study provide a source of enquires in regards to the elements that make hooliganism a social phenomenon of such great scale and of such difficulty to explain. The social context that surrounds violent fans differs greatly from one country to another, as well as aspects such as geography, demographic profiles, alcohol consumption, etc., have explanations of their own, and in some ways, even complement one another.

1. Researching guidelines
1.1. Research Methodology Given the nature of this subject, the thesis will be conducted following deductive principles. It will be documentary and descriptive research, focusing on gathering qualitative instead of quantitative data through basic researching methods.(Haag 2004) 1.2. Limitations One of the main problems in studying hooliganism from a sociological standpoint is that of the lack of consensus among the explanations given to the phenomenon. They range from personal problems of the violent fan (following a more psychosocial approach) to sociological issues including socio-economical aspects of daily life, rarely related to hooligans, such as unemployment, discrimination, low literacy rates, among others. Another problem that anybody researching this topic will encounter, is that of the interdisciplinary study of hooliganism, which combined with the comparatively low number of papers and books dedicated to the subject creates gaps of knowledge or grey areas that make it harder to reach a definite conclusion on the nature and cause behind crowd violence. The latter problem is directly linked to the complexity of the issue in and of itself. The view by which the phenomenon of hooliganism has been addressed tends to limit it as a problem that occurs within stadia and among football fans. It is right in that it is both the place and crowd involved in the incidents, but it does tend to neglect that said hooligans have elsewhere to be when their team isnt playing. In other words, the existing research doesnt make much emphasis on the context in which the violence occurs, being that context the everyday life of the violent fans: their working situation, income, age, gender, race, the part of town the live in, their relationship with other social groups family, friends, co-workers, authority figures, etc-. The lack of connections between their everyday life and their attitudes in stadia can prove to be as vital as the study of what happens during games.

1.3. Delimitations This thesis will be based primordially on literature addressing hooliganism and violence in crowd sports as a social phenomenon. What will be addressed in this Master Thesis is the numerous explanations for a social phenomenon that, albeit different in every country (in size and features), is present all around the world in roughly the same form. (Goldblatt 2008) The possible political burden of some hooligan groups (neo Nazis, communists, fascists), as well as their acts of aggression towards other fans, players, coaches, referees, etc., wont be elaborated on, due to the length and depth that its proper development would imply. That subject could easily be a study of this nature in and of itself. Specific acts of violence wont be discussed, since this doesnt intend on being a case study. Reference to particular events might be made, only when discussing theories based on case studies of their own (i.e. Hillsborough, United Kingdom)(Jr. 2001). 1.4. Basic Assumptions The causes of violence in crowd sports can be divided (roughly) into two main groups: o Social causes that lead to violent acts within the sport realm. o Individual causes that lead to violence as a social phenomenon within the sport realm. There is no consensus on what the main cause behind hooliganism is, albeit there are several currents of thought in regards to the subject. A key demographic group in this area of study is that of young males (1825 years of age), usually from poorer backgrounds, often unemployed. (Pilz 1996) While being the main cause of violence, the more radical supporters tend to be the most appealing ones. Chanting, singing and producing a spectacle on the stands (Belgian and German ultras are a good example of that; see annexed images) that has led to the rise in popularity among less active fans, as well as in the clubs they support which can translate into political leverage within the team in the more extreme cases, such as the Argentinean first division. (Sebreli 1998)

The size of the problem, as well as the methods to contain it, vary from country to country, yet share enough traits in common to address hooliganism as one global phenomenon.

There is not one, but several explanations and conclusions for social violent attitudes. A problem as complex as this one, which includes not only several variables, but also a constant interaction between different disciplines in its study, cant be seen under one perspective without leaving out key elements.

1.5. Questions The peculiar reality of violence in football perhaps in no other sport violence is so recurrent as in football, in spite of the fact that football really isnt one of the most violent sporting disciplines available for spectators to watch- is baffling , in particular since it occurs at such a large scale. Fans in Argentina as well as in England fight over the outcome of a game that, to perhaps certain people, isnt really a vital part of their life, if it is in fact a part of their lives at all. The universality of violence in football, as well as the people doing the fighting typically, it is the younger and poorer male of the social pyramid that engages in these activities (Pilz 1996)-, along with the underlying factors of their violent outbreaks have led us to ponder about certain aspects of the worlds most popular sport, as well as its fandom, that could in fact better address the underwhelmingly studied case of hooliganism and violence in football. What is it about football that makes its fans be so violent? Is it something within the structure of the game or is it a mere coincidence? Are there any characteristics of football that could explain why violence occurs often in its matches? Then, of course there are questions based on the reasons why only a selected group of people do most of the fighting, while the vast majority tends to be much calmer about the outcome of a game. Why are there violent fans as well as nonviolent ones? Other questions of very diverse origin can also spring into ones mind when discussing violence in sport. What traits that could influence the existence of violence are shared both by football and other sports, and which are exclusive to football? Is football used as an escape valve by frustrated citizens to vent their

problems, usually caused by non-football related incidents? How big is the emotional investment of football fans in their team in comparison with fans from countries where there is more than one main sport discipline? Is there only one type of violence? How can fanaticism be categorized or explained? 1.6. Hypothesis Violence in football is the result of a perfect storm: several variables conspire to turn hooliganism into a worldwide violence phenomenon. The current approach to the study of this subject has led to poor or incorrect reactions in its controlling both from a policy-making perspective as well as from the clubs and national football federations. A convergence of psychosocial values attached to a stadium and a team, which lead socially discontent men to become overly dependent on a symbolic structure for their region, city, township, neighborhood, etc. is turned loose onto crowded environments where alcohol and drugs are present, as well as tempting situations to be aggressive (i.e. the presence of fans from the rival team). The nature of sports alone brings out in some people their most primitive instincts and reactions, which cannot be controlled. The concept of competition and that one competes to be first can outweigh that of fair play and healthy competition values (the art of sport is enjoying the process, not the outcome). Socio-economic variables as well as historical ones predetermined football to have a problematic following: Its popularity increases the exposure of violence within the game, since the more football is broadcasted on television, radio and recently, the internet, the higher the number of violent scenes that will be transmitted across the globe. The history of European and South American teams mainly, although not exclusively (see Seattle Sounders in the American Major League Soccer) - creates a more intimate bond between the fan and the club. The long tradition of football in certain parts of the world, where certain clubs have been around for over a century already, has created a bond of upmost importance to some; to the extent of being a family tradition to root for the same teams ones father did. Also, regionalism is exacerbated and localisms may even arise as a consequence of

football following. In other words, it is no longer the family unit that roots for one team or another, but the whole neighborhood and even, the entire community. The lack of other professional sports as popular as football in Europe and South America (excluding Venezuela, where baseball is still the most popular sport) aggravates the emotional dependence of the fans on their team. This lack of options to invest emotion in, differs considerably from the ava ilability of teams from different sports to choose from in certain countries, such as the United States, where football, basketball, baseball, American football, and hockey each have profitable, powerful, professional leagues in which people have the opportunity to create a bond with their local teams; this without mentioning the spectrum of college sports in existence under the figure of the NCAA, that adds a parallel league system in several sports that has an even more fervent following. The resulting cultural influence of football in society makes society more prone to both positive and negative stimulus from the sport in question. Football can be seen as one of the main promoters of a healthier lifestyle and a forger of discipline and ethics in young and old partakers, but it can also have the downside of being plagued with an endemic problem of violence on and off the pitch. A considerable portion of the more troublesome is male, young, unemployed, politically radical, and poor. Disgruntled with society, he sees no reason not to harass it. The fact that there is a particular demographic profile for the hooligan could be evidence that there is in fact a structural problem in society that doesnt include a special section that has considerable amounts of unattended demands, who choose to channel their anger violently in the crowds of football matches. Some of those demands would have to do with the lack of opportunities provided by society in including them in the workforce, as well as the higher amount of responsibilities assigned to them as young adults who really arent treated as such, and their consequent dismissal or lack of attention produces certain frustration within them.(Pilz 1996). Poor training of safety authorities, as well as in some cases their complicity, allows the increasing of violence in stadia. Poor reactions exacerbate violence instead of quelling it. The lack of proper training in violence prevention task forces can foster violence, instead of preventing it. By the use of reactive

methods, those designed to counter already existing methods, dont really address the problems behind violence as much as they counteract a temporary spell of it.

2. Problem/ Research interests

The pervasive interest in sports is revealed in varied forms. Sports get a separate section in every major daily newspaper; they fill stadiums and arenas around the world on a regular basis as people root, often maniacally, for their home teams; they spawned thousands of rotisserie leagues (i.e., sports leagues composed of fan-chosen teams) along with debates about the best players, teams, etc.; they occupy the weekends and evenings of parents and children; they receive massive expenditures of funds by schools and colleges in the United States; they occupy hours and hours of weekly commercial radio and television air time with accompanying astronomical advertising revenues; and they are increasingly the object of public policy as they engage in concerns of voters and politicians at the local, state and federal levels. For all these reasons, we need a deeper understanding of this industry/activity/market/field. (Robert E. Washington 2001)

It is precisely the final sentence of the previous quote that which best explains the intentions of the following study: the need for a deeper understanding of such a prevalent, yet often underestimated, part of modern life and yet a so neglected area of investigation, in comparison with other fields. One of the best examples of this is indeed the subject of this study: violence in crowd sport, or said in more mundane terms, brawling and fighting in the stands of the thousands of stadia worldwide. A subject with such a complex mix of context, history, demography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, law, etc., that even nowadays it has no official explanation, given the staggering amount of possible explanations available; an everchanging cornucopia of reasons, all depending on which field or subfield- is doing the studying. An almost universal social problem, given its presence in all continents and almost all countries, that has led to the creation of several special task forces of the police to its control and repression, but at the same time, an area of scientific and academic inquiry that hasnt been fully developed to its potential. At the beginning of the researching process for this master thesis one was taken by surprise for the relatively low amount of available information, as well as the level of discrimination and lack of inter-disciplinary studies, despite the wide range of possible explanations offered by different authors in the subject.

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The main motivation behind this thesis is to recompile and accumulate the knowledge generated by experts in different areas and the findings of their studies in order to find some logic behind this phenomenon that for practical purposes will be addressed as hooliganism, in order to create perhaps not a definitive answer of why said social phenomenon occurs, but to offer a more comprehensive view of the reasons behind it and what it entails. Violence in crowd sports, especially football, has been present throughout the existence of the game, even preceding the creation of this discipline. In fact, in most proto-versions of football, violence was not only a common occurrence, but it somewhat expected. When going over the incidents in Derby, in one of the famed Shrove Tuesday celebrations that took place at the beginning of the 18th Century, Sanders said the following:
Thus the combat would go on hour after hour, wrote the Derby Mercury, fresh men taking the places of those who were exhausted, women rushing about in a state of frantic excitement, urging their husbands and brothers, bringing them stimulants and refreshments, lending them petticoats to cover their naked limbs, and binding up their wounds. The game was notorious as an opportunity to settle scores and from time to time play would be punctuated by fierce fist fights. (Sanders 2009) According to reports from the Research and Social Science Council of England, between 1894 and the First World War 2030 cases of vandalism in English football were reported, of which 1020 included physical violence. In April, 1909, it was reported by the newspapers that in the match for the Scottish Cup between Rangers and Celtic played in Glasgow, there was uproar with 50 injured, burned advertising billboards and wooden seats; nearby public lighting were damaged and a policeman had his face slashed by a blade. (Sebreli 1998)

However, since the 1960s onwards, said violence has begun spreading further into society, requiring ever stronger measures to contain and prevent it (Pearson 2007). Such is the reach of violence in football that, in some cases, the hooligan groups have both power and influence over the decision making of the teams they support, and in extreme cases, even political leverage and support.
The earnings of the firms come mainly from subsidies from the club directors, contributions made by players and coaches, fees from the supporting political sectors, the resale of tickets given for free by the club, kiosks in the vicinities of the stadium, the sale of hats, patches, pictures, pennants and other insignias, raffles with non-existent prices, and sometimes drug trafficking and theft.(Sebreli 1998)

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In the academic world of sports as well as the more casual journalism, hooliganism has also become a major subject in certain countries. To such an extent in fact, that the amount of academic literature written in prevention and violence in sports as a social phenomenon has grown considerably in the past decade, while the pressure derived from more and more exposure in the different media outlets has led to authorities and teams to do their share of work in the constant search of reducing violence and crime in sports, among them football. In some countries, the presence of journalism has been considerably strong, like England for instance, where fan-based magazines have even outgrown the underground and become mainstream, like When Saturday Comes which its own publisher-, Caught Offside and Four Four Two. In others, like Germany, the work led to reduce violence rates has come mainly from concerned fans in the form of Fan-Projekte - and academics that assist policy-makers in shaping the rules and procedures to contain and prevent sprouts of violence (Fussball-Liga 2012). However, and in spite of its ever growing presence in the worlds most popular game, few have been the conclusions reached in regards to the motives behind the actions of the hooligans. From psychologists to anthropologists, passing through crime specialists, sociologists, journalists and football authorities, the answers given to the reason behind stadium violence differ enormously. This is precisely one of the main problems of this subject: its interdisciplinary nature. Every field of social science dedicated to researching hooliganism has a different focus in mind, therefore making it hard for consensus to be reached, as the conclusions of the studies considered for this thesis show. However, there is an upside to this downside, since that same nature allows several aspects of a social problematic to be tackled simultaneously. Psychologists focus on the personal reasons each violent fan might have to partake, while sociology can analyze the social phenomenon, as well as the macro causes and variables behind and within hooliganism. What is intended in this thesis is to consider the diverse conclusions that have been reached within the sociological approach. It will be tried to address not only the reasons within the game the fact that sport is by nature a contest that produces a winning and a losing side makes itself conflict prone (Coates 2011),

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but also the characteristics of the fandom that attends to these games; this ranges from socio-economical problems such as unemployment and racial profiling (Pilz 1996), up to concepts such as the away game culture (Markovits 2011), territoriality (Honigstein 2009), gang mentality (Goldblatt 2008), among others. Were not interested in presenting a final answer on the subject, since it would be presumptuous as well as impossible, given the complex dynamic of hooliganism and all its elements. What shall be presented, however, will be a better understanding of the diverse theories surrounding football violence; a sort of amalgamation of proposals, and how they all entwine. With this, a series of comments can be made on the way hooliganism is being dealt with from both a political standpoint as well as a safety concern. Once a clearer picture is obtained, the decision-making with regards to this subject can be more effective, since the calls being made will be better informed. Also important to mention is that not all organized fan groups are dedicated to leading a violent life. Some, such as the Scottish Tartan Army, the Dutch Carnivals (Goldblatt 2008) and the German Fan-Projekte (Kln), are actually founded on the premise of recuing the fan culture from both violence and its consequence, overregulation and strict safety rules that have led, according to them, to a loss in the initial essence in stadium stands. Some of these problems have as well become motives for hooligans to become more defiant, thus leading to even stricter rules (2012). 2.1 Forms of Violence Before addressing the issue of violence per se, the more abstract and encompassing term of aggression must be clarified and defined, in order to establish a better understanding of the intention behind the actions about to be described and developed in this study. To do so, we will follow the definition given by Baron and Richardson in 1994, which explains aggression as any form of behavior directed toward the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment (Tiffany Donahue 2009) Following the definition of aggression, the final aim of it must be typified as well, since not all actions have the same consequences nor do they intend to. For instance, shouting at players sometimes isnt meant to hurt, but merely put him

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out of focus. Donahue and Wann (2009) divide aggressive behaviors into two main types: hostile and instrumental aggression:
With hostile aggression, the goal is the pain and suffering (i.e. harm) inflicted on the victim (for instance, a fan who shouts derogatory comments toward an official just to hurt this person). Conversely, with instrumental aggression, the goal is some other outcome, such as when fans act aggressively toward players to distract them and improve their teams chances of success. (Tiffany Donahue 2009)

One of the main starting points in the discussion of violence in football is: what are the different types of form the violence can acquire? It doesnt necessarily have to be a clash between different groups of hooligans, or fighting off the police. In spite of their severity, they are but the worst expressions of a phenomenon that spans several types of actions. Those are indeed some of the forms in which it is manifested, but violence can occur in other ways as well. For instance, chants are an important component of this. Not every game ends up in a brawl between rival fans, but name-calling and cursing is typically present. The chants can be directed to players, coaches, the referee, as well as other fans (Daniel Wann 1999). Usually, the topics of the songs can address issues as delicate as a players ethnicity, skin color (monkey chants at African players in Italy are common; like Kevin Prince Boateng being criticized by fans from Pro Patria in regards to his color (2012)), religion (the Israeli football team, Beitar Jerusalem and its fans outspoken ultra nationalism, which has evident anti-Islam connotations (Halpern 2013)) or nationality (the role national identities played in the build-up of the Balkan Wars (Foer 2006)) ; in some instances, political radicals seize the moment to impose their agenda (Hinman 2012). But sometimes the emphasis is put more on the players ability, some incident of the past (Terrys affair with a teammates wife (SportBild 2010)) or if he used to play for a rival team (the case of Luis Figo comes to mind. First a Barcelona player, he did was was unthinkable to many and joined the ranks of Barcelonas archrival, Real Madrid. The following encounter of Figo with his former team was met with unimaginable hostility (Jeffries 2002).), for instance. However, the intensity of the conflicts isnt what determines the division between the two different forms of violence; it is in fact the nature of said aggressions.

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The first type of violence is referred to as random violence, since it is rarely an organized activity more than it really is massive; two ideas that arent necessarily inclusive (size and coordination dont have to go hand in hand). In t his category, the attacks are usually led against athletes, coaches and referees, and tend to take form in chants, missile throwing (empty glasses, paper and small objects tend to be favored, but every now and then more dangerous or bizarre- objects are tossed (pigs head tossed at Luis Figo at the Clsico between Real Madrid and Barcelona (Lowe 2002); coin at Swedish referee (Sportsmail 2009); Lukas Podolski being hit near one eye by a coin (SportBild 2012)), and flares, which are a fan favorite, and in some cases capable of halting a game, such as in the Relegation match between Hertha Berlin and Fortuna Dsseldorf last season (Stern 2012). The second type of violence is referred to as clash violence, which is the one typically associated with ultra groups or hooligans (Jr. 2001). Within this category, violence can be best described as the one that occurs between organized groups of fanatics before, during and after matches in both the inside and outside of the stadium; clashes between fanatics and the police force, as well as pitch invasions on behalf of the ultras. Pitch invasions, in spite of being rather sporadic -only somewhat, since they tend to occur in either moments of extreme joy (promotion to first division on behalf of Fortuna Dsseldorf during the season of 2011/2012: This promotion is for entire Dsseldorf the realization of a decade long dream (Kerst 2012)) or extreme angst (River Plate being relegated to second division of Argentinean football for the first time in history: The police tried controlling them by spraying them with wat er, which wasnt enough to quell the anger of fans who were watching their team be relegated for the first time in 110 years (Rcord 2011))-, tend to be led by a group of organized fans known as ultras (Goldblatt 2008), and in some cases put at risk the life of players: If you win, well shoot each of you on your legs, said one of the twenty hooligans who threatened the players of their own team (DPA 2006). The severity of the threat that pitch invasions present to public safety has led to them to be considered as clashes and not mere random violence; the difference being in the scale and the fact that one is planned, as in thought out, and the other one is more sporadic and improvised than anything else.

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Granting that both do present a public safety issue, the existence of organized fighting gangs is a grimmer reality than that of isolated cases of drunken fans. If it is as well true that there are a considerable amount of both types of violence in modern football, the reaction time required by authorities to control the unrest produced by a group of men dedicated to fight is higher than that, that might be invested in controlling a disorganized group of hoodlums. Along with the discussion of violence and the forms it may adopt, there is also a more structural issue at hand that has to do more with the motivations behind aggressive behavior, that end up being determinants in the actual action. As Donahue and Wann (2009) point out, there are three pervasive antecedents to fan aggression: self-esteem the need to harm others in order to enhance ones selfworth; similar to machismo and the dominant alpha male culture (Scharrer 2009)-, observational learning as in the repetition of what other, more established hooligans do in the stadium-, and alcohol as one of the fueling ingredients in violence-. 2.2. Fanaticism Fanaticism leads regular followers to go beyond supporting their team and become unconditionally available for it on the stands. Their attitude is usually on the verge of chaos if not already beyond the threshold-, and their actions on the verge of being illegal, if not so already (Dunning 2000). Fans in truth are the troublemakers and one of the main problems with modern day football. It is true that their passion for the team they support is considerably high, but it might have to do with something else in reality. It could be more related to psychological troubles or daily life stress, variables that can be found in the overall core of football hooligans. Typically, the profile of the hooligan is that of a young man from a low-income household who is most likely unemployed and poorly educated (Pilz 1996). With this frame in mind, and everything that comes along with it prone to a poor household dynamic, early exposure to alcohol and abusive substances, low quality in education and health institutions, a tough neighborhood to grow up in, and of course a complicated working situation-, the number of reasons to be violent are present; what is usually lacking is the appropriate context to release the tension.

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For as true as this can be, t here isnt only one view on the motives behind the violent action of fanatics. There are three different theories that try to reach a conclusion on why some people turn aggressive at football games, and their conclusions differ greatly from one another. One focuses on the reaction some fans have and how the context he is in seems ideal to him to lash out. Another sees fanaticism as the manifestation of violence in sport but with causes outside of it, and a third one addresses how being violent can end up being an addiction. 2.2.1. Instinct Theory
The German (sic) neurologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed that much of human behavior is programmed by instincts. One instinct constructed by Freud was the death wish. He theorized that all human beings possess self-destructive energy that must find a safe release (i.e., catharsis) or else violence against oneself or others will result. Instinct theory implies that sporting events are safe opportunities for fans to express their self-destructive energy

(Lorenz, 1966; taken from Ward Jr., 2002) It bases its premise on how football manages to reach into the most primal reflex of some fans and turn them inevitably violent. Perhaps not necessarily the game in itself is what makes its fans rowdy, but the scenario that is built around it does enable the need for tribal actions, as well as the sense of belonging that comes along with it. In the attitude of hooligans, who are very territorial and close to one another if cheering for the same team, of course- there is a reflected need for companionship that apparently isnt addressed outside of their footballing social circle. This creates a certain level of dependency and loyalty to what can be considered some sort of family unit of his. Of course, the precarious nature of his social interactions and the fact that most of them do feel this cohesion to one another leads to a very primitive way of responding to threats from another group of fans. One aspect of the fan, according to the instinct theory, is that he has selfdestructive tendencies, as consequence of the death wish proposed by Sigmund Freud. The failure to find a safe trigger for this behavior as one designed to help cope is what allows for the need to resort to a more negative form of coping, such as violent acting out against others and in some cases putting oneself at risk.

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Football games present the perfect context for them to lash out, because it provides not only the shelter of what could be seen as their home, which is their stadium, as well as the company of what would be their family, other hooligans with the same common interest, but also because it provides a certain degree of anonymity that comes along with being part of a crowd that is numbered by the thousands in some cases. This comfort zone in which the more violent fans find themselves allows them to act out in more confidence. Football matches, which take place at home and with family, permit violent fans to use their selfdestructive energy. 2.2.2. Frustration-aggression theory
The premise of frustration-aggression theory is that aggressive behavior can be traced to frustration. The intense involvement characteristic of watching sports can lead fans to closely identify with their team. If their team plays poorly or faces defeat, fans may feel frustrated because they have not proven themselves. This inability to realize their desired identity may create a new frustration in their life that could lead to aggressive behavior. This biologically based understanding of fan violence has lead sport psychologists to measure the aggression levels of individual fans and focus on the type of people who attend sporting events. In a study of spectator aggression toward officials at a college basketball game, Wann, Carslon and Schrader (1999) find that fans who report a high degree of identification with their team report more acts of aggression toward officials than fans who report low team identification. (Ward Jr., 2002)

The more partial a person is for one team, the more aggressive that person will tend to be if frustrated due to a poor performance from their team. This means that the defeat is perceived as an own defeat, not somebody elses. Therefore, the failure to win is something that could in fact have an impact on how they relate outside of the stadium as well as within. Their failure to distinguish between their responsibility and the teams is perhaps one of the biggest dangers that can be stemmed out of the frustration-aggression theory, since in the mind of the hooligan there is a quota of responsibility in the defeat that belongs to him. It translates into disappointment in oneself and eventually the externalization of said disapproval for his actions generates a good amount of frustration that later could turn into violence if not channeled adequately.

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2.2.3. Hooligan Addiction Theory

While both the instinct and frustration-aggression theories focus on aggression, other theories of fan violence maintain that violence can occur without aggressive intent. Hooligan addiction theory borrows from the work that describes escalating stages of addiction (Brown, 1991). The core thesis of hooligan addiction theory is that extreme fans become addicted to violent behavior. For some fans, violent behavior may provide a sense of arousal predictable as the highs that come from drugs. In the same way that an alcoholic or gambler gains emotional satisfaction from thinking about and preparing for his or her drug or activity of choice, hooligans may get high from planning for and participating in violent events. (Ward Jr ., 2002)

This theory doesnt approach violence from the same angle as the previous two do, and it focus it as a consequence to a previous first encounter with it on behalf of the hooligan. Violence stems from an addiction to the rush it produces and it isnt necessarily done for the sake of fighting in and of itself which is one of the core reasons why it is done, according to the two previous theories-, but for one of the consequences it brings along. This change in perspective is considerable, since it really does re-dimension the intentions of the aggressor behind his violent actions. It is no longer a matter of the fight per se, more as it is about the thrill that comes along with it. This approach considers then hooliganism as to be a problem stemming from within, from inner circumstances rather than external ones. It is a dependency on the endorphins produced by physical conflict with other people, not merely being provoked into fighting. 2.3. Violence and Crowd Dynamics Among the research of violence in crowd sports, the normal tendency is to study the phenomenon as one of the masses; one containing hundreds if not thousands of individuals at the place and time when violence occurs. However, some researchers have followed another route to obtain answers on this subject. They interview small groups of people involved or associated with hooligan movements to acquire a different insight. In other words, their work focuses on treating or addressing the smaller clusters of violence, not necessarily the mobs of people who go amok at games, but the smaller associations within the greater chaos; those groups have different names depending on the country, including firms (England), casuals (Scotland), among others. Some of the theories are the following:

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2.3.1. Emergent Norm Theory

People modify their judgments to make them more consistent with others in the group (Asch, 1951; Sherif, 1958) () Norm theory implies that people behave violently at sporting events, because they deem such violence to be appropriate or expected, and not because they are irrational from emotion or want to live vicariously through the battle they see on the playing field. (Ward Jr., 2002)

Similar to the social phenomenon of peer pressure, people could modify their acting patterns to fit into the status quo, which in this case is of a more violent nature. The fact that aggression and violence are deemed as the standard way of acting in the stadium stems from a perception that good fans have to be loyal fans, and in order to be proven as loyal, they have to act the same way violent fans do, and it is a repercussion of the mystification of the belief that football is modern day war, that every game is a battle. The overuse of military terms within sport has brought along with it a possible shift in the connotation of the game, a shift that has led to a more aggressive view of the role of the fan. This on one hand has translated to a better stratification and organization of football fans within their own ranks such is the main principle behind the concept of ultras, of whom well speak later-, while on the other given spectators the connotation of companions in battle, brothers in arms. The view of this is what, according to the emergent norm theory, has altered the game-fan relationship to a point where the fitting in process of any newcomer has to go through the proof of a good violent behavior. 2.3.2. Contagion Theory
Unlike emergent norm theory, which asserts individual fans are active agents in determining the correct line of conduct, contagion theory states that individuals become unwittingly infected with emotion. Fan violence may erupt because one aroused person (e.g. usually a leader) affects another in the crowd, producing a heightened sense of arousal that further influences the leader. As people move through the crowd, they present each other as stimuli and in turn react to the emotion tones of others (Milgram & Toch, 1969, p.550). Arousal may reach the point where rational thought is subordinated. Violent acts, which are not normally considered by the individual crowd members, may be committed. (Ward Jr., 2002)

The main difference between Contagion and Emergent Norm Theory is that in the latter there is a clear conscious trespassing of the border of what is right, in that the decision is made, not induced. Whereas in contagion, the term infected does quite accurately explain the main process behind the spreading of violent

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behavior. Fans follow the lead of a promoter of unruly behavior, who is empowered and legitimated by the following he has created, which translates in strengthening his capacity of attracting more people. The legitimization of the leader is a concept applied frequently to military science, in which the commanding officer is in the moral obligation to motivate his troops. The point where this differs from the use of power, so to say, of the hooligan leader is in the intention. Despite the fact that they both by function lead a potentially violent group, the soldier is up to a task of a completely different, often diametrically opposed, nature than that of the violent fans. On behalf of the infected there is a clear demonstration of how a group of people can unknowingly do wrong, or at least ignore perhaps not the action but its repercussion. This is the key issue that the contagion theory addresses, and what we mentioned as the initial aspect that differs it from the emergent theory. 2.3.3. Convergence Theory
Convergence theory is less interactional than either emergent norm or contagion theory. Violence does not evolve among heterogeneous people at the sporting event. Rather, a process of selection occurs. The major assumption of convergence theory is that inhibitions are lowered in a crowd because like-minded people are gathered together. The fans consist of people who share common qualities. It may be that people surrounded by others, who are perceived to be se similar, feel freer to express violent emotions. Furthermore, sporting events may attract people predisposed toward aggression. (Ward Jr., 2002)

The main idea behind Convergence T heory is that violence isnt really sporadic more than it is selective, in the sense that it will be the more violent-prone fans the ones who end up being violent, not the rest. So to say, there is a threshold within everybody that only certainly predisposed people are capable of crossing. Behind this theory lays the notion that context or background- does play a role in the enabling negative attitude of the hooligan. So much so in fact that it is what ends up filtering the violent from the non-violent. The premise that violence is selective rather than sporadic would change the traditional view that hooligans can be found in different socio-demographical groups and heterogeneous cliques.

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2.3.4. Collective Mind Theory

Two French theorists articulated the idea that society consists of both individual and collective minds. These theorists had opposing views about the level of rationality existing within the individual and society. One theorist adopted the view that the phenomena exist in the social system that unifies the masses (Durkheim). One such phenomenon is the conscious collective, or collective mind. This concept refers to the ideas and sentiments shared by each member of society. According to Durkheim, the conscious collective establishes moral order. In the absence of the conscious collective, individuals would act their own self-interest, and not in the interests of society. (Jr. 2001)

The existence of collective mind in society is accepted by Le Bon, but his interpretation of it contradicts Durkheim. In opposition to Durkheim, who proclaimed the moral supremacy of conscious collective, Le Bon believed that the collective mind is intellectually inferior to the more rational individual. According to Le Bon, decent solitary individuals become transformed to a more primitive level in crowds where people become impulsive and lose judgment. (Ward Jr., 2002) The point behind the Collective Mind theory, despite the discrepancy between Durkheim and Le Bon and the reason we even bring it up at all-, is that indeed there is a difference between the intellectual level of individuals and the collective. This much is clear. The superiority of one or another is what is in question, yet at the same time affirmed by both sociologists. In a certain regard, there is a degree of truth within both arguments. On the one hand, individuals when thinking of only themselves do tend to be vicious, egoistic and neglecting of the rest. On the other hand, the intellectual level of the collective isnt necessari ly superior but more than prone to be violent given the primitive level of consciousness. One of the main reasons they do differ is because of the different concept of the morality in the conscious collective. One proclaims its superiority Durkheim-, because he starts off from the idea that the collective is the sum of common interests and the rule of good in a social group. According to Durkheim, the individual would act selfishly and not in the best interest of society if the conscious collective weren t present. Under this view, the collective is perceived as the reason individuals have to act selflessly.

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Le Bon sees the collective as the main boundary of individual intellect, since in crowds and the anonymity that comes along with being a part of a crowd- people dont measure their impulses and act, paradoxically, selfishly. Therefore, the agglomeration of people would be counterproductive to the purposes of the individual. 2.3.5. Value-Added Theory
One popular crowd-based approach has been Smelsers (1963) valueadded theory that identifies six determinants of crowd violence. By value-added, Smelser means that each determinant is a prerequisite that sets the limitations for the following determinant to operate. () In Smelsers value-added model, the six determinants of fan violence are (a) structural conduciveness the social structural conditions for violence to occur, (b) structural strain an encounter that creates new norms or a deprivation that takes away once expected privileges, (c) growth and spread of generalized belief- a perceived source of tension and a plan for its eradication, (d) precipitating factor a specific event that sparks violence, (e) mobilization the affected group takes action, and (f) operation of social control the prevention and intervention by agents of social control. (Ward Jr., 2002)

The value-added theory specifies certain conditionals as necessary in order for violence to occur. It states, in other words, a chain of events that have to take place for violence to be possible. Behind this theory, there is a belief that within the fans thought framework violence isnt only a tool, but a useful form for righting wrongs within their system. Better said, if a threat is perceived aggressive methods of dissuasion can be implemented by the mentioned fans. Ward Jr. exemplifies Smelsers six determinants of fan violence as follows: a. Structural conduciveness: Fans from different teams arrive at the football game. b. Structural strain: Rival fans are seated close together. c. Growth and spread of generalized belief: The belief may spread among home team fans that something must be done about the lucky breaks visitors receive (in the game). d. Precipitating factor: A controversial decision by the referee. e. Mobilization: A group of leaders emerge in the opposing teams bleachers to fight. f. Operation of Social control: The actions taken by faculty observers, faculty marshals, athletic directors, police, etc.

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3. Social and Contextual Variables

3.1 Alcohol Consumption and its Impact on Violence Normally, violence in football has been attributed to the consumption of alcohol in stadia, and in some cases, partially attributed as one of the main causes behind violence in crowd sport. Several measures have been taken by different leagues in the banning of alcoholic consumption within the stadium and around the stadium. One of the main problems cited by this vision of thought, the one that sees it as the key issue in sporting venue violence, is the inability to apply stricter bans, since they would have to be coordinated along with municipal or city law enforcement agencies. But if alcohol consumption truly were the main issue in the whole violence in sport debate, it would be the main reason in every country with an unruly crowd problematic. There are several cases that point out that banning the consumption of alcohol isnt really productive or even necessary. One of these cases can be the German Bundesliga, in which drinking within stadia is allowed and yet the core violence doesnt take place because of this consumption, which does occur at a generalized level; both hooligans and non-hooligans consume the same beer throughout the match. This can point out an important issue of the debate on the prohibition of alcohol consumption in stadiums. It can reveal that, within alcohol consumption patterns, two things could be happening: the first is that a group is consuming a higher amount of beverages than the other one. The second one is that perhaps the motivation behind the drinking is different in both groups. On the amount consumed it can be said that prohibition in stadia doesnt necessarily affect the volume of alcohol ingested by the more rowdy fans, since pre-game drinking can increase as it has in places where it has been put into effect (Radio 2012), and therefore having a similar incidence of drunken fanatics marching into the stadium. In short, it simply rearranges drinking patterns, not reduce them. "People drinking far too much at pre-game parties and tailgate parties before games. Sneaking alcohol into games. Leaving at halftime to drink even more and come back into the game. (Radio 2012)

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A proposal of partial expenditure of alcohol has been put in place in some American sports, such as baseball and American football, in which there is a time constraint on the sale of alcohol. After halftime in football, beer and other intoxicating beverages cant be sold anymore. This allows a better control on the consumption of drinks in the stadium, as it does create a reduction in incidences of drunken attendees. It provides a simple solution that, primordially, aims at altering the perception of availability of alcohol for the fans, by allowing its consumption but forbidding its unlimited consumption. Thus the control authorities can have over the volumes drunken is greater than by simply prohibiting its intake all out together.
With excessive alcohol consumption posing the biggest problem in terms of fan violence and unruliness, many arenas have come to stop the sale of beer either in its entirety or after a certain period in the game, such as the seventh inning in baseball (Markovits 2011)

The results found in the experiment tried by one American college in the switch from banning alcohol in its stadium to selling it with certain limitations surprised authorities, as the numbers of detained, inebriated fans decreased notably.
"In 2010, we made 117 arrests on game days. In this past year, we only made 79. See, thats almost a 35 percent reduction in arrests we made, said Bob Roberts, West Virginia University police chief. (Radio 2012)

Another aspect to consider is that, along with the benefits of controlling the supply of alcohol and therefore the number of drunken fanatics, West Virginia University has also begun making additional money off of the sale of beer in the stadium. A reported 500,000$ in income were produced in the 2011 season from beer alone, with the numbers for the next season expected to be much higher. (Radio 2012) Regarding the second point, the motivation behind drinking, lays a structural issue within the fandom community, as well as society per se. As it has been mentioned before, the understanding of the context in which sports and sport-related violence take place is a necessity in that it allows a better understanding of what is the true values and problems brought to the stadium by those who enter it.

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The intrinsic sense of belonging that football offers to the more excluded and most troubled by societys structural problems unemployment, lack of opportunities, etc. - turns the stadium in the default place for them to dump their emotional troubles. There, alcohol can fuel an already stirring need to release tension in an aggressive form and can become the necessary element to push them to do so. This analysis views favorably this explanation, since it addresses the purpose alcohol lends rather than causes in sport-related violence. Once alcohol is seen as a trigger rather than as the cause of violence, a better comprehension of the phenomenon can be reached. Emphasis on the role that alcohol fulfills in the process of violence is much more important than the understanding of the effects of alcohol on a physical-psychological level, from a sociological perspective. This means that what interests us from substance abuse in sport-related violence isnt necessarily what it enables people to do, but rather why it is the chosen mean for people to turn to, when in need of a sort of fuel or trigger. 3.2 Violence and Socio-Political-Economical Context 3.2.1. Lack of adventure approach The rhythm of modern life has led to more competitive realities, in which people begin stressing over how well one is doing in comparison with the rest of one s peers at younger ages. As early as school, with a very significant worry over grades, all the way into adulthood competition among people has turned a once productive and functional society into an overrun version in which transition from the educative age into the work force has been more and more traumatic. Higher and more demanding academic sufficiency, more work experience and a heavier workload for the same amount of pay has turned the late teens and early adults into the core crowd for hooligan recruiting forces to pick from. The frustration fed by their everyday life has fueled a group of disgruntled young men into turning into fervent football supporters, who end up caring much more for the pride and honor of their team than they do for their personal goals and aspirations. This is the story of a particular type of citizen who has lost understanding of his role in society, as well as the purpose of actually being a part of it.

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Another aspect that can be worrying for sporting authorities as well as regular authorities is that the same base of frustrated citizens that are attracted to radical football groups, can also be attracted to political radical organizations. In Germany, there is fear that Neo-nazi movements might be infiltrating German football, even at its core among the bigger teams in the first division. It is well known that the club Hansa Rostock, currently in the 3.Liga, has traditionally been a troublesome team in regards to this subject (Scholz 2010). But concern has been growing over the resurfacing of right-wing fans at larger, more popular clubs like current champion of the German Bundesliga, BV Borussia Dortmund 09. (Spannagel 2012) If it is true that violence in football is principally a sportive problem, it is also true that some of the reasons it occurs stem outside of football stadia and belong more in the realm of everyday routine and social problems. According to German sociologist Gunter Pilz, modern life offers a series of variables that do not belong anywhere near sport, but do end up having an enormous influence in the way fans behave (Pilz 1996). The venting that takes places at sporting venues is the venting of non-sport-related activities typically, albeit exasperated by conditional aspects addressed in this study and pertinent to the stadium experience, such as alcohol consumption, proximity to rival fans, a poor performance of the fans team, the belief that the referee is being unfair, among others. So, to explain the problem in terms rather than examples, it is everyday life the main build-up element in this equation, as it is the largest source of frustration. Contextual frustration is the one created at the matches per se, usually a consequence of unfavorable conditions at the event, and functions as a sort of trigger to vent the bottled up emotion within fanatics. 3.2.2. The social context To begin with, society offers a natural restrain on emotions and emotionality, as well as in the ways they can be expressed. Violent impulses are frowned upon and in most cases, illegal. This doesnt only apply to negative emotional impulses, but to any kind. Anything considered somewhat over the top is usually seen as alien to the status quo. This has led to a problem for the young, who tend to be much more expressive and in the need for several forms of releasing tension. Laws and

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law enforcement is rigorous and becoming less flexible with time, if not in fact stiffening. The possibilities that used to exist for other generatio ns arent there anymore, and if they are, supervision tends to be less lenient. One of the factors that influences in the lower availability of recreational activities for the young is their cost. The lower socio-economical stratus has even a harder time affording the non-essentials than the rest, and this consequently and logically- leads to a more zealous use of money. And it is precisely in this section of the social pyramid that the bigger chunk of violent fans tends to be. 3.2.3. Educational- Economical juncture Lower income students usually arent the most applied students, and this reflects on their grades (Terry C. Davis 1999, Kochen 2004). These speak of not only a problem with the student, but also perhaps with a structural problem with the students life out of school. Maybe he is in the need to find a job to help support his family, or the group of friends he spends his spare time with isnt the best of influences, thus distracting him from his responsibilities. Although a heart-felt reality worldwide, school desertion is a bitterer problem in less-developed countries such as Argentina, which also happens to have one of the most violent football leagues in the world, and other Latin American nations.
School desertion among children and teenagers without a doubt seems to be a phenomenon strongly attached to poverty conditions. The percentages of high school culmination best exemplify this phenomenon and the current social inequality. Only 27,3% of teenagers belonging to lower-class families graduate from high school, whereas 73,1% of middle income household teenagers do so.

(Kochen 2004) The consequence of lower marks and a less applied student life is that of a more limited work prospect for him. That means that the chances of him obtaining a well paid job, or in fact getting any job at all, are more reduced. It has to be said that sometimes the economic context doesnt really help much and getting a job is more complicated than usual. But also, the problem of more strict requirements to apply to a post presents an additional dilemma to the youth. This presents a conundrum to the young: they have to work harder and at a more demanding pace in order to maybe obtain a job, while enjoying of less tensionreleasing activities. In other words, the contradiction in the role these early adults

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must play is such that the quota of responsibilities they obtain is higher and the amount of opportunities available for t hem isnt necessarily so, and in some cases, lower. They become adults at an earlier age in order to fulfill the criteria or try, at least- and they might not see the end outcome of their effort.
There is a contradiction between the curtailing the youth stage- thus giving more responsibility- and simultaneously denying young people to take actively part in shaping the society. Instead young people are relegated to a waiting state. They are superfluous and excluded from the shared responsibility they were promised (Pilz, 1996).

3.2.4. The Search for Adventure

The fact that the contents of films over the last fifty years have become more and more emotional, that there is a strong trend to leisure activities with a distinct adventure or experimental dimension (i.e. free-climbing, bungee-jumping, survival-camps), in this context proves that there is an increased and increasingly unsatisfied need among young people as well as among adults of emotion, adventure and experiences of tension (Pilz, 1996).

Part of the premise behind what we call the lack of adventure approach is precisely one of the aspects of modern life we mention at the beginning: a much better controlled, work-oriented mentality and focus within society. This has led to a fundamental shift in the way people recreate, as explained by Gunter Pilz, the intensity with which they recreate more short-bursts of intense excitement, rather than longer periods of milder distraction-, and as well with the frequency with which they do so. Logically, more pressure and a larger workload have turned weekdays into little more than productivity-oriented moments, leaving the weekend to make up for this lack of thrill during the five days of work. Therefore, exposure to free time has led to a dramatic change in the way people distract themselves. This is evident in every possible way: along with a healthier-lifestyle trend, traditional carbonated soft drinks have been replaced by energy drinks (Russell 2012); (Strom 2012); emotionally stronger and more emotionally engaging films are becoming bigger movie blockbusters -30 of the 50 most popular films of 2012 were labeled under the categories of Action, Adventure, Crime, Horror, Mystery, or Thiller (IMDB 2013); only one of the top ten best-selling movies or 2012 wasnt included among the previously mentioned categories (IMDB 2013)-; extreme sports -such as skateboarding, dirt motorcycle racing, and downhill bike riding- have become mainstream, to the

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point that their X-Games are broadcasted by ESPN, the largest sports broadcasting company in the planet (ESPN), among other symptoms describe the change of recreational patterns in primordially Western cultures (including South America), home of every country that has ever won a World Cup, as well as 19 of the 20 best national leagues of the world, according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). This and the existing financial problems of the unemployed and members of the lower classes of society play, as well as the availability of cheap seats for football games, has turned the football stadium into a valid option for the more frustrated to vent the aggravation produced by the more compromising position in which theyre in. The rather dull week fans live seems to be remedied by a visit to their teams stadium, where they meet up with other disgruntled young adults and fraternize, turning the routine of going to a football game into somewhat of a ritual. As Dr. Gunter Pilz points out, for most of them, going to a football game represents much more than simply attending a sporting event. It is a sort of vacation or adventure from everyday life; an activity that produces excitement:
The soccer weekend, against the background of the hooligans everyday life, can be seen as an adventure holidays for the socially disadvantaged, the less financially privileged, whether in form of active participation or in form of enjoyment while consuming the spectacle. (Pilz 1996)

To a dull and limited availability of entertainment, the stadium plays a pivotal role in the social involvement of the hooligan. There, he gathers with other fans that share the some sort of problems and vents his frustration. The stadium becomes a place for socializing, more indeed than other social instances since the affinity and empathy found there generate a feeling of embrace in which he can feel like he belongs somewhere. Together with the problem of the limited offer of entertainment sources, there is a matter regarding the modern culture and the urban life of the bigger cities, seen by some as a problem of the focus of society in individuality.
Modernity is marked by an increasing psycho-social distance, between individuals, and also in the relations between people and cultural objects. A fear of contact grips modern society, as indexed

30 in the collapse of family structures and the rise of the money economy. Money represents an additional and separating form of mediation, promoting the valuation of people and cultural objects in purely objective (rather than aesthetic or ethical) terms. (Guilianotti 2004)

The struggle of the poorer with the status quo also derives in part from this lack of understanding of their surroundings. Culture is a coded process to them, and it is further beyond reach with the passing in time, for its availability to them is more reduced given the lack of sufficient resources to make it fully available to them. When considering this, even their agglomeration at the stadium is a demonstration of their resistance to the more individualistic, modern society; as if in that space and at that time, it is a vital and irresistible need for them to join under one cause and be of something greater, behind the colors of one team. Football is then but the perfect location for the proof of their differentiation from modern life and the demands it makes of them. Another aspect of violence in sport is a second group of hooligans that is born out of completely different motivations and a separate background from that of the poor: the middle and upper class hooligan. Their motivation and use of violence in football is different. While some people actually do have a problem worth venting in stadia, others use that violence as a rush of adrenaline from time to time. They arent really committed fans, nor are they there for the team, for the most part. Usually their need to fight for the sake of fighting outweighs any other motivation behind their fighting. Juan Jos Sebreli goes as far as to referring to them as neohooligans (Sebreli 1998):
In all social classes there is the neohooligan phenomenon, or the deluxe hooliganism, usually originated in the middle and upper classes: theyre older than usual, professionals, lawyers, business owners, yuppies, who travel in first class, wear expensive clothes, dont shout anywhere else other than the stadium, and nobody would mistake them with traditional hooligans. (Sebreli 1998)

It is precisely this double life the middle-class hooligan lives what appeals to businessmen with a thirst for violence. The fact that their lifestyle normally wouldnt allow opportunities for violent activities presents hooliganism as an

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attractive way to drain everyday stress in a very unconventional manner. To a certain degree, there is also a need to escape, just like the lower class hooligan. But theyre both escaping from different things. On one hand, the traditional hooligan has structural problems in his life that prevent him from climbing in the social ladder. On the other hand, the neo -hooligan just wants to escape routine and work-related stress.
As son of an advocate and a lady doctor he began an education as whole sale merchant at a highly reputed commercial house after having finished the final examinations of college. On week-days he is wearing suits and neck-ties. He describes himself as a very polite and a total other person. But on the week-ends there are no bosses. Fights are cowboy-and-red Indian-games for him. More exciting and thrilling than every penalty shooting. When you are running through the forst, through gardens, climbing over hedges and pursuing the other, and the police is behind you, thats fantastic, then we are getting high.(Pilz 1996)

3.3. Socio-demographic variables 3.3.1. The Unruly Poor: Is poverty determinant in hooliganism incidence? As mentioned by Gunter Pilz in his studies regarding hooliganism, one of the main factors that several hooligans share in common is their socio-economic profile and an uncertain economic outlook (Pilz 1996). Unemployment, the lack of work experience and a proper education, home turmoil, problematic friendships, stressful situations and troubled neighborhoods, poor working conditions and low wages are all traits shared by poor households and economically disadvantaged football fans.
In the discussion of the significance of youth unemployment what is constantly forgotten is that its damaging effects are not only limited to the fact that many young people do not get a college place or a job, but include at least two other consequences which considerably affect the behavior, lives and everyday surroundings of young people: 1Since jobs and educational opportunities are rare, the problem of the quest for social and personal success at any price is intensified; 2- A free choice of career corresponding to ones own wishes and needs is severely restricted, thus intensifying the problem of alienated and meaningless jobs. (Pilz 1996)

The differences that are perceived by the less fortunate as alienating factors tend to be aggravating, in the sense that they embed in them the idea that, somehow, society and the status quo are to blame for their condition; a sort of defensive

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mechanism in which they arent held accountable for their mistakes and subsequent problems. Football and violence in sports comes into this equation as the consequence of the social problem, in the form of a coping mechanism for some. It would be wrong to say that all low-income football fans are violent or tend to be violent, but their social demographic profile is the one that has a clearer, more pronounced propensity to be verbally offensive and physically violent. The frustration

generated outside of the stadium is vented within the stadium, externalized in chants, insults and in the worst cases, physical violence. One of the main problems addressing this issue is the misconception mentioned in this study in regards to the nature of violence in crowd sports, that it is mainly a sporting problem and that the causes of it lay within the dynamic of fandom within the stadium; that is, the process of entry, chanting and leaving it, all accompanied by the consumption of alcohol, emotional ups and downs typical of periods of uncertainty (one of the main attractive elements of the sport in question), and the possibility of high levels of frustration. On one hand, it is true that certain aspects of the stadium life make the more agitated fan prone to becoming violent, but it is also true that, for the most part, these fans carry a heavy burden from society and that they just try to dump onto the authorities at football games as part of their venting and coping mechanism to deal with their perpetual challenge of the status quo (Sebreli 1998). 3.4. Geography 3.4.1. Size and distance do matter It might seem irrelevant at first, but geography and the distances between the cities that home the different teams in a football league matter much more than one could anticipate. Take into consideration a country like Germany and another one like the United States of America. The former is just over 357.000 square kilometers, whereas the latter is almost 10.000.000 square kilometers large (Wikipedia). Logically, the realities of professional sport leagues are completely different in that the distances that the teams must travel are measured in different scales. For the German Bundesliga, the highest tier in the German football hierarchy pyramid, a trip for

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two teams at opposite ends of the country like the case of Bayern Munich and Hamburger SV, the distance that must be traveled is of about 610 kilometers (Crow), whereas for the MLSs DC United, based in the city of Washington, to visit the New England Revolution, based in Boston, one of the shortest distances to be travelled in the American football league, the amount of kilometers separating both cities is over 633 (Crow). As a matter of fact, all of Germany is still smaller than the state of Montana, one of the 50 states in the Union (Wikipedia). The reason these facts are important lie in what they represent as an obstacle for the sports fan in both countries. For the German fan, the worst travelling scenario is still relatively better than that of one of the best scenarios for the American football fan in that it would require much more planning and resources for the MLS attendee than the German Bundesliga fan in order to perform their travel and watch their team play away games. Given the socio-demographic profile of most hooligans, who tend to be those who travel with the team for the most part, money isnt necessar ily present making moving around the country much more difficult, therefore deriving on a much more lax presence of rival fans in the local stadium and thus reducing the rates of violence. However, in the case of most European countries the distances are much easier to handle, to the point that even in continental tournaments such as the UEFA Champions League, fans fly to away fixtures in relatively big numbers; an estimated ten thousand Borussia Mnchengladbach fans travelled to Rome to watch their team play Lazio (Westen 2013). This evidently puts a strain on local fans, since the possibility of having to share the stadium with fans of the other team is much higher than the one placed on their American counterparts. Following the precepts of the Value-Added Theory (Jr. 2001), discussed previously, this provides with one of the cornerstones needed for violence in stadia to take place. Among the many reasons that make it more prone to occur in Europe instead of the United States, there is, to begin with, the inconvenience of having to travel to be at the game. Secondly, and perhaps more determinant, the further away a person travels from their city, the higher the costs of getting to his destination.

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And thirdly, there is the matter of time investment. As the distances are greater, the time dedicated to the game in and of itself increases substantially. It goes from being just an afternoon at the stadium to becoming a weekend plan; and considering the profile of most radical fans, the expense that is involved is simply too high to be afforded. 3.4.2. The case of American College sports One of the main differences between American sports and European-Latin American sports is the existence of the college leagues. These leagues are the main source of talent from which the professional teams obtain their players. The peculiarity of college sports is that theyre organized regionally first and then nationally, allowing teams to spare certain expenses associated with nationwide travel. One of the particular aspects about college sports is that their fandom differs enormously from that of the professional leagues in that fans do feel more connected (Scarborough 2012). In this sense, American colleges do have a more footballesque following in that those who support a team do so out of emotional ties, and the fact that these teams have been around for several decades makes the following much more intense. Teams pack their stadiums with an attendance rate similar to most top football leagues in Europe and South America (Johnson 2012) (European-Football-Statistics). Another issue is that of the rivalries that have spawned throughout time are born out of regionalism, mainly. Since there tends to be more than one big college per state, it is almost a given that all teams have particular derbies every season. In fact, the number of strong rivalries that take place in American college football is staggering; by the hundreds, these special games take place (Wikipedia). The fact that the conferences divisions the parallel leagues- are delimited by geographical boundaries (South Eastern Conference, North Western Conference, etc.), ensure that local derbies can be played out in a regional context, thus ensuring a special element to each game. National games tend to lack the sentiment and engagement that local crowds yearn. In this type of tournaments, in which universities from different parts of the country gather, there is a pervasive lack of emotion. Put simply, fans simply dont feel their triumph or defeat against teams from other

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parts of the country is emotionally marking, whereas losing against the local and even regional rival is indeed a matter of pride, and must be therefore avoided at all costs. The sheer volume of colleges and teams available in the United States leads to the creation of a system that allows for other derbies to surface, since it is a pyramidal model of district, local, regional and national leagues. In order to understand better college sports, one should compare the American reality of sports with that of Europes football rivalry, and see the conferences name that the mentioned regional divisions receive- as the different domestic leagues within Europes countries as a comparative similar. The regional delimitation of teams clusters certain teams together in the same way European leagues concentrate their teams within one national structure. Given the geographic reality of North America, to imagine a league with national college representatives as an individual league without any regional boundaries and subdivisions within the frame of the tournament would be hard. The sheer distance between one city and the other would make this league cost-inefficient, since the resources and time investment would be substantially higher and thus lead to a lower level of commitment from several colleges and universities. One of the main reasons behind the clustering is economical, for the reasons mentioned previously. Of course, saving money in travel is important, but the fact that it is a regional group of teams makes the television broadcasting rights much more attractive than a national format, given the brewing of more attractive matches between nearby teams, allowing a higher frequency of these games and therefore rating figures and attendance rates. Also the distribution of the money obtained from said rights can be more equal, ensuring a more even competitive development among teams, unlike the case of certain football leagues like the Spanish one, in which the broadcasting deals are negotiated individually by every team, creating a large distortion in the amount of money earned by every team. On the one hand you could have teams like Barcelona or Real Madrid that earn over a hundred million euros in broadcasting revenue each, but on the other you have teams like Granada, Sporting Gijn, among others, that earn little over ten million. Fair competition is therefore almost impossible (Hernndez 2012).
140 million Euros is what the two big teams (Real Madrid and Barcelona) earn due to broadcasting rights. Valencia, third on the

36 table, counts with an overall budget of 110 (Euros). Mlaga, ranking fourth, counts with slightly more. Fair competition is impossible in this model. The Valencians and Atltico de Madrid perceive 42 million Euros (via broadcasting rights), and they should feel lucky. (.) Villarreal, Betis and Sevilla are the only teams besides the previous ones to earn over 20 million a year; seven times less than Real Madrid and Barcelona! From there onwards, its just beating a dead horse. (Hernndez 2012)

Another important aspect of college sports following is that, no matter how American the conference phenomenon is, the fan culture is much more akin to European leagues than to their American professional counterparts in that, thanks to the shorter distances between stadiums, fans can afford to travel to away games; something unheard of in professional sports. The behavior patterns of college fans at games is therefore a mix of the American college culture and European hooligans: heavy drinking takes place before and after the match, singing and chanting is common, and the teams colors are to be found everywhere (Scarborough 2012). 3.4.3. The away culture
Many European cities have traditionally featured a bevy of clubs in close proximity, which intensifies rivalry and mutual hatred: Vienna once furnished ten soccer clubs in Austrias top-level league of 12 teams well into the 1960s and continues to have three or four to this day; Budapest has had six; Bucharest, Istanbul and Moscow each have four; London still boasts five clubs in the English Premier Leagues 2010-2011 season; and many cities have at least two.(Markovits 2011)

Modern football has become much more than a recreational activity, it has become a very lucrative business and the different leagues and clubs are aware of the everyday bigger potential their line of work has. Merchandising, broadcasting rights and, of course, ticketing are all part of the income sources and all fit in together into the sales perspective of football. What interests this study, emphasized primordially on violence in this sport, is the role this new found economy has, and part of it is the way games are merchandised via television, internet and radio. Although fans would still flock to stadiums by the thousands every weekend out of their own will, the advertising of the more attractive fixtures is more and more pervasive. This is a problem in regards to violence in sport, because it can become a sort of shopfront for hooligans to show off. The more interesting the game, the higher the ratings; the higher the ratings, the higher the exposure; in parallel, the higher the interest of the game, the more likely it is to be

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a derby or some game of elevated importance to the more radical fans. When combined the level of exposure with the interest violent fans might have in this game, broadcasted melees is almost a guarantee. This is the context in which the away culture can turn a seemingly tense situation into an irremediable tense situation. As seen before, the presence of visiting fans in the stadium is one of the variables that is considered in the screening for a possible violent outcome of a match. The bigger the game and the shorter the distance between the cities of both teams, the greater the chances of violence occurring. This is a sort of maxim for international football nowadays, as its most attractive games are often its most violent. In an age where the worlds most popular sport is over a century and a half old, it is hard to elude the notion that some games are more important than others; be it because of rivalries bred throughout time, because the teams represent very different things -social class (Boca Juniors vs. Rivel Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina) , religion (Rangers vs. Celtic in Glasgow, Scotland) (Spiegel 2009), political differences (FC Sankt Pauli vs. Hansa Rostock in northern Germany) (DerbySieg), among other reasons are often arguments for rivalries to be spawned between different teams-, or merely because of geographical proximity, some fixtures mean much more to the fans than others. And it is precisely these games in which fan crowds tend to give their best on the stands; for better and for worse. The best choreographies as well as the most brutal fights tend to happen under this scenario. One of the main reasons why this occurs is what is known as the away culture. The away culture reflects the tendency that football fans have to travel to other cities to support their team and players at venues where they are not only foreign but in most cases also a minority on the stands. To travel with the team, an admitted commitment to the club is the first unspoken requirement, since a casual follower wouldnt be bothered to go through all the work that travelling w ould involve; this devotion to the flag and colors of the team that implies also a sense of belonging, as well as a feeling of protectiveness towards this intangible family unit.

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Of course, one of the most important variables for the away culture to exist is the plausibility of its realization, and the fact that Europe is not only a geographically small continent but also one of significant demographic proportions within the 4.32 million sq. km of the European Union, there are about 503 million inhabitants; almost 200 million more than in the over 9 million sq. km of the United States (Wikipedia)-, allows for this to occur with regularity, even in an international context. In a place like the United States, where the distances between some of the biggest cities exceeds in a considerable amount those among European cities, the main control variable isnt present, since the logistics behind travelling tends to be much more complicated as well as expensive.
The United States is a country of continental proportions. Massive distances inhibit travel to accompany ones team for an away game. In addition, there is less of a tradition in following ones team across the country for a regular season or even a play-off game than in Europe. (Markovits 2011)

Therefore, among fans of American sport teams the mentality of flying crosscountry isnt embedded and not seen as a must, whereas in a much more compact Europe it is proof of the loyalty of a true fan. It is seen as a declaration of allegiance as well as a necessary sacrifice a fan must make. When discussing travel, distance and the size of countries, South American presents a puzzling myth, since it is a continent both vast in size and population, as well as plagued with violence in sport. It is true that most countries in this subsection of the American continent surpass the million square kilometers, much more than any European country aside from Russia, and distances can be a factor especially when considering that infrastructure isnt as well developed as in North America or in Europe (Fay 2000). But when examined closely, one can notice that the majority of the population in each country concentrates in very specific regions, and therefore most football teams. In Argentina, the Greater Metropolitan Area of the capital city, Buenos Aires, houses over 35% of the countrys population (Wikipedia) as well as a total of eleven of the 20 teams that make up that countrys first division football league (Wikipedia).

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Bolivias four largest cities Santa Cruz, La Paz, Cochabamba and Sucre- have a combined population of 5.3 million, which is over 48% of the total number of inhabitants (Wikipedia). Their professional football league is comprised of twelve teams, of which 75% come from these four cities (Wikipedia). Brazils Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo concentrate nearly 33 million inhabitants (Wikipedia)and have 7 teams in the Brasileirao Serie A (Wikipedia), the countrys highest league. Chiles capital, Santiago, holds around 5.5 million people over a third of the countrys population- and six of the eighteen teams in their first division. Colombias two biggest cities, Bogot its capital- and Medelln, boast a total of 14.35 million inhabitants, or the 30.97% of this countrys population. Football wise, they are the base city for seven of the eighteen teams in their top tier. Perhaps in one of the milder examples of how clustered population and the number of teams in top football are in South America, Ecuadors capital and largest city, Quito, is home to almost 22% of the cou ntrys entire population and three of the twelve teams that conform the Ecuadorian First Division. Paraguays capital, La Asuncin, is home to 2.3 million of all 6.4 million Paraguayans, as well as for eight of all twelve teams in their first division. Peru has a total of 30.2 million inhabitants, of which 8.5 million live in Lima, the capital city. Five of the eighteen teams in first division play their home fixtures there. Uruguays capital, Montevideo, holds 1.8 million of the 3.3 million Uruguayans and is seat to 14 of the 16 teams in their national league. Nearly 6.5 million Venezuelans roughly 20% of the entire population- live in the Metropolitan Area of the countrys capital, Caracas. Currently, four of the eighteen teams of the first division play in the citys two stadiums (Wikipedia). Of course, this isnt limited to the South American sub-continent, since Europe also has a large tradition of local or within-city derbies. What is peculiar of the South American case is the clustering of population in such a reduced amount of

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places, therefore making the foundation of several teams in one same place very likely. To such an extent does this proliferation in reduced space, that Argentinas most bitter rivalry Boca Juniors vs. River Plate- was born over the dispute of a playing ground, nowadays the site for Bocas stadium, the renowned Bombonera (a roughly translated term for a pressure cooker). A challenge was issued by one of the teams to settle the quarrel over a football match, and the winner would get to keep the grounds to themselves. Back in Europe, and as mentioned by

Markovits at the beginning of this section, the fact that population is more evenly distributed doesnt mean that conglomerations of teams rarely surface in domestic tournaments. In fact, several of Europes largest cities house more than one team in the first division of their own leagues: In the Spanish first division, four cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville) house at least two teams each, and a total of half of all teams in the league (Atltico Madrid, Real Madrid, Rayo Vallecano, Getafe, Barcelona FC, Espanyol, Valencia FC, Levante, Sevilla, and Real Betis). (Wikipedia) London, the largest English city, houses six different teams (Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United). (Wikipedia) Four different cities have two teams in the Italian Serie A: Rome (AS Roma, Lazio Roma), Genoa (Genova, Sampdoria), Milan (AC Milan, Internazionale) and Turin (Juventus, FC Torino). (Wikipedia) Although the German Bundesliga doesnt count with a city that includes several clubs within its jurisdiction, the Ruhr District in the Northern RhineWestphalia area counts with five different teams currently in the top flight: Borussia Dortmund, FC Schalke 04, Borussia Mnchengladbach, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Fortuna Dsseldorf. (Wikipedia) Moscow is home to four of sixteen teams in the Russian Premier Liga: Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Moscow, CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow. (Wikipedia) The Greek capital of Athens houses four different teams in the first division: AEK, Atromitos, Panathinaikos and Panionios. (Wikipedia)

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This, along with the fact that the distances are considerably shorter in Europe than in the Americas and a considerably higher income in European countries compared to Latin American ones (Bank 2010), creates a more articulated away following among fans. As explained in this excerpt of the study, this phenomenon, particularly strong in football, is one of the main distinctives in football fandom and perhaps the greatest structural difference with regards to American sports. The availability and possibility to do so, determined by the aforementioned variables, is the main culprit that away culture takes place to begin with. Its existence allows for a higher likelihood of violence, given the so to speak intrusion of alien fans of a different team into what hooligans view as their own turf. By presenting this possibility, one of the six points of the Value-Added Theory discussed earlier, the presence of a source of possible tension, and therefore allowing for this chain of conflict to take place. 3.5. Sporting Culture Within the sporting dynamic of a country, another factor that differs considerably between traditional and developing footballing nations is that of the nature of their aficionados interest and emotional investment in teams that belong to other sporting disciplines, which can be addressed at as sporting culture. There is a clear difference between both in the emotional trigger that football has become in certain countries, whereas in others it has a much tamer following. One of the main reasons why this changes in such considerable manners is not only tradition, which can be explained best by the exposure over time to the sport, but also by the amount of sports available for sport fans to choose from. Actually, it is the mixture of both variables that determines how positive or negative the reaction of followers will be to certain sports. On one hand we have football-dominant societies, in which the mentioned sport is unrivalled in popularity and following. On the other, we have the multi-discipline societies where no real sport prevails on top of another one, or not in a considerably significant manner. The United States, again, is a good example to oppose European and South American countries.

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3.5.1. Football-Dominant Societies In these countries, football is unrivaled by other disciplines and dominates public interest to such an extent, that it is the only sport in which teams have an active following. Other sports are present, but dont receive nearly the same amount of attention from the public or the press, which would rather dedicate its efforts to cover football even better and in more depth, creating a vicious cycle of exposure of football in the media outlets available which in turn reduces coverage of other disciplines. Most European and South American nations suffer from this, and it is this overall dominance of football in the popularity realm that has led to fanaticism to increase over time to the point where it has become a public safety concern. One of the main reasons behind violence in football stems from this emotional attachment that football fans have on their team and no other. Their emotional investment in supporting someone in sports is deposited entirely on one team, making a win much more fulfilling, but a defeat much more bitter. The more dominant football is in a country, the more violent tend to be the fans of the football teams. Countries like Argentina suffer from their medias obsession with the day to day news of local and international football, in spite of having fairly good teams in several disciplines like rugby, female grass hockey, tennis and basketball. Of course, violence in this countrys football league is endemic and considered by some as incurable. As a matter of fact, the shows that their barras bravas, the term coined to refer to the Argentinean equivalent of the Italian ultra, put on inside the stadium for their team is seen as reason enough to justify the violence that fans face every game. Clashes among fans and with the police tend to end with considerable property damage, gunshots and injured people, and in the worst cases, death. Something similar occurs in countries like Chile and Uruguay with their own barras bravas, as well as Brazil with their toridas, their response to the Argentinean violent fan groups. This isnt necessarily a South American phenomenon, given that some of the more infamous bands are actually European. The English firms have caused their share of havoc wherever they have gone. One of the saddest proofs of their capability to be violent is the UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool

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and Juventus that took place in the Belgian city of Heysel, where English fans assaulted Italian ones to the point that over 30 lives were lost. Even nowadays, Europes top leagues are witness to the violence that a reduced number of fans can cause inside and out of stadia. As established earlier, violence doesnt necessarily imply physically assaulting somebody; it can also be verbal coercion and name-calling, as well as the use of illegal elements such as fireworks and flares, which is the common complaint of German authorities in regards to public safety in their stadia. The ban of pyrotechnics and their subsequent smuggling into games has translated in a series of fines for the teams of the 1.and 2.Bundesliga, as well as for teams from even lower tiers. 3.5.2. Multi-discipline cultures The other scenario is the complete opposite reality in which no discipline is overwhelmingly superior to another. Countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Venezuela are good examples of this sport culture model. In them the fan dynamic is different: every major city or in its default, geographical region such as the San Francisco Bay Area, for instance- has an amount of professional teams pertaining to different sports which tend to be supported by a similar demographic of citizens. In other words, sports fan have to opportunity to root for several teams without it becoming a conflict of interest for him or to be perceived as such. This greater offer of teams allows the follower to invest his passion for sport into a diverse number of teams, in turn reducing the quota allotted to each, which translates into an easier coping of a defeat of one of those teams. While football fans are heavily dependent on the performance of one team throughout the season, followers in multi-discipline countries have several seasons to rely on, so if their baseball team of their liking fails to make the playoffs, they still have a basketball, football and even a hockey team to count on, depending on the city. The number of cities in the United States which possess more than one professional team is elevated and are spread through the country. So from the East Coast, in cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. all the way to the West Coast in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc., the spectrum of cities with several teams is wide.

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3.6. Emotional Investment in teams performance To the more radical, rooting for a team means being committed to it for better and for worse. Unlike more cold-headed followers, a defeat can have harsh consequences in the life of the hooligan. A defeat is taken personally, and usually leads to more visceral reactions on their behalf, particularly by confronting the authorities; be it the league, the teams management, the police or whoever else. A vivid example of this can be the upfront confrontation the fans of the German teams that descended to second division in recent years put up in the last stretch of the league season, when their status of demoted was inevitably confirmed. The teams in question are Eintracht Frankfurt (who after a season in second division reclaimed a spot in the top tier, not without restructuring their inner hierarchy, chain of command, budget, directing staff and player roster), Hertha Berlin SC and 1.FC Kln. Their outburst of anger was directed primarily to the team, due to the poor sporting results obtained, but there was another outburst of confrontational behavior aimed at league authorities and the police, by lighting up flares inside the stadium, which are banned throughout German stadia. The incidents occurred in different places, as well as different dates, but shared the demotion as a common trait. Frankfurt fans held on to an infamous title given to them by one if not the largest sports magazine in the country Sportbild: Randalemeister, which means riot champions, in reference to the poor display of sportsmanship in the stands on their behalf. For the next game, the more radical Frankfurt fans produced a considerably large banner that read Randalemeister 2011, which was displayed as the core of the Eintracht ultras lit a considerable amount of flares amidst heavy chanting. Recently, and despite very good sporting results, problems between the teams board of directors and fans after an outbreak of unruly behavior in a game against Bayer Leverkusen. In both instances, the media and less aggressive fans condemned the actions. Hertha Berlin has had the hard task of descending twice in the last three years to second division, which has led to obvious high levels of frustration and disappointment in their more radical fans. In the first case of joining the second

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division, the Olympiastadion their home ground- suffered some damage after some fans invaded the pitch and attacked infrastructure surrounding the pitch. In the second case, which was a tad more dramatic since the team had to dispute a playoff against Fortuna Dsseldorf for their right to stay in the top tier, flares were the weapon of choice in what is still addressed as one of the most embarrassing moments in German history. The second game took place in Dsseldorfs ESPRIT Arena at full capacity. Once the result started favoring their rivals, Hertha fans began throwing flares onto the pitch, forcing the referee to pause the game for some minutes while the same Berlin players helped remove the flares off the ground. 1.FC Kln had a tough break, and had to say goodbye to team idol and main figure, Lukas Podolski, who had signed with the English side Arsenal some weeks before; deal with inner turmoil over the resignation of one of their main directors and the reshuffling of power figures in the board of directors, as well as play their last game in first division. Fans took it upon themselves to organize a considerable amount of smoke bombs and flares just in case anything went wrong in the game. As soon as playing in second division was inevitable, black smoke started billowing over the stadium at an incredible rate as soon as the final whistle was blown and demotion was official. The strength and determination in the protests of these groups of fans can prove how the attachment to football can lead to not only possibly dangerous situations for themselves and others, but how a radical mentality in dire need to drain tension can pose a greater threat to society in a theoretically controlled environment within a confined physical space, with heavy police presence in a supposedly enjoyable activity in spite of a negative outcome- that other more loosely restricted scenarios from everyday life, where the ultimate reward is much greater than the simple pleasure brought by an act of sabotage. As negative as fan devotion can be, it can also have a rather uplifting side to it, which takes place when the opposite case occurs: a result so good that celebration is massive. The case that can exemplify this the best is that of Fortuna Dsseldorfs promotion to first division in that infamous game against Hertha Berlin that was mentioned previously-. The euphoria for the return to the top tier

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of German football for the first time in almost two decades was so great, that the need to invade the pitch for such a long and sustained period of time that the game was close of being called off. Of course, the problem of overreaction is latent in both ends of the motivational specter, since the acts due indeed interrupt the game or alter the expected behavior pattern in the stands. Overall, the emotional attachment of fans to their team and its performance goes in detriment to social norms and in some cases, the law. The flamboyant way of acting out produces negative consequences to everybody involved, since the game suffers, non-radical fans are disturbed and deprived of the game they paid to see, the team they support runs the risk of being fined, as well as exposing themselves to being imprisoned, detained or fined for their illegal acts. Such was the case of a group of fans of FC Kln that attacked a bus filled with Borussia Mnchengladbach fans. The instigators were tried and fined an amount in the thousands of Euros. 3.7. Team administrative approach The business model of clubs change from country to country. Usually, football clubs tend to be precisely a club, which implies that there is a sedentary location for the team as well as a core following or even member group. In some countries, being a part of this club allows much more than the mere bragging right of being so and the sense of added loyalty and belonging that it brings along. It also gives the fan certain advantages over the non-members. Discounts and advanced ticket sales as well as merchandise, access to certain events, the possibility to enroll children in the youth divisions, and of course, the right to vote on key issues surrounding the club, among others. Along with these perks, in certain places it also involves a matter of a family legacy; the responsibility of becoming a member, the same way his father and grandfather were, and the same as his son will eventually be. There is an involvement so close between some members and the club that some teams have begun offering burial services, building their own burial grounds, and some teams that have had simply too many requests to handle have shut down the possibility of being buried within the clubs grounds.

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Parallel to this approach, there is also the franchise model, whose origin is merely business related. The teams are built under financial premises and run as companies. The economic compromises the social interaction, and therefore there is a much less affectionate relationship with the fan. Loyalty does exist, but it could be seen as more as an extreme case of brand loyalty than as team fidelity. The American professional sports model has become a prevalent, if not a total, example of the franchise system. Teams are founded and even in some cases relocated to fit better economic prospects. 3.7.1. The Club and Verein model It is true that clubs and the German Vereine have coexisted since the beginning of football, but the similarities between both are considerable, in spite of the fact that one was born out of mere necessity of a structure to direct a footballing institution and the other in the midst of a more complex socio-political context, which involved a considerable dosage of nationalism and military training- oriented activities. In the end, the structure must be similar because in both cases, the reception of society was positive. English football clubs found their niche in a society first the higher class and ultimately the working class- amused by ball games, while the German Vereine initially opposed and taunted British sports from their own structure, focusing on gymnastics and other sports that didnt involve the use of balls. This would eventually lead to an inevitable introduction of football into German society, a consequent uproar, and the need to germanify the game that led to the peculiar form German clubs are named (a combination of a name, the city in which they play, the year they were founded, and the type of organization they are). The core aspect of the club is the involvement of fans and members. Theyre play more than a passive role, they can partake in activities involving the team, as well as vote in the decision making and future of the club. This involvement has generated tight ties between both parties, to the point that in some cases, the more radical fans push to have greater and greater influence within the club. Usually this pressure doesnt come from legal maneuvers and could go as far as harassing the directors, coaches and players.

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Precisely it is this aspect of the club culture that can evolve into a problem for the footballing structure of a country. The case of certain South American countries is a good example of how this sphere of influence can be perverted. In Argentina, for instance, it has been known that coaches have been appointed and fired because the hooligan firms have decided so. The same is true for players who sometimes speak their mind too freely, or are signed from rival teams. Boycotts to games after controversial decisions are taken by the directives are common, as is the reselling of tickets given by the club to the members of these firms who also happen to be members of the clubs they support. In fact, so great is their influence that it has transcended football and infiltrated politics in the form of political muscle. Certain firms are affiliated or known to be lenient towards certain political parties. Whenever a politician needs a massive rally with high attendance, football fans are called up to form the basic ranks in order to ensure a tolerable minimum of assistants. This shouldnt come as a surprise in a country where everybody knows for which team the president and governors root. Evidently, a closer bond between club and fandom is prone to stimulate the surfacing of radical support as previously mentioned. These ties lead to the amalgamation of an identity within hardcore fan groups that is indeed the mix of support and loyalty to the team, as well as the camaraderie that young disgruntled men brew amongst themselves and their company. Fueled by a turbulent reality and in most cases, a considerable amount of alcohol, this combination can lead to very guttural reactions when the outcome isnt the desired one. 3.7.1.1. Multi-tiered division system Given the popularity of football in most countries, the sprawl of teams on a nationwide scale was unavoidable. Naturally, a league of hundreds of teams was never an option, so the most plausible solution for a football tournament to take place, without having to resource to a direct knockout format usually applied to cups, was stratifying the teams into different leagues. The taxonomy of said leagues is decided by the quality of the teams, meaning that the best ones play in the top division and the worst ones in the lower ones. Several European countries,

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most notably the Big Five (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France), have a professional league system typified by several divisions. Germany, for instance, has the two top divisions named 1.Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga respectively, followed by the 3.Liga. These three leagues are comprised by the 56 best teams in the country. Following these divisions, come the semi-professional leagues, usually divided into regions. The equivalent of the fourth division of German football is the Regionalliga, made up by five parallel leagues determined by geographical location North-West, South-West, Bayern, East, and North-. Under this division, there is an even more complex division of teams, branching out into several more parallel divisions. The fifth tier is the Oberliga, made up by eight different and geographically divided leagues. Further down the number grows as the size and quality of the teams is smaller. Usually, this structure functions according to the economical capacity teams have to invest in travel, uniforms and infrastructure stadia, youth systems, etc-, and the subsequent quality their team can boast. It is this latter capacity the one that determines the location of the team. In other words, the higher the quality, the higher in the league system the team plays. 3.7.1.2. Promotion and relegation These leagues are usually permeable, meaning that there is a constant rotation of teams among the different leagues. This allows that the more qualified teams of a lower division can be promoted to higher instances if their quality allows it. The opposite is also true: the worse teams of higher leagues are relegated to lower leagues when unable to keep up with competition. Some leagues include the figure of direct relegation and a playoff series against a team of the lower division for a place in the better league; a sort of last chance of retaining league status. These games prove to be some of the more attractive fixtures in the season, given the urgency with which both teams play. Nowadays, in the middle of the globalised age of football, dropping one division could have serious economical consequences for a team. The loss of income derived from television rights, merchandising, ticketing and even sponsors has proven fatal to some teams in several countries. Usually, the first division is the main source of money in a countrys league, and the share of income generated

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for every team allows for a more generous expenditure line; usually translated in the investment in better players, a more capable coaching squad, a more apt youth system or even an expansion of the stadium. A successful case born from promotion and responsible planning is that of SC Freiburg. Known in Germany as an elevator team, constantly being promoted and demoted to and from first division, this club reinvented itself and, thanks to wise investing and talent scouting, has become one of the biggest surprises in modern German football. Clever money spending has led this team to go from the dread of relegation to dreaming of a spot in the European tournaments, a heavy source of income for small and medium teams. The permeability created by the promotion/relegation system helps guarantee a competitive and even tournament. Of course, there will always be big and small teams, but this ensures that the theoretically best teams in the country are facing each other, that every team in the higher leagues deserve to be there. Competition fosters improvement, which in sports generally translates into a better show for the spectators. 3.7.2. The Franchise Model This administrative system is mostly prevalent in American sports or in leagues of these disciplines. The emphasis is put mainly on the economic model and the teams are run as businesses rather than actual sporting entities. The relationship with fans isnt necessarily distant, but in no ways is it as feverous as it is in the club model. Perhaps an aspect that could influence or condition the relationship between fan and franchise isnt necessarily the condition of its administration, but the fact that distance between rivals is much greater, as explained previously. However, the truth is that the geographical distance between the teams is somehow a consequence of the franchising of American sport. As the 20 th century developed, expansions in the number of teams and their available locations allowed for some teams to begin moving towards the west coast of the country, an area where there was no real presence of professional teams until the 1950s. The two methods by which professional leagues travelled westwards -expansion and relocation- were solely motivated by the search of a more ample market for teams to merchandise themselves. In both instances, the teams grow artificially and their

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fandom is built around pride of the city instead of the team. Put differently, the support the newly founded team receives is based more on the fact that the city has representation in the professional league than in the actual team that has been founded. Once could even suggest that this support is passive for some time. Some of the exceptions to this can be found, primordially in cities that have teams that have been around for a considerable amount of time, have had a successful history or that have a particular background. Some of the cases are the New York Yankees(founded in 1903) both successful and old-, Boston Red Sox (1901), Chicago Cubs (1876), Chicago White Sox (1901), Saint Louis Cardinals (1882), Cincinnati Reds (1882), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1882) are some of the founding clubs in professional baseball, and their following is among the most loyal. The Chicago Bears (1920), Green Bay Packers (1921), Detroit Lions (1930), Washington Redskins (1932), Philadelphia Eagles (1933) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (1933) are among the first teams founded that currently reside in their original city. One of the main obstacles in the creation of local rivalries at a professional level lies in the mere size of the country. For derbies term used to refer these special matches- to brew, the proximity of the teams would have to be greater, and this would only lead to a league so large, itd be unsustainable in every aspect, particularly time. A more measured format similar to the one of the college sports isnt particularly viable since there already is a whole league structure with around 120 teams devoted to that sole function in the college circuit. 3.8. Locality as the externalization of social alienation
The process of choosing a team responds primordially to subjective, contingent and irrational factors: youre a teams fan because your father, older brother or favorite uncle is a fan of that team; or because you live in the neighborhood where the team has its stadium, or because it is the team that was winning every tournament when you were young and still picking a team. It is precisely this irrationality that creates no real reason to make a fan switch sides. You may change partners, friends, countries, political affiliation, your mind, and even your religion; but you never change teams. Be it however it may, club adhesion is not sought following an evaluation of the positive aspects of each club, it has been imposed by the environment in which the fan develops. (Sebreli 1998)

The feeling of belonging attached to fandom in football is strong enough to consider it one of the defining factors in hooliganism, so much so in fact that it

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has become the main reason fans fight each other game after game. This sense of belonging to something (the football team) the fact that some fan groups refer to themselves as part of the team, such as Argentinean Boca Juniors La Doce (The Twelfth Man) for instance, speaks volumes of the part fans believe they ought to play translates into a territoriality that awakens primitive reactions in hooligans. Their fight isnt only because of the outcome of the game, nor is it solely for the team. It is for their own gain and pride. It is a matter of personal gain or loss what happens on the stands and against other fans, regardless of the end result of the game. This fervent need to defend locality, as well as the means taken for it to happen, reveal more than just a sense of belonging. They also speak of a social problem inherent to the society they belong to. Common problems among different countries, such as unemployment, poverty, and a lack of overall future prospects which in South America have a more dramatic tone, since the education levels in these countries are considerably lower than in the more developed European countries-, are a group of influencing stress factors in the daily life of the more disadvantaged. Along with these issues, consequent negative stereotyping and discrimination add another dimension to an already troubling problem that can be encompassed under the umbrella term of alienation. The problem with alienation is much broader than this seemingly precise term suggests. Of course, the traditional concept of isolation, in which a person or group of people are dissociated from, redundantly, society, is the main focus of the problematic. But the reasons why this might occur span a vast group of causes that tend to be collateral consequences of more typical social problems like the ones previously mentioned. Unemployment and school desertion the latter being more typical in South America than in Europe- have the added damage that those who are unemployed and out of school cut ties with otherwise healthy and productive environments, creating a void of social contact that could have been available. The need to fill this emptiness in interaction may lead to a higher chance of engaging in negative relationships that tend to end in more dubious actions than in beneficial ones.

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Another consequence of unemployment is the economical strain of losing a source of income, which could translate into a deviation toward activities condemned by law and deemed illegal; perhaps more out of need rather than actual enjoyment, but nonetheless translatable into a risk of being imprisoned, thus further alienated from society. Lastly, and maybe the most worrisome, is the intention of approaching health-risking substances, such as illegal drugs or alcohol abuse. This goes further than the rest in that it doesnt only present a problem to so ciety as well as an isolating factor, but it also attempts against life quality and even life itself. Bringing this into a context of confrontation such as modern football, where the meeting teams interest are necessarily contrary meaning that competition translated into a conflict of interest for both parties involved-, and a passional thus volatile scenario for the fans, usually fueled by alcohol and the previously described sense of isolation from the status quo and a society that, to them, is seemingly unfair and even cruel towards the less privileged. Naturally, a sense of longing to belong to something would arise within a group of individuals that, according to themselves, have been left out. The unison and fraternal feeling that would consequently arise within the ranks of a certain type of fan the lowincome, young male-, could serve as an amalgam expressed in support for their club. Proof of this frustration, sense of insecurity and loyalty to the team can be best demonstrated by the names they choose to use to refer to their firms and groups. For the most part, the names of fan groups make reference to either the city or district theyre from, the colors of the team and the year of their foundation. In some cases such as the one of Greek fans, this sense of territoriality is so specific, that firms have the names of the section of the stadium they tend to inhabit. This statement best suits the need to express belonging to the team the follow so fervently, whereas the other typical naming option reflects the need to impose a more aggressive statement towards others. These groups have names that usually include the name of natures biggest predators, such as the shark, lion, tiger, etc., or are less subtle and refer to themselves as bad, tough, a mong others. Complementing the animals name or the menacing adjective that typifies the fans

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belonging to the firm in this nomenclature, there is also the color or mixture of colors used by the team. Another aspect to consider regarding identity in fandom as well as sports in general is what occurred throughout the Americas, but more accentuated in the southernmost region of South America, in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires. The tale of this citys inhabitants is one plagued with stories of imm igrants that came from everywhere, with their own heritage and mannerisms, and settled far away from home, in foreign land surrounded by foreign people. The lack of a direct link with the place they now inhabited produced a vacuum of identity within the several communities that formed what later on would become one of the biggest football hubs in the world. It was precisely during the introduction of football to Argentinean society that this craving for identity was at its strongest, and therefore this new recreational sport that ended up captivating the inhabitants of Buenos Aires both the rich and later on the poor- was used as a way to create bonds with the new home of the foreign.
In Buenos Aires, the popular masses suffered of a double lack of identity during the period of footballs surge of nationalitysons of European immigrants, or immigrants themselves- and of social structure, since they were transplanted from a peasant society the south of Italy, Spain, even the Argentinean countryside- to an industrial city. It is no coincidence that the first popular football clubs in Argentina were founded in working class neighborhoods Avellaneda, La Boca, Parque Patricios, Boedo, Lans (Sebreli 1998)

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4. Conclusions
4.1. Football is a perfect storm Many of the elements that normally are considered as one of the plus sides of being a global sport have also a deterring side to them, which help enhance the inevitability of violence within football. The fact that the game is so well covered and massively broadcasted allows a much wider audience to be a spectator to the shows and travesties that happen in the pitch as well as in the stands. Of course, most of the elements that have been addressed in this study are defining aspects of football and its more radical following. This is why we talk about this sport as being a perfect storm, or the coinciding of several elements that, when together, turn what on their own could be seen as isolated problems into a chronic problem of global proportions. If it is true that these elements arent really part of the realm of the sport, since they do not take place within the boundaries of the sports elements, they are however a cornerstone of the modern football following. To imagine soccer in the globalised context without this level of violence, intolerance, rule breaking and overall threat to public safety would be unconceivable. Naturally, many of the origins of the need to become violent at a football match stem from outside football. Nonetheless, and in spite of it being an important factor, studies tend to concentrate mostly on the facts that occur at stadia all over Europe and the world, while neglecting the relevance that structural problems in society might have on the overall violence found in the worlds most popular sport. By avoiding the discussion of these core issues and their impact on the average and not so average football fan, there is a considerable void of key information that could provide authorities and academics with answers to understand better and more comprehensively this global phenomenon that, in certain cases, is the direct responsible of several lives each year. The main consequence of this is a poorer understanding of the problems that influence and allow the existence of hooliganism. This, among several consequences, has the peculiarity of making the task of policy design and violence prevention more complicated and less effective, and has led police action to be

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more reactive and less coordinated and less preventive and though out than it should be. A dilemma within this consequence of a poor understanding of the scenario, in which said violence occurs, is that resources allocated to the riot control budget could be ill invested or misallocated. The volume of money put into controlling already inevitable social disrupt is a considerable sum and, if invested appropriately, could provide the funding of more effective and lasting programs and measures that could assure that hooliganism as a social and global problem is a thing of the past. 4.1.1. Popularity and Exposure The size of the following of a sport that has a global presence is, of course, of global proportions. To add to the magnitude of this recreational activity, football is the national sport of some of the most numerous nations, as well as one of the main sporting activities in several others. Entire continents, like Europe and South America devote a considerable size of time and money to this entertainment; not only by going to the games or actively playing the game, but also spending both resources in significant amounts. For instance, the German Bundesliga generated over 700,000,000 Euros in tax revenue for the German government last fiscal year -2012-, as well as it created a number of direct and indirect jobs of about 47,000 (Fussball-Liga 2012). This expands even further, as broadcasting rights nowadays are valued in the billions of Euros instead of millions, and allow the images of some leagues to be shown on TV screens around the world. English, Spanish, Italian and German leagues mainly, but many other leagues are also shown in a transcontinental fashion- can be tuned in from every continent, live. ESPN, a trans-American broadcasting company, show seven different football leagues (English Premier, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Dutch Eredivisie, Mexican Liga MX and American Major League Soccer), as well as three international club competitions (UEFAs Champions League and Europa League; CONCACAFs Champions League) (ESPN). The same way it transmits the match itself, it also shows the crude reality that violence in football is far from over. It is common but not necessarily mundanefor people to tune in and see violent scenes, hear offensive chants or witness illegal actions in the stadiums stands. Some leagues even make it compulsory for

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the television crew to transmit the actions in order to have visual proof of them, as well as to make easier the identifying of the culprits (Fussball-Liga 2012). One of the problems of the broadcasting of these events is that it allows fans prone to violent behavior to have a model on which they can base their attitudes. This has helped to homogenize the overall behavioral pattern of hooligans worldwide. Japans right wing has infiltrated the hooligan scene of the J -League much in the same way as the neo-Nazi movements have infiltrated certain teams ultra scene in Germany (Fortunately the backlash produced by the waving of the kyokujitsu-ki the Rising Sun flag previously waved as the national flag of Japan and symbol of Japanese nationalism- at international matches, particularly games against the South Korean national team, has made citizens aware of the problems that displaying this flag causes) (Soompi 2011). Chants and insults yelled in Venezuelan stadiums are oddly similar to the ones sung and shouted at Argentinean ones. In fact, among the several firm-based forums on the internet, the term original chant prevails as one of distinction among the songs sung at the countrys national league, since they require the effort of not having to copy or be inspired by foreign chants (Venezolanas 2013). Flag designs and patters, as well as banners found in several fan groups of the American Major League Soccer resemble German flags (Esmerald-City-Supporters-Groups 2013). The ultra model that began in Italy was quickly adopted by Spanish and southern French teams (Goldblatt 2008), and it lent its economic and political structure to Argentinean clubs, where the power struggle and the informal economy produced by illegal merchandise and ticket resale within barra bravas is so prevalent, that lives have been lost in the fight to control these violent groups (Sebreli 1998). The globalization of football hasnt been all good. 4.1.2. Away Game Culture Football is perhaps a unique game in many aspects: the fact that its played with the feet primordially instead of the hands an oddity within ball sports-, the size of its following, and the loyalty of its fans. So loyal are they , that they are willing to travel with their team to other cities and watch a game they could easily watch it from their homes.

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It is one of the most common sights in football, the away fan; follower s of the visiting team that travelled along with his club to provide moral support through chants, choreographies and banners. What is so peculiar about this is that it isnt a few tens of fans that do this; it is a crowd large enough to be tallied by the thousands. It is also one of the most uncommon sights in sports in general, partly because the numbers of attendance in other sport disciplines are considerably lower, or as it has been explained due to more extended travelling distances. If the amount of sport disciplines that have a considerably large following is reduced to perhaps all ball sports, and even then some to a lesser extent, the number of sports that count with a group of loyal followers that travel outside of town in a considerably large group is reduced to practically one. It isnt necessarily the most comfortable or accessible of hobbies, since travelling involves expenses and time, something not everybody is willing to sacrifice. Yet a sizeable group of people do bother to do all of this for the mere appreciation of the affinity for their team. It is a very romantic idea, of sacrifice for a cause, even. But it doesnt necessarily end on a happy note, since these travels to foreign sta dia end up in violence with considerable regularity. A factor for this occurring, as mentioned, is that of distance. It turns out that the most fervent rivalries take place at matches between teams of neighboring cities, and those that dont usually have a reason of weight behind them: both teams have a history of particularly tense games, or theyre both usual contenders for the title or to avoid relegation, mainly. It maps out pretty evenly in the biggest football markets in the world Europe and South America-, and the proof of it is how clustered rivalries are in each country. As shown previously, even in a continent as large as South America, most rival teams are within reasonable travelling distance, since most teams in first division are in fact in a reduced number of locations in each country. Another issue that helps explain not only why are fans willing to travel long distances to support their teams, but also why they seem so willing to fight in the name often in deterrence- of the team, is the affinity they feel for it. We went over the symbolism and the significance the football club has in the life of some

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of the hooligans. They see the stadium as a home, the club as a father figure and the other hooligans as a family. The explanation that both Gunter Pilz and Juan Jos Sebreli address in their studies, that of football as the release valve for personal tension with society and the status quo (Sebreli 1998), (Pilz 1996), gives a better understanding on what the more prone to violent attitudes have in mind when visiting the stadium; a sort of clan-like or tribal mentality, where the unison is stronger than the individual sacrifice and effort. Their partaking in action is best understood when seen as their way of getting involved in the game in an active manner, distancing themselves from their roles of mere spectators. To them, chanting and, when necessary, fighting, is more important than the actual result of the game. Granting that the result can determine the willingness hooligans might have to fight, it is their sense of involvement what really motivates them to act or not act. Of course, what takes place on the field is also a factor to motivate the fans to engage more or less with the team, creating euphoria and making violence more likely to occur. As Robert Braun and Rens Vliegenthart show, aggressive play along with media attention and unemployment- is significant explanatory factor for violence (Vliegenthart 2008). Thus, an algid game in which fouls and what could be perceived as unfair refereeing by a group of fans could make the spectators more prone to becoming violent. As seen in this study, the number and magnitude of variables that influence is extended and can usually be addressed only in a trans-disciplinary fashion. They range from contextual issues, such as the distance between the home cities of the teams, all the way to psychosocial problems, like feeling excluded or left out from society, going through variables more related to demographic aspects of society, such as unemployment. To point out one as the main or the only reason behind hooliganism is a simplistic answer, which excludes certain elements that are necessary when pondering on an issue that is of global proportions. 4.1.3. Heavy Emotional Investment The bond between the fan and the team is sacred to the former. His continuous quest for proving himself to his team, fellow fans and to himself seems never-

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ending, and the limits to what hed be willing to do seem unreachable. This affection that he feels for this team can be also disaffection for other things and others as well, as is the case in the most violent fans. As seen when discussing the problems created by the disconnection between the young, unemployed and potentially alienated share of citizens, the truth is that their condition predisposes them to a somewhat inevitable repulsion for the status quo and everything that entails. Their primary targets tend to be transportation infrastructure and public property; perhaps because it is more available, but nonetheless a sign of their discomfort and inconformity. The other main victims tend to be fans from other teams and fans from their own team that are considered to be too soft or not loyal enough. The second is particularly prevalent in Latin cultures, where machismo is as well an element of weight in the culture of fandom, hooliganism and ultras. The idea behind the alpha male is that of domination and submission, and therefore the leader tends to be the stronger, most bold, or most conniving one of them; skills that come in handy for retaining their position as leaders of a pack of men with a vendetta on society. Of course, targeting more casual observers and followers fits into the scheme, since theyre perceived as foreigners and opportunists, not as real fans and supporters of the team. Their overall discomfort is what leads them down the path of radical support. Their venting is done in perhaps the only place in the city where they do feel like they belong the stadium- along with people who do understand their troubles, and even share them other fans-. Going to a football game is so important, it becomes a sort of rite of passage, a modern ritual that allows the more violent the required sense of belonging they dont find so easily in society as one wo uld expect. What is most troubling for and to them is that this alienation weve mentioned throughout this study isnt a consequence of their vandalism, but of their disadvantaged position as a young person without a source of income and a lack of opportunities given the lack of working experience, which in turn is a consequence of their lack of opportunities; a complex vicious cycle that difficults their full inclusion in society, given the lack of key social interactions due to a

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lack of working experience. Naturally, this has to be made up somehow, and the way it is done is in the stadium, as previously expressed. 4.2. A more peaceful alternative: the Scottish Tartan Army and the Dutch Carnivals Among turbulent problems, and thanks to a apparently perpetuated view of fanatical support of football teams, everything aimed at the establishment of violence on the stands as a constant to modern football. Fights had become often, respect to authority was non-existent, and most importantly perhaps, the will to fight it actively seemed to have waned. Yet within several supporters groups that had spawned around some national sides, namely the Dutch, Scottish and Danish in the most notorious fashion, but accompanied by the Irish, Norwegians, and to yet an even slighter degree, the Germans (from 2006 onwards), a need to change what was happening emerged and was able to establish itself as a viable alternative to the violent ways of firms and hooligans. The carnivals, as they would be coined, became part of summer tournament culture at a steady pace and enjoyed quick acceptance by most. The spectacle provided by them, that is the color and joy they add to the stands of these summer events very according to the time of the year they take place, as well- was not only a plus for the game attendees, but also became a recurrent source or coverage for media broadcasting networks, particularly television. It provided them with an additional component that has somehow led and transformed the way summer football tournaments are sold to the public. World Cups, European Championships, Copas America, and all other cups of the like went from being a sort of battle of nations to a gathering of nations. Along with the subject of racism, this new approach has led the latest editions of said tournaments to have inclusive messages, such as the 2012 European Championships Creating History Together (UEFA-Euro-Cup-2012 2012). Rather than focusing on the aspect of the competition, what is nowadays emphasized is the element of fraternization. Among the countries that count with fan groups organized in carnivals, the Netherlands is perhaps one of the better known ones; not only for the fact that theyve been around since the 1980s, but also due to the amount of people that

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partake in it. The level of spectacle is that elevated, that not only is it an attractive show from afar, but also each individual tends to have his own differential aspect.
I thought Id make a decent effort to join in. I was wearing an orange T-shirt and a baseball cap with the word Holland printed in black on the peak. But as soon as I took my seat among the massed Dutch fans for the group game against Denmark in Rotterdam, I realized I was embarrassingly, pathetically underdressed. As with every other Netherlands match in Euro 2000, the entire Dutch nation seemed to have put on fancy dress. Packed together in the stands, the local fans transformed the curved bowl of De Kuip into a bay of glowing orange. The Observer noted the almost Van Goghian beauty of the massed shirts of the Dutch fans, stippled and shimmering beyond the pitch. Up close, though, the word stippled barely begins to convey the spectacle. A middle aged couple had turned up in full evening dress: impeccably tailored tie and tails for him, elegant ball gown and feather boa for her, all of it in luminous Day-Glo orange. Lots of men in jumpsuits and a variety of elegant, inflatable, plastic orange headware (footballs, windmills, crowns). Ridiculously tall Dutchmen with big beards (dyed orange) came dressed as traditional peasant girls complete with orange pigtails and painted-on freckles (guess what colour). In the seat in front of me was a man wearing an orange boiler suit. His face was painted orange, and on his head he wore a dreadlock wig, each strand woven from packets of orange condoms. Hollands footballers ultimately failed on the pitch in Euro 2000, but if there were prizes for spectators, the host nation would have won the tournament at a canter. Not since the confetti-hurling Argentineans of the World Cup of 1978 has a football tournaments home fans made such an impression on the watching worldwide TV audience. But where the Argentineans got themselves noticed by the sheer scary intensity of their fanatical devotion, the party-loving Oranje Legioen, with their toeters (the oompah band which follows the team and leads the singing) inspired universal affection through the exuberance of their orange carnival.(Winner 2008)

However, one of the main things that caught David Winners eyes was the difference in the demographic profile of the attendees to these national team matches when compared to your average football game assistant. Instead of being stands filled with young, lower class men, the prevalent trait was that of a more mature person, a more gender-diverse crowd, and an evidently better off part of the socioeconomic pyramid. This could partly explain why the feeling changes so much considering what is felt in the typical Eredivisie match: less intensity, and more fun. Perhaps some of those men in orange are in it more for the event than the sport itself.

63 Of course, there are also plenty in Holland who care passionately about the game (football), people who, for example, cannot bear to watch images of Hollands Euro 2000 failure against Italy.()But, such people are simply not in a majority, especially when it comes to the national team. Football is so important these days that a lot of people want to be associated with it. But in the really passionate football countries like England, Italy and Germany, you see how fans get behind their team. You have hopeful singing come on England and that sort of thing. But here, if the Dutch team is 0-1 down, total silence. Even when theyre 1-0 up sometimes its quiet. I think people who really love football would never come up with the idea of dressing up the way we do. You dont see this kind of carnival in Italy because Italians are much too nervous about the game to dress up in silly costumes. It takes a lot of energy to dress up like that. No. The Italians put on a shirt, or carry a flag or a scarf, but not more until the game is won. Then maybe you can have a carnival. But when the Dutch do it, Im sure its for the occasion, not the game.(Winner 2008)

Another countrys fans began to catch the publics eye thanks to similar behaviors displayed by the likes of the Scottish and the Dutch: the Danes. What set them apart from their European counterparts was perhaps that their formation occurred in a more sporadic and less structured form, with a heavier interest on the behalf of the media and therefore a bigger share in the influence. The gender diversity among them was one of the things that stood out, as well as the creative costumes used which made reference to their historical background, a sport favorite at that, the Vikings. Along with the fandom, these unlikely media favorites, the Danish side was also creating quite an impression in their best international tournament to date. In 1992, Denmark was invited to the 1992 European Championship to fill in the place left vacant for the politically troubled Yugoslavia, who was engaged in an internal war that led to mass genocide and the creation of seven different, independent countries years later. The performance of these seemingly unprepared Scandinavians was one that shocked the whole continent, as they went all the way to becoming unlikely winners against the reigning world champions, Germany. (Hesse-Lichtenberger 2003).
Danish roligans a pun on hooligan in Danish, weakly translated as funsters- were first sighted at the 1984 European Championship in France where the Danes were fielding their best and most successful team for three generations. The mass exodus of fans to France that year was a spontaneous agglomeration, but once in France the travelling Danish support acquired a collective identity constructed both by themselves and the popular press who were as excited about Denmarks fans as they were about the team. In an orgy of red -andwhite face paint and strong lager, the roligans not only brought a great

64 repertoire of song to the terraces but surreal caricatures of the nation blond-plated wigs, foam Viking helmets and hats with hands that clap. More closely studied than any other similar groups, the social life of the roligans can stand proxy for the others. The majority were men, but there were more women than one would have found in domestic football. Many of the fans did not go to see live football at home. Socially mixed, the profile of the roligans was slightly more wealthy, skilled and educated than t he domestic crowd.(Goldblatt 2008)

As part of the discussion of these carnival fan groups, there is the subject of the categorization. Can they be included in the overall spectrum of traditional fandom in spite of the fact that they dont share any major similarities with the better known firms, ultras, tifosi, barrabravas, toridas, and hooligans? Can they be placed along with the fans that Sebreli refers to as neohooligans, thosefans whose background and intent in hooliganism differs tremendously from the traditional hooligan? The main problem in its categorization seems to be the sole reason behind the existence of the carnivals: that of counteracting the violent acts and overall mayhem produced by the more belligerent fans with chant, costume and sheer support for the team. Besides that, these groups tend to exist almost exclusively in the realm of national squad football, not club football, another big difference with hooligan groups, and one that does in some ways set them apart. As mentioned, one of the main traits of these Carnivals is the demographic differentiation they have in regards to more traditional groups of hooligans: theyre older, more diverse genderwise, and usually ranked as middle-class. In other words, a completely different target group than the more rebellious hooligan firms.
The contemporary Tartan Army acquired its preliminary form in response to three practical circumstances. First, in other parts of the UK (notably England) during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Scottish fans held a typified reputation for disorderly, excessive, often violent behavior. At overseas matches, however, Scottish fans were confronted with two novel circumstances: their foreign hosts both associated violent fan behavior with English rather than Scottish supporters, and often mistook Scotland as a part of England rather than as a member of the United Kingdom. Thus, Scottish fans resolved these practical difficulties by presenting themselves, in binary terms, as not hooligans, but friendly fans and as not English, but Scottish. (.) Second, the hardcore formation of Scotland supporters began to appreciate the practical benefits of a friendly disposition towards other supporters and their overseas hosts. Some fans trace this

65 realization back to one match in Israel in 1981, when Scottish fans partied in bars for several days and, to their pleasant surprise, received some highly favourable reports in local media. The general reasoning for such behavior is typically pragmatic. As one fan explains in the simplest terms, If you are nice to people, people are nice to you. You have a better time. Third, in the early 1980s, the Scottish Football Association and other relevant authorities (notably the Scottish Office and Scottish police) introduced specific practical procedures aimed at improving the supporters behavior and reputation. The Scotland Travel Club was founded to control the distribution of match tickets. The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, banning alcohol consumption at games, came into force. The focus of the Tartan Army fans shifter from the traditional match against England toward offshore international games. Scotland qualified for six of seven World Cup finals between 1974 and 1998, while the annual match against England was suspended indefinitely in 1989 (because of unruly fans). These practical measures and circumstances assisted in establishing the context for a new, distinctive and more consciously internationalist for of supporter culture (Guilianotti 2004)

The differences pointed out between the traditional hooligan groups, these more elaborate and demographically contrasting Carnivals and the third group, the neohooligans as Sebreli refers to them, which are a grey area between both -the violent attitudes of the hooligans and the similar demographic background of the Carnivals, are evident and nurture the debate regarding the denomination of football fan groups. The reason this is so, is due to the unequivocal difference in their intentions, as previously stated. However, within the violent variants of fandom there is yet another problem, and that is the penetration of right-wing political groups in the recruiting of new, active members.
In may 1987, English courts brought to justice two of those neohooligans, the businessman Stephen Hickmott and the lawyer Terence Last, both linked to right-wing tendencies, for inciting Chelsea hooligans to violent acts. In Spain as well, besides the unemployed that are affected by drug use and that belong to Real Madrids Ultra Sur firm, there are also some young hooligans that belong to residential districts, with ties to ultra-rightwing movements that revisit the teams ties with the former dictator, Franco. In France, the neonazi Serge Ajoub, also known as Btaskinfu, founded a politicized group within Paris Saint Germains firm Boulogne, named Pitbull Kop that went to the stadium waving Third Reich flags and portraits of Hitler. (Sebreli 1998)

Again, as in several things related to football fandom, some of the causes for the existence of all these groups find its origin outside of the stadium. Politics and society in modern day Europe are considerably different to the ones found some

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twenty odd years ago. To begin with, the existence of the European Union and the current economical context do in fact introduce several stress elements on those most prone to violence. A direct hit at nationalism and patriotism in several countries that consider themselves as considerably patriotic, as well as an impending feeling of economic frailty has reshuffled the deck of cards for some, and forced others to change their habits. As previously explored, violence has been explained by some authors, in particular by Dr. Gunter Pilz, as the sign of turmoil within society itself. The impending stress on the disadvantaged, the lack of opportunities for the young and underprepared, and the ever quicker, more demanding lifestyle of urban centers have all taken its toll on the population, among them football fans. The direct influence of the changes in society has been reflected on the terraces of stadia.
The rise of carnival fans was () a product of changing nationalisms too. In societies where national identities and meanings were a matter of turbulent, confrontational politics, support for the national team had been blighted by indifference (Italy) or trouble (England, Germany). The emergence of the Irish support at Italia 90 could hardly be separated from Irelands late but phenomenal economic development and newly found self-confidence in the world. The Dutch, finally coming to terms with their war guilt, found expressions of nationalism less distasteful than in the past. For the Scots the transformation of the Tartan Army was partly a matter of changing demographics, but it was also a matter of a diffuse but changing popular nationalism. Having rejected devolution in the late 1970s, the Scots now found themselves a social democratic minority hitched to the mad runaway train of neo-liberalism centred in southern and central England. Subject to a coruscating process of deindustrialization, and abandoned by London, one strand of Sctottish football support continued on the path of English football: Scottish casuals remained a significant and disorderly element of the crowd at the England-Scotland games until the end of the 1980s. ()In a rare virtuous circle, positive press coverage of a hysterically good craic swelled the numbers of supporters and encouraged them to repeat the performance at ever higher levels of drunken goodwill. Helping to burst the ludicrous bubble of pumped-up self-important nationalism that can engorge international football crowds is perhaps the Tartan Armys decisive and lasting contribution to European football(Goldblatt 2008)

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Appendixes

Pitch invasion at the ESPRIT Arena, Dsseldorf, at the Relegation match played between Fortuna Dsseldorf and Hertha Berlin SC. (ARD, 2012)

Civilians and policemen organize the bodies of the 96 victims that died in the infamous Hillsborough tragedy, in Hillsborough, U.K. (ITV; http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/108534/article_eb59635f4443f746_1350926716_9j -4aaqsk.jpeg)

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Ultra right-wing activists recruit members for their groups in the football stands, among the different firms and ultras. (Goeiervraag; http://www.goeievraag.nl/vraag/maatschappij/samenleving/tegenwoordig-voetbalgaan-hooligan-sky.7577)

Firearms (39%), knives and blades (13%) and police repression (13%) comprise the majority of the causes of death in Argentinean football history (Frydenberg, 2004)

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The geographic distribution of NCAA Football fans across the United States of America, first designed to find a relationship between rivalries and distances between rival teams (Common Census)

The density of population in Latin America; showing how pocketed into particular regions of the subcontinent, demystifying the belief that distances in LatAm didnt matter in football violence.