Liberians: “Are we addicted to soccer violence too?”
--need to educate sports lovers of
their roles
By Omari Jackson
It is now becoming
clear that Liberians’ experience in the horrors of war has made it
now easy for us to demonstrate acts of violence whenever certain
expectations go against our better judgment.
If this statement is farfetched, then how
can one explain the violent reaction of hundreds of spectators last
Sunday at the SKD Complex when “missiles” were thrown on the pitch
proper, as the Lions of Senegal shot ahead in the 37th minute in
their crucial away encounter against the Lone Star?
Though the Ministry of Youth and Sports had
earlier issued a warning to would-be trouble makers, they vented
their anger anyway, and it is necessary for the ministry and the
football association to design practical plans that would ensure the
safety of everybody on the field in crucial encounters at the two
playing centers.
The stone throwing forced match officials
to stop the game, resuming after 30 precious minutes in the second
half. The situation got the worst of Liberians when the Senegalese
again struck twice, upping their goals to 3-0. Reports said more
missiles rained down on the pitch and match officials sought dashed
for safety, seeking refuge elsewhere.
Recently, when the national team lost 0-1 to Mali
in Monrovia, spectators vented their anger, with many threatening
the players themselves.
On their way from the stadium, angry escort police
encountered a motorist whom the commander ordered his officers to
beat and of course the civilian, who turned out to be a deputy
minister of information, was soundly flogged.
Even being recognized as
a “minister” during the commission of the inhumane act did not help
the poor minister. Since the police commander had already instructed
his men to “flog” the man in question, the order was carried out.
Soundly beaten, Minister Waritay was later treated at a local health
center.
It was perhaps to the horror of the police
commander the next day when news reports carried the story in banner
headlines that he had ordered his men to whip a minister in the
interim government.
It is becoming apparent that the
Liberian society has now fallen victim to the by-products of the
many negative aspects of the “senseless war.” The floggings and
inhumane acts against Liberians by the various rebel movements have
desensitized people’s natural reaction to human rights abuses. These
developments place a high challenge to sports officials.
It is not strange that many who heard
Waritay’s beating might have remarked that he deserved it because he
should have known that the police were angry for Lone Star’s loss.
And even the violent action against the playing teams, including the
Senegalese may also have gone well with some, forgetting that
neither the visiting team nor the home team deserves any act of
violence.
In fact many of our people will have to be
reminded that the international football federation, FIFA and its
continental counterparts in Africa and elsewhere have stringent
rules governing fans behavior at any given encounter.
Officials of home-teams stand to be
sanctioned, with bans and heavy monetary fines whenever home-fans
become violent in their sanctioned matches. FIFA and its affiliates
are known to impose bans on certain playing arenas and this will
cause home teams to organize their home-matches at neighboring
countries where hosting matches may not cause violent problems.
We are all aware that when
military adventurism held Liberia at ransom, many of Liberia’s
matches were played in neighboring Ghana, causing many sport-loving
Liberians not to see their favorite stars in action before their
very eyes.
The Liberia Football
Association will need to start an educational campaign to let the
results of such violent acts be known to the sporting populace so
that somehow they may choose which side they will be.
For many years, prior to
the war, Liberians would root for visiting teams in a crucial match
against a favorite team. In those days, Liberians cheered for a
better side. That demonstration adored Liberians to many foreign or
visiting teams. I have read several newspaper reports where
Liberians were highly praised for their pure act of sportsmanship in
encounters where the home team like Invincible Eleven or Mighty
Barrolle was being led and the fans cheered for their opponents.
It is heartwarming that no injuries
or serious injuries were reported against either the visiting
Senegalese or the Lone Star.
Liberian sports lovers must begin to
understand that sports are mere physical activities and hardly
deserve the overrated expectation that “some” of us tend to regard
them. In sports, you can lose today and win tomorrow. That is, if
proper preparation and motivation, including the experience of the
players, are considered.
The trauma of the war makes it
more advantageous for us to use sports as a panacea to cure our high
expectation. We must begin to look at issues in general, and sports
in particular with level headedness. That way if we lose, we will
lose with dignity and if we win, we will also win with dignity.
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