Talk:Football hooliganism/Archive 1

Complete Rewrite
The article is BADLY in need of a total overhaul, for numerous reasons and due to several problems, which I will briefly list below.


 * Neutrality -- Quite simply, it's not all there. It has gotten better after I deleted several unfounded statements by a recent author purporting to know for a fact that racism was the motivation behind various acts of hooliganism against certain people, despite the fact that there doesn't appear to be any necessary component to being a hooligan except a complete lack of civility and a penchant for ignoring the laws of civilized society (which is what I'm understanding 'hooligan' to mean).
 * Lack of citations -- There are well over 50 statements in the entire article in need of proper citation. Several statements in need of support include the charging of six French fans with "racism" (I wasn't aware it was an actual crime in France); hooligans operating "with total impunity" and perhaps even on the payroll of certain teams or clubs (I'm sure the team officials would disagree); Glasgow not being an inhabitable city at certain times (I'm sure some of its residents might disagree); Danish and Brazilian fans being angels and completely above reproach anywhere except in their own countries (I'm sure other counties may disagree).
 * Brazil -- This whole section is in need of help. Not only does it contain statements which mean nothing to a reader on a daily basis, such as "Only in the last 6 months, more than 8 deaths have been linked to ..."  Last 6 months of what?  And since when?  Also, there is a list of all supporter groups in Brazil which has no place in this article, unless the author is somehow suggesting ALL of these groups and all the people in them are football hooligans (which DEFINITELY would need a citation!).
 * In need of wikification -- Both the Brazil and Turkey sections are very poorly formatted and in need of well ... paragraphs, for one. The 'ethnic violence' section has almost nothing to do with ethnic violence anymore, and appears to be merely a list of things that have occurred in Australia (also not in proper Wiki format).

Can we just start over? It may be worth it, at this point, to scrap almost all of the information EXCEPT those with strong, reliable citations. Plus, the article would be a lot shorter.

Is it even necessary to break the article up into country sections? Is it necessary to list every single act of hooliganism that any author that happens by can think of? Doesn't hooliganism occur after pretty much every single soccer game??? --ThatBajoranGuy 09:38, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think anyone suggested that Brazilian fans are angels. Certainly I didn't mean to, if that's what you were referring to.  I just said that "hooliganism", as it is defined in wikipedia, doesn't appear to apply to Brazilian fans.  Yesterday there was violence at the Gre-Nal game in Porto Alegre, but while there is some violence, there is no Brazilian equivalent to the organized hooligan groups associated with teams like Chelsea and West Ham.  The definition given in the first sentence of this article seems incomplete -- hooliganism isn't the occasional fight that breaks out during a game, it's the result of organized gangs -- and these organized gangs don't exist in Brazil, or if they do they have a very low profile. Zerologic 00:38, 1 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree with ThatBajoranGuy, this article should be about generic Football hooliganism, not about the various historical violent confrontations. So it should be about it's origins and causes etc. Alun 13:10, 2 August 2006 (UTC)


 * This article's horrible. I also agree that it's silly to list a few countries (trust me, there are at least 15 majorly notable hooligan countries missing from that list). Instead of talking about what hooliganism is and why it occurs and whatnot, it just gives a few examples from a few countries that aren't even properly cited. A rewrite with a balanced spread of examples (in case of England where it caused a 5 year ban is possibly an exception, I don't think any other country received that harsh a punishment for any reason) is probably in order. MonsterOfTheLake 18:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Please rewrite this Article. Specially the Latin America section. Football Hooliganism started in Argentina and Brazil and thos two countries historically have delt with that problem. Mexico is in no way a country with a hooligan history or problems until the last couple of years. If another country is going to be added that has had a problem with Hooliganism is Chile. Remove Panama and el salvador etc.. This article is a huge joke.

specific instances
why shouldn't there be specific instances listed? I looked up the damn topic because I wanted to read about the Hillsborough tragedy and I didn't know what it was called. If you re-write the whole thing to spare someone's sensitive poor baby feelings you'll make the whole thing worthless.
 * I agree that the majority of these incidents need to be on wikipedia as it is an encyclopedia. Perhaps having a seperate article of football hooliganism and renaming this one to 2Incidents of Football hooliganism" may be a good idea. Englishrose 23:56, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

My last article Update
In a nutshell, I've tracked down all the references and added more for the England and Turkey sections + added some more content. Englishrose 23:56, 6 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I reorganized it so the country/region sections are in alphabetical order, and put specific topics where they should be. I also fixed up formatting issues and deleted uncited and innacurate claims. It still looks like there's much room for improvement. Some of the individual country sections should probably be shortend, and the general section expanded.Spylab 13:57, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

==Added Football hooliganism in Turkey== Hello, I've added Football hooliganism in Turkey per a lengthy discussion on the Galatasaray talk page. A number of their fans objected it to being on their main article page, thus I have moved it here by way of a compramise. It may need a slight rewrite as it was not originally intended for this article. Englishrose 09:44, 15 May 2006 (UTC) -- englishrose, although i think it's aggod idea to move all the hooliganism articles here;

The profile of football hooliganism in Turkey due to several high profile incidents in recent years, a large proportion of those incidents have been involved with Galatasaray.

the second sentence involving Galatasaray is simply not true, trust me i'm not saying this because i'm a Galatasaray supporter (in fact i support Arsenal as vividly as i do support them) It's true that many of the incidents that are heard in Europe have to do with Galatasaray, this is simply because Galatasaray, has been a more dominant team in the European arena over the past decade. BUT as i still follow the turkish leauge, Galatasaray is one of the least agressive teams in the roster. Trust me, if not, search google for english articles about football in Turkey. So i request you to take out the a alrge proportion of those incidents have been involved with Galatasaray part because it doesn't hold much ground, it's just a presumption by your'e part.(no offence) Only this last week, During the Denizlispor Fenerbahce match a medium size fire broke out during the match (in order to make the match start a little later), and major riots broke out in at least two cities due to their team loosing, plus Fenerbahce supporters, upon loosing the title to Galatasaray, pelted their own teams bus with eggs, stones etc... they prevented the bus from entering the training grounds for some time... As you can probably guess by this lame example shows how hooligansim is a at best little more wide spead than Galatasaray fans. I can offer to write a more precise article about this, but i have to do some research in order to not get pelted down by other turkish supporters... Let me know what you think. user:tmr5555   19:44  15.05.06
 * What I was going trying to say was that the majority of the HIGH PROFILE cases are to do with Galatasaray. However, I defintley think we need a more precise article and there's defintley more examples of Turkish hooliganism other than Galatasaray. It was more of a stop-gap solution as I said further up it wasn't originally intended for this article, thus it needs adapting. I also think the whole article not just the Turkish section can be expanded. I'll do a quick edit of the opening sentence before I go to bed. Englishrose 22:26, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Isn't the Leeds issue the only Turkish case of major hooliganism (excluding hooliganism AGAINST Turkey naturally, such as PSG/England nat. team)? I can't think of a single other case.
 * That being said, this article needs a complete rewrite. MonsterOfTheLake 18:57, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Somebody is disputing this section being included. I think you should readWP:V especially "Verifiability, not truth", BBC and CNN ARE reputable sources. It can be verified, it can also be conflicted with other reputable sources to show both sides. Once you have read WP:V you will realise that sources from the BBC and CNN sail through the guidelines but I agree the article does need a rewrite. Englishrose 13:40, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
 * NONE OF YOUR SOURCES MENTION THE GALATASARAY ORGANIZATION OR THEIR SUPPORTERS BEING INVOLVED but they do however mention Leeds United supporters and their drunken behavior. So much for their ability to "sail through the guidelines". Again, there is no rebuttal for my many other points such as the lies, the manipulation of information and the way certain users have left out a great deal of information. Anybody interested in this please refer to the Galatasaray article's talk page and my talk page as I have already have mentioned a great deal about it which is repeatedly ignored.Waya 5 24:48, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

I want to add a few comments on the section about Turkey;by looking through the page a huge section for Turkey considering a single case in detail. Only England has a larger section which has the most incidents related. Seeing these I feel offended as a Turk. The section does not mention Çarşı or others, some edition is needed.Furthermore Using of rifles! It was very common and it can still be observed in rural areas, that people celebrate by firing guns into the air. It's not civilised I know but using the term rifles and highlighting it by the link just made me angry. I changed it to firearms immediately. It is not like people go grab their rifles after a big football victory and to the streets to shoot around. Most of my anger is directed to Maganda's who had used their guns. And most of the noise on the streets due to firecracker and that kind of things. The section now has the change required I may add some more details

The Leeds fans case The trial for the case had a few statements about the issue: The attack on the fans is not considered hooliganic act, but a nationalist act. The reduction of sentence from 15 to 5 years has the reason of heavy provacation, which is explained as the acts of the Englishmen insulting the Turkish flag. In Turkey insulting someones team or any insult connected to sports cannot be considered as provacation. And besides one of the attackers have proved to be a Fenerbahce (literally the Archrival of Galatasaray) fan. And attacking insulting the Turkish flag is a taboo in Turkey and is subject to severe penalties (one to three years in prison). I beleive the case should be considered as a social issue, not as a footbal related act. I will delete the related parts in two weeks PS: I am also a Fenerbahce fan, -As a last point the person responsible of the deaths; Ali Umit Demi claimed in his defence that his interest in footbal were not that high. (Not to be considered, as he is not a reliable source of information) user:praxio-17/01/07 14:42

Insulting the Turkish flag may be a taboo but I was not aware that it carried the death penalty! No, this case should not be considered a 'social issue' though mention should be made to the Turkish media which has a long history of provocation when opposing football teams come to visit Turkey (For example calling on mobs of fans to go to Ataturk airport to give opposing team supporters a 'welcome to hell' and 'give them hell' (Milliyet newspaper on the eve of the Turkey Switzerand match)

Part of the problem in Turkey is the complete refusal of the Turkish authorities to recognise that there is a problem especially when it comes to international games. When there was violence before a Galatasaray-Man United game it was blamed on the opposing fans (even though it was Turkish fans who attacked their hotel!) When there was violence at a Galatasaray-Juventus game it was blamed on Abdullah Ocalan being in Italy! Violenc in the PSG game on the French/Armenians, 3 Arsenal fans are stabbed (it's of course the fault of the Arsenal fans) even the Turkish media showed pictures of mobs of Turkish fans descending on pubs where Arsenal fans were while terrified fathers picked up their children and ran in terror. 2 Leeds fans murdered "Oh well, they insulted 'Turkishness!!!'" etc etc etc.....basically Turkish fans were not to blame for anything!

It was only the recent Swiss game that brought it to a head and even then newspapers such as Milliyet continued to show a Swiss player taking a swipe at a Turkish player, of course what they did not show was the Swiss player being attacked first! They also conveniently missed out the mobs of Turkish fans with banners saying f- you Swiss etc..... at Ataturk airport (just as they did during the England Turkey game where Turkish fans had the delighful "I f- you Beckham" banners proudly showing (Vatan newspaper)) I seem to remember Vatan newspaper finding this highly amusing.

You might also want to mention how Diyarbekirspor fans are taunted with "Out with the PKK" during away matches (such as Fenerbahce)

As for the issue of Galatasaray being the 'least violent' of Turkish teams. I dont know what Galatasaray games you have been watching but I seem to remember Fener fans being stabbed when Galatasaray fans venture over to Kadikoy for derby games and can clearly recall images of Galatasaray fans running through the streets of Izmir armed with machetes!

All this 'non violent, middle class Galatasaray fans's is nothing more than a myth. Suerly events at PSG, Juve, Leeds, Fenerbahce and Man United prove otherwise!

Hooliganism in Argentina
someone should really add to that section


 * Isn't Latin America notable for football hooliganism? That's certainly the impression. MonsterOfTheLake 18:58, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

This article needs a lot of updating. La Doce have not been the foremost hooligan group in Argentina for at least 7 years now, since Los Borrachos del Tablon (River fans) took them on in Mar del Plata and injured many Boca fans. Los Borrachos del Tablon have, in the last few years, been linked to a wide variety of altercations and fights. They also killed 2 Newell's Old Boys fans in 2004. They also beat up Paraguay police in 2006, and Sao paulo police in 2005. Check the website below:

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/09/05/deportes/d-04401.htm

Furthermore, check this from the same newspaper:

VIOLENCIA EN EL FUTBOL : BREVES

Los diez hechos más violentos del año

River en Bolivia Los hinchas de River festejaban el 2-0 ante Oriente Petrolero, en Santa Cruz de la Sierra, en el partido de vuelta del repechaje de la Libertadores cuando comenzaron a llover piedras y bengalas desde la tribuna local. Los barras visitantes se dispersaron y volaron golpes, palos y piedras. La policía resistió como pudo y custodió a la gente de River hasta la salida. Ocurrió el 2 de febrero.

Cuchillero en Santa Fe El 19 de febrero, antes del inicio de Colón-River por la 5ª fecha del Clausura, Gastón Mendoza (23 años), alias El Came Ríos y prófugo de la justicia por un homicidio ocurrido el día anterior, intentó apuñalar a hinchas del equipo santafesino en la tribuna local. Hirió a una persona y la barra intentó encubrirlo, pero fue detenido y procesado por tentativa de homicidio y daño calificado.

Balazos en el peaje El peaje de General Lagos de la ruta 9 fue testigo de un feroz cruce de barras de Boca y Rosario Central (el sector Los Pillines), el 9 de abril. Cerca de 250 hinchas se enfrentaron con armas de fuego, armas blancas y piedrazos. Siete personas resultaron heridas de bala (dos de gravedad) y hubo 123 detenidos, de los cuales quedó un solo imputado: Fabián Córdoba, miembro de La 12.

Borrachos Mundiales Ese mismo día y también en horas de la madrugada, integrantes de la barra de River, Los Borrachos del Tablón, fueron demorados en Francfort por la Policía local. Habían ido a ver Argentina-Holanda y fueron detenidos por cambiar los lugares que tenían asignados en el estadio. Además, estaban sospechados de revender sus entradas. Los liberaron a las pocas horas.

Dos barras operados

Otro bochorno ocurrió en el partido que River disputó en Paraguay, donde fue eliminado de la Copa por Libertad, el 18 de julio. Las barras se arrojaron piedras desde el inicio, pero la violencia comenzó tras un disparo de los policías. Los Borrachos encerraron a los efectivos y atacaron con butacas. Hubo 20 detenidos y 2 barras de River fueron operados por el doctor Seveso.

Neumáticos tajeados

Luego del 3-1 de Racing contra River, el 20 de agosto, unos 50 integrantes de Los Borrachos del Tablón amenazaron al guardia de seguridad, ingresaron al estacionamiento del Monumental y le pincharon los neumáticos a 17 autos de los jugadores, dirigentes y cuerpo técnico. José María Aguilar denunció amenazas de muerte. La Fiscalía de Saavedra investiga pero aún no hay detenidos. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.143.60.2 (talk) 20:07, 7 May 2007

Finally, here is more on Los Borrachos del Tablon, from the Spanish Wikipedia, with links proving the supremacy of this group. One last thing: Di Zeo made La Doce a much tamer group than what it was under Jose Barrita (alias "El Abuelo"), who reigned in Boca during the late 80's and the 90's. In fact, when La Doce goes to the River Plate stadium, they are usually surrounded by plenty of police cars and protection. The Borrachos del Tablon go to La Bombonera (Boca's stadium) without police protection... http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_borrachos_del_tabl%C3%B3n — Preceding unsigned comment added by Her1nan (talk) 20:26, 7 May 2007

One more. This happened yesterday. Two were injured with knife wounds, as the two main groups of Los Borrachos are fighting for power and control: http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/05/07/deportes/d-00301.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by Her1nan (talk • contribs) 21:13, 7 May 2007


 * Thank you for your input, however, this article is not about who is or isn't the foremost hooligan firm in each country, it is just about hooliganism in general. And if you see the recent edits on the article and comments toward the bottom of this talk page, there has been a lot of work done on the article, including the section on Argentina which before, was unsourced information. I will have a look to see if there is any English language source for the incidents you cite, thanks. ♦Tangerines BFC ♦ · Talk 20:58, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Hooliganism in Brazil
First of all, hooliganism doesn't exist in Brazil as I understand the term. There are organized fan groups, like those in the list, but they are fans -- they don't go to games to fight, they go to the stadium to watch the game. They do sometimes fight with fans from other teams, but that's why they exist. I'll wait for a while, but if no one can offer a compelling reason to keep the section on Brazil then I will delete it. Zerologic 13:38, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

"Only in the last 6 months, more than 8 deaths have been linked to hooligan groups including the murder of the president of Fortaleza EC division "Leões da TUF" president in a sabotage attack of gunfire by Furia Jovem members, supporters of the Botafogo FR side from Rio de Janeiro.", I didn't add this section but if that statement is true than Brazil is noteworthy for a section on football hooliganism. Although I think there needs to be more sections.Englishrose 14:42, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

That should be edited, regardless, because it has now been almost three months since it was added. It should say something like "In the six months between November 2005 and April 2006," or something like that.

Secondly, since there is no source, I have to wonder about the truth of the statement. Fortaleza is a long, long way from Rio. For there to be a gun battle between the two supporters' clubs I would guess that members of each were involved with rival drug gangs, or something of that nature. As far as I know, the only violent clashes between supporters are between Corinthians and Palmeiras. There is certainly no tradition of anything like the gangs associated with Chelsea, Milwall, and West Ham. Zerologic 16:23, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I didn't write it, I would have sourced it myself. I'll look into it. These statements need to be sourced and verified, you're exactly right. To be honest, it did raise an eyebrow when I read it. Englishrose 22:36, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Looking at the history of the page, the section on Brazilian hooliganism dates from the beginning of the entry. In January of 2006 it was added, almost exactly as it is today. So that "last six months" sentence is very outdated. I really don't think that the concept of hooliganism applies to Brazilian football at all, although I can only claim firsthand knowledge of Recife. The "torcidas organizadas" are groups who wear the same shirts and yell and sing all through the game while waving enormous flags. Some of them have drum sections, as well. But what violence exists is completely separate from the football, with the exception of very minor skirmishes during games between teams from the same city. From what I know, the São Paulo teams of Palmeiras and Corinthians have what comes closest to hooligans, but I'm still not sure that they are all that similar to the hooligans in the UK. What do you think about deleting the section entirely? Zerologic 22:07, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

You want to delete Brazil's section? Are you kidding me? It definetely needs work, but saying that brazil doesn't have this kind of violence is not an under-statement, its the furthest possible thing from the truth. People from diferent (sometimes even supporters of the same) teams kill each other every other month. A lot of families stopped going to the games at all because of the violence. It is a form of organized violence, since the "torcidas organizadas", how we call the organized supporters (violent or not) here in brazil frequently start riots and public acts of destructions, even when their teams win (like last year's mess with São Paulo's Libertadores da América championship celebration in the most important avenue of the city). I m not saying every game outcome is like this, but they're there, and they happen often enough to be considered a serious matter. I also must add that "Zerologic", your comment was very offensive, and quite illogic. You presume that only in Rio gun fights happen: first of all, not every gun fight is drug related. Second of all, not only Rio de Janeiro has drug dealers and/or guns, for that matter. Fights can happen anywhere, anytime, and unfortunetly, people have access to guns. About your statement on palmeiras and corintians, they're the most notable rivalry, but certainly not the only one that has violent implications. Check your facts before saying something so narrow-minded. - Zé, 23 Aug. 2006

Sorry, Zé, I didn't mean to offend. If you look at the version that my comment related to, it said that the president of a Fortaleza EC supporters' group was murdered by members of a Botafogo supporters' group -- my point is that it is unlikely that this incident (if it in fact happened -- since no source was given) was related to a football game. I didn't say anything about gunfights or drug dealers being specific to Rio. My point was that Botafogo supporters wouldn't likely travel to Fortaleza with guns to attack a Fortaleza supporters' group -- the teams are too far apart to have a serious rivalry. If Botafogo fans had attacked Fluminense fans, or Ceará fans attacked Fortaleza fans, I would believe that they were hooligans. If a calculated attack was made on the president of a Fortaleza torcida organizada, I'm guessing that the motivation was something other than football, and that the allegiance of the attackers was incidental.

Still, public acts of destruction and hooliganism are two different things. As the page says, "Football hooliganism is a distinct form of disorderly behaviour" -- some violence is hooliganism, and some is not. That's what we are discussing here. I think that most violence in Brazil is not hooliganism, although Corinthians and Grêmio seem to have hooligan elements in their support. Zerologic 17:10, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Ok, now what you say does sound more reasonable, in what concernes the specific event in fortaleza, i apologize for the harshness in my statement. However, your oppinion on brazilian hooliganism seems a bit off. The occasional fight with no gang implication does happen in soccer games. But, and this is what strikes as most relevant, the "torcidas organizadas" are considered dangerous and police always keep extra attention to their concentrations. They do act as hooligans, since their main (although not official) occupation is "disorderly behaviour". I've heard dozens of supporters from these organizations claiming their violent nature and objectives. They do act as hooligans, and they are the cause of public acts of destruction, but as an organized force. They often carry home-made explosives, guns, bats, and all sorts of weapons. Do this look like random riots? No, they plan in advance and execute (although in a very amateur fashion) this sort of thing. Zé, 25 aug. 2006

I have edited Brazil's section, because Torcidas aren't firms, they would be closer to Ultras, so I pointed out that they aren't hooligans "PER SE", hope you find that alright, greetings from Montreal.

Russia
I've added a Russuian riot and a link. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.29.250.206 (talk) 05:25, 5 December 2006 (UTC).

The statement made in the article&mdash;"Poland and Russia are all pussys"&mdash;strikes me as misspelled and needlessly unkind. 63.125.4.210 23:27, 2 January 2007 (UTC) David Morenus

Africa.
New imfo and links found.

Try- []

I did, what a intresting, if tradgic list of events.--86.29.243.34 (talk) 02:56, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Latin America.
Urgent work need, new articals and links comming!Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are all trobelsome!

--Homer slips. 03:19, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Mexico having a long standing with hooliganism? This is highly inaccurate. Mexico is known or has been known for having a friendly atmospphere towards football. I edited where Mexico is included as a troubled hooligan nation. Hooliganism in Latin America started in Argentina and Brazil. This two countries have always been troubled with hooliganism. Mexico is no different from Honduras, Costa Rica or el Salvador in Hooliganism.

-Totazo.

China!!!
I've just got a link to a Chinese football riot. It will be added soon. This peace is of doubiouse value. Was it just cooked up by an anti-Chinese think tank or what?! --86.25.51.113 07:40, 27 April 2007 (UTC)


 * This - Chinese riot after Japan victory is hardly "cooked up", and the article is therefore not dubious. Stating simple facts is not anti-Chinese. ♦Tangerines BFC ♦ · Talk 13:07, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

N. Korea.
I've found a N. Korean soccer riot now!

--Homer slips. 15:03, 10 December 2006 (UTC)