Well, here we go again. It’s another day and another black eye to the sport of soccer as another riot broke out during a soccer match, this time in Buenos Aires. Fans rushed the field during the final moments of the game and began brawling with opposing fans. It was an ugly, ugly scene as the “fans” beat each other with metal pipes, rocks and chairs until 78 people were arrested, 14 were injured and one was killed.
Links:
[WCBSTV.com]: Soccer Fan Killed When Game Turns To Brawl
We probably don’t need to tell you this but soccer fans are some weird dudes. Especially those crazy diehards over in Spain who actually celebrate the winning of a championship and the deportation of the Beckhams to America by rioting! But, seriously, would expect anything less?
After David Beckham’s final game with Real Madrid clinched the club their 30th Spanish league title, thousands and thousands of fans packed downtown Madrid to celebrate. And according to the Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba (try saying that three times fast), everything was pretty peaceful for most of the night. But somehow the high-fives and hugs turned into tear gas and violence and by the end of the episode, over 100 people were reportedly injured during the brawl between cops and fans.
Leave it up to a few bad apples to ruin the celebration of an entire city. Now, we’re not trying to imply that America is filled with the kindest souls or the most polite and courtesy fans. We’ve had our share of sports riots that have giving fans a black eye, both figuratively and literally, but to our credit, the Spurs recent championship celebration didn’t produce any major bloodshed or arrests in either Cleveland or San Antonio. And the NHL finals a few weeks back went off without a hitch as well. But then again, most people don’t care about the NBA or the NHL, and even more people were simply bored to tears by the entire playoffs. It’s kind of hard to be moved to violence when your passion for a sport is less than your passion for reruns of Bill Nye The Science Guy.
Links:
[AZCentral.com]: Police, fans clash after Real Madrid win
Well, another day and another soccer riot. Man those Europeans love to fight. Last night’s brouhaha began around the 30th minute of a UEFA Cup quarterfinal game at Seville. Seven fans from the rival Tottenham team were hospitalized, mostly with cuts the head, and a police officer was also injured in the uproar.
The creative fans decided to use more than just their fists as they ripped up the stadium’s plastic seats and began hurling them at the coppers, who returned fire by swinging their night sticks at the rowdy bunch. As usual, these blood thirsty morons didn’t wait to get inside the stadium to start brawling because there are reports that about 50 Tottenham fans got their fight on with police outside the stadium before the match even got underway. Now that’s passion.
What’s worse than the actions of the fans is the reported response from one asshole cop who was seen striking a disabled fan, striking the man so hard with his baton that he was knocked from his wheelchair. Here’s a clip from the melee.
And yes, we agree; “that’s why you’re wankers!”
Of course, Italy is trying to take all the fun out soccer by passing an Anti-Soccer Violence Law.
Links:
[ITV.com]: Spurs: Police hit disabled fan
[Scotsman.com]: Spurs fans to face Seville court
Who doesn’t love to wake up in the morning and read about a good riot while sipping on a cup of coffee? We sure do, so we were thrilled to find another soccer riot had taken place in Rome.
For those of you who don’t know, the fans of Manchester United and AS Roma don’t really like each other. In fact, disorder was expected at the Champions League match on Wednesday because a partition had been erected between the sections where the two groups would come in contact with one another. But c’mon, you didn’t really think that could stop the fans from getting into it with each other, did you?
After Roma scored a goal before halftime, the war popped off between the home Roma fans and the group of about 4,500 Manchester fans as people started throwing fists, as well as other things.
I only saw glimpses of what went on. I saw some missiles flying and the police charging,” UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said. “We will be waiting for the delegate’s report and the control and disciplinary body will be looking at the television images to see the dynamics of what actually happened.
We’re pretty sure that by “missiles,” they mean flying objects. Unless, of course, those wacky Euro’s have stepped up their sports rioting defenses to include armaments they bought from Uncle Sam.
But those United fans had it coming, after all they were told to avoid certain areas within the city, and to avoid the metro system because “there is a real danger of being attacked by the ‘Ultra’ fans of AS Roma.” Now, if that doesn’t detour you from a stupid soccer game then perhaps the bloody violence at the stadium’s gates before the game would do the trick. That was where 18 United fans were hurt during fights with Roma supporters prior to the game, including one poor chap who took a shank to the neck.
Granted, this was a big game in the soccer community but don’t these fools have TV’s?
Links:
[International Herald Tribune]: Police and fans clash at Roma-Man United match
We here in the good ol’ US of A don’t really care about women’s volleyball. Sure, the guys will come out in droves to see Gabrielle Reece or Misty May sport a swimsuit during a traveling beach volleyball competition but that’s about all the fanfare there is. Not like in Greece where they take their women’s volleyball very seriously.
A riot broke out near Athens on Thursday between fans of Panathinaikos Athens and Olympiakos Piraeus as the rivals decided to take the match to the streets. One man was killed in the melee and seven others were taken to the hospital with injuries. If that’s not bad enough, the Greek government has suspended all professional sporting teams from competition until April 13. That ban includes basketball, volleyball, soccer and several other sports.
And those specific people have rioting down to a science. Two cars and three stores were destroyed as several dozen fans arrived to the riot on motorcycles and hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at the surrounding mob. After the commotion finally subdued, the po-pos raided 15 different clubs that were considered to be supporters of the two volleyball squads and the evidence they found isn’t going to be very helpful to the teams’ fans. Police recovered tons o’ weapons that included pick axes, iron bars and baseball bats.
Suddenly, the Cowboys/Redskins rivalry seems like just some old friends getting together for an afternoon of camaraderie and friendly competition.
Links:
[Local10.com]: Greece suspends pro team sports for two weeks
[Reuters]: 3-sport-Greece suspends team matches after fan death