Under the subtitle “The End of Civility,” yesterday’s (07/30/13)
edition of the Brazilian newspaper Zero
Hora1 featured an article about a recent decision to eliminate
the divided stadium sections for rival teams’ fans. Traditionally, when the
cross-town adversaries Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense and Sport Club
Internacional (frequently referred to as simply Grêmio and Inter) face off, officials
segregate fans into clearly demarcated and fenced-off sectors of whichever
stadium they are using. This segregation, which extends to entries and exits,
is designed to avoid physical confrontations between rival fans. Similar
measures exist at numerous professional sporting venues around the country. At
first glance, the desegregation may appear to be a positive development towards
a more amicable coexistence among all those in the stands. However, the case is
exactly the opposite: local police have acknowledged their inability to
guarantee the safety of the opposing team fans in and around the stadium for
Sunday’s “Gre-Nal” between the two teams.
Violence in sports venues obviously is not limited to Brazilian soccer
matches. The most notorious disaster in the soccer world took place during the Liverpool
vs. Juventus match for the 1985 European Cup final at Heysel
Stadiumin in Brussels. Thirty nine people died and over 600 were injured which
led to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) imposing a five-year ban on English teams participating in any of the three European competitions.2 Even with other sports in “fan
friendly” venues, violence can erupt as it did on baseball’s opening day 2011
for San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow who just now in 2013 returned
home after two years in treatment for massive injuries leading to brain damage
sustained in a beating by locals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.3 Dodger
Stadium had long been known as a family-friendly, sportsmanlike venue, and in
the aftermath of the senseless beating police and stadium security presence has
intensified visibly. Nevertheless, the persistent violence at Brazilian professional
soccer stadiums is a growing concern, especially when the police “throw in the
towel” (to mix sports metaphors).
The Zero Hora article cites Bernardo
Buarque de Hollanda, professor of the School of Social Science at the Fundação
Getúlio Vargas, one of the most prestigious institutions in Brazil. He points
out that while the police have become the sole arbiters of public safety, the
violence associated with soccer matches is a much more complex phenomenon that
includes other societal factors. Many of the contributing elements parallel the
rise of gang violence and begin far from the stadiums and the matches. The incidents
that are occurring within the walls of the stadiums demonstrate a breakdown of
extramural civil society, ranging from impoverished home life through
precarious education, and extending into the relationship between the general
populace and governmental authority. In a “civilized” community, it is absurd
that the violence inside a sporting location should be so great that police and
stadium security cannot readily control it, given that it is not a one-time
aberration but rather a constant.
There is no question that the vast majority of fans attending soccer games
in Brazil are not participants in the turmoil. Almost everyone comes for the
pleasure of watching a match and supporting their team. The few, however, who
do engage in the attacks can be savage toward rival fans, and even toward other
organized groups of fans for their own teams. It is imperative that Brazilian
authorities find the means to restore peace to the soccer pitches prior to next
year’s World Cup, and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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