User:Englishrose/Football Hooliganism Changes

Group Structure
According to the Turkish Daily News, hooligan groups are well organised and have their own "leaders" and often consist of organised street fighters. These groups have a "racon" (code of conduct), which states that the intention must be to injure rather than kill. It is not uncommon for members of these groups to brandish knives. However, the "racon" states that a stab must be made below the waist. Other hooligans have fired rifles into the air to celebrate their team’s victory, which has been known to accidentally kill innocent people watching the celebrations on their balconies.

Trouble in domestic games
Trouble has arisen during matches between Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce .However, the Turkish Football Federation has tightened security to try and contain the hooliganism. During the 2005 Turkish cup final between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, 8,000 police, stewards and officials were employed to prevent violence.

Trouble with European clubs
Before Galatasaray’s semi-final UEFA Cup match with Leeds United A.F.C. in 2000, two Leeds fans, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, were stabbed to death in Istanbul following street fights between Turkish and British hooligans. UEFA allowed the game to proceed and Galatasaray won 2-0.

Leeds complained because home fans jeered while a message of condolence was read for the victims. Galatasaray’s players refused to wear black arm bands. The Leeds chairman at the time, Peter Ridsdale, accused Galatasaray of "showing a lack of respect". He also revealed that his teams’ players had received death threats before the match.

Ali Umit Demi was arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the stabbing, but the sentence was reduced to 5 years on the basis of heavy provocation. While five others were given lesser sentences of under four months. The families of those accused of attacking with knives are reported to have defended their actions and approved of their children punishing the "rude British people".

Galatasaray fans were banned from traveling to the return match to try and avoid further clashes between fans, although there were reports of attacks by Leeds fans on Turkish television crews and the police" . However the Assistant Chief Constable in charge of policing the game believed that the number if arrests was "no worse than a normal high category game".

Hakan Sukur was hit with projectiles from Leeds United supporters and the Galatasaray team bus was stoned after driving through an underpass. The game saw Emre Belozoglu and Harry Kewell sent off and Galatasaray sealed their way to the final with a 2-2 score.

Violence also occured between Arsenal fans and Galatasaray fans before the Final in Copenhagen in which three Arsenal fans were said to have been stabbed. Galatasaray later won the match after a penalty shoot-out. Despite the heavy publicised violence, there have been cases when hooliganism has been wrongly predicted, including at the game between Juventus and Galatasaray, which passed peacefully. Juventus fans were greeted by Galatasaray fans throwing white lilies as peace gesture.

Preventive Measures
In 2006, the Turkish Football Federation introduced new measures to combat the threat of hooliganism and have made new regulations that allow the Professional Football Disciplinary Board to fine clubs up to YTL 250,000 for their fans behavior. Repeat offenders could be fined up to YTL 500,000. However despite conflicting reports from the Turkish Football Federation, the Turkish police believe that Football hooliganism is not a major threat and are "isolated incidents" and that Turkey does not a Football hooliganism problem.