Spectator Violence in Sports: A North American Perspective

Spectator violence has long been associated with professional football in Europe. This article examines the issue of spectator violence from a North American perspective. We begin by noting that there is little systematic research into the scope of spectator disorder in North America. Perhaps for this reason there is little consensus about the true scale of the problem on this side of the Atlantic. It does seem clear at least that there is less spectator violence associated with professional sports in North America. After reviewing a number of explanations for this finding, we conclude that it has less to do with criminal justice policies or practices, than the social context surrounding the 'spectatorship' of sports in North America. Perhaps the most important explanation for the variance in crowd behaviour concerns the demographic profiles of sports spectators in European football and North American sports.     

Policing football crowds in Sweden

The policing of football crowds in Sweden is underpinned by a national coordination approach based upon a set of conflict reducing principles and supported by crowd theory. The approach is referred to as the Special Police Tactic (SPT). While focused on police capacity to exercise force, the SPT also gives primacy to tactics based upon communication, in the form of Dialogue Police. Existing research on the SPT focuses exclusively on the policing of protest crowds. This paper extends the existing literature by reporting on a large scale three-year observational research project examining the SPT as it is applied to football fixtures involving several of Sweden’s major football clubs. On the basis of our analysis we draw out how policing operations in line with facilitation and communication were associated with effective outcomes. However, we also highlight deficiencies in national coordination and coherence as well as highlighting important innovations with regard to approaches to dialogue with football fans. We explore the implications of our analysis for theoretical understanding of effective football crowd management and engagement with fan culture.     

Hooliganism under the Statistical Magnifying Glass: A Belgian Case Study

In Belgium the most important football matches are statistically recorded. Therefore this case is presented to demonstrate what can be learnt from statistics and other qualitative information in order to assess hooliganism: the number of hardcore elements, their size, their maximum capacity for mobilisation, the age groups involved, the degree of activism, the number and characteristics of the incidents involved, links with political crime and/or extremism, relationships and/or rivalries with other hardcore elements, the size of the police resources deployed in order to tackle them, and the impact of certain measures in the fight against hooliganism. A number of the characteristics of the phenomenon of hooliganism (renewal, adaptation and international relationships, in particular) mean that one has to go beyond the pure and simple canvas of a questionnaire with a statistical vocation. It is for this reason that the statistical information in Belgium has, from the very start (the 1991-1992 season) been backed up by telephone interviews with special witnesses from various Belgian hardcore elements.     

Current Issues

In June and early July 2000, the European football championships were held in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was a large-scale event for both countries. The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations assigned the Crisis Research Center (COT Leiden University) to study the organisation and implementation of the event in the Netherlands and to draw lessons for future large-scale events. The researchers set out the general conclusions and resultant information in this article.     

流氓罪废止后原司法裁决效力的宪法解读

中国刑法于1997年已经废除了流氓罪,但公民牛玉强却将因流氓罪服刑至2020年。从宪法学意义上对本案进行解读似乎更具说服力,即生效判决既判力的相对性,法的安定性和实质正义之间的相互平衡对我国刑法溯及力的影响,公民平等权的特殊面向,形式法治意义下罪刑法定原则的局限性,以及罪刑相适应原则的宪法涵摄。     

Football Violence: Not Only a British Problem

In this article several Greek studies on hooliganism are described. A research group was formed under the direction of the author of this paper to research different aspects of the problem. In view of this objective, seven particular projects were planned and carried out the principle one of which was set up to investigate the behaviour and attitudes of hard core fans.     

Italian Ultras Today: Change or Decline?

The authors describe a particular form of football hooliganism, namely the behaviour displayed by particular groups of young fans - in Italy the so-called ultras - consisting of acts of vandalism and systematic aggression to the detriment of similar opposing groups both within and, above all, outside the stadiums. The development over the last decade is outlined and the authors try to explain the current situation and the most recent changes. They show that, in spite of the diminishing number of incidents in the last years, this violence is changing appearance: on the one hand, it turns against the police; on the other hand it declines into pure vandalism and juvenile deviance. An important moment was the crisis caused by the death of an ultras in 1995, which marked a turning point between the 'old way' of the ultras and the new developments. A brief comparison is made with the English situation, both on the appearance of hooliganism as well as on the preventive policies, the police and the legislation on acts of hooliganism and sports violence.Italian Association of Sport for All     

Towards a Sociological Understanding of Football Hooliganism as a World Phenomenon

In this article a sociological diagnosis of football hooliganism as a world phenomenon is given. The author uses mainly English (newspaper) data about football violence (in and outside England) as an empirical base to explore how hooliganism can be theorised and understood. These data can usefully serve as a rough indication of the worldwide incidence of football hooliganism in the twentieth century. The author favours the figurational/process-sociological approach to football hooliganism which is historical and developmental. It also involves an exploration of the meanings of hooligan behaviour via an analysis of verbatim statements by the hooligans themselves, locates the football hooligans in the overall social structure, especially the class system, and examines the dynamics of the relationship between them and groups in the wider society. It is important, nevertheless, to stress that it is unlikely that the phenomenon of football hooliganism will be found always and everywhere to stem from identical social roots. As a basis for further, cross-national research, it is reasonable to hypothesise that the problem is fuelled and contoured by, among other things, what one might call the major 'fault-lines' of particular countries. Effective policies are urgently needed if the great social invention of football is to be protected from the serious threat posed by a combination of hooligan fans, complacent politicians and money-grabbing owners, managers and players.     

Preparations for the European Football Championship 2000

The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations commissioned the Crisis Research Center (COT)/University of Leiden to provide a profile of the current status of the organisation of Euro 2000 by compiling two audits. The first audit took place in February 2000. The authors report in this article on the results of this audit. It comprises of a content audit (enforcement; arrests and prosecution supervision, transportation and stay; hospitality) and a process audit (preparation, organisation, information, media and communication, after-phase). The audit framework offers both the researchers and the organisations involved a workable checklist for analysing and implementing the preparations for Euro 2000. In practice, it gives the researchers and the officials the idea that they have considered all the conceivable aspects of organising large-scale events.