Hello everyone, very nice article on Cyprus football. I am a Cypriot and a football fan and very often follow my favourite team. My opinion is that the main reason of violence is the inability of the authorities to controll the football scene, and to be hounest how could they when the president of the one of the largest political party seems to be involved in the fixed matches. The bombings against referees are seem to be done by simple fans tired of the situation and relactance of the authorities to take drastic measures. I am against any form of violence, but drastic measures are needed for this situation to change, dont forget how fast and efficiently Thacher has transformed English football.
I thought the Greek-Cypriot Federation (KOP) was talking to the Turkish Cypriots in the northern occupied territories to effect some kind of collaboration (?) But maybe that is not a good idea given this very well researched excellent article. And yes, I look forward to an article on corruption in Greek soccer where Olympiakos strongman Marinakis appears to have the professional league and its referees firmly in his pocket.
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Another example of just how violent sports, fans and players can be...pathetic.
For what, really?
For what, really?
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Cyprus, the favorite warm weather refuge and willing money launderer for Russian oligarchs and outlaws alike. Coincidence?
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Next time you should check Greek football. The corruption is even worse and the fixing of games and violence is growing daily , encouraged by the apathy of the media and the state.
I get the schadenfreude for those who are piqued that their favorite or national sport isn't interesting to world fans but many comments and to a lesser extent the article, confuse cause and effect. These proceedings have less to do with "soccer" than with the particular negative situation in a particular subject country. If the most popular professional sport in Cyprus had been water log rolling, they would have similar problems in water log rolling today. Why? Mainly because Cyprus just went down the economic tubes. There is a reason you are not reading similar stories about Premier Leauge players and referees.
And, Sam, the guy meant "guerrilla" not "gorilla". Another reason to get around more overseas.
And, Sam, the guy meant "guerrilla" not "gorilla". Another reason to get around more overseas.
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Guerrilla, from the word guerra, or war, refers to anti government fighters. The article correctly uses gorilla to describe the goon enforcers who approached the player to accept less pay.
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When people suddenly wake up to the fact that they've wasted a major part of their lives on a boring and silly game, these are the kind of things that happen.
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The root cause of fan violence and match fixing is poverty. Fans, players, and officials have nothing of importance to lose, so they act badly, or criminally, or corruptly. Soccer leagues and associations probably can't do anything about it.
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I recall a Colombian goalkeeper who was shot when he returned home after a World Cup loss. The cause there, as in Cyprus, was probably money. How anyone can call such businesses "sport" is just weird. Many commentators in the US at least have the grace to refer to "franchises," not "clubs." What emptiness of life makes people "fans" of franchises? Brooklyn Dodgers in the day, perhaps, but the Yankees?
A source of violence, now on the wane, was the competition among English yobbos for title of most violent. They roamed and terrorized European stadiums, they wrecked a Dublin stadium--nothing to do with money, just sheer boredom and machismo. Police photographers and UEFA discipline finally restricted their travel.
Eastern European soccer is still plagued with racism--Neo-Nazis are often involved. As a result, some clubs are forced, from time to time, to play their games with none of their supporters present.
A source of violence, now on the wane, was the competition among English yobbos for title of most violent. They roamed and terrorized European stadiums, they wrecked a Dublin stadium--nothing to do with money, just sheer boredom and machismo. Police photographers and UEFA discipline finally restricted their travel.
Eastern European soccer is still plagued with racism--Neo-Nazis are often involved. As a result, some clubs are forced, from time to time, to play their games with none of their supporters present.
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Andres Escobar was a defender, not a goalkeeper, whose desperation attempt at a clearance ended up an own goal to defeat Colombia (vs the USA) in the 1994 World Cup. It was said that the Colombian drug cartels had bet heavily on their own country, and were furious. Escobar was fatally shot on his return to Colombia, by a gunman who was reputed to have said "gracias para el autogol" ("thank you for the own goal"). Quite frankly, the US would have scored on the play had Escobar NOT tried to intervene, and his was purely a good faith effort and play.
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What is wrong with people? Don't we have enough real wars? Sports are supposed to be a healthy way to let out aggression and indulge our clannish tendencies. Apparently not.
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And they call it the 'beautiful game'?
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It's always seemed exceedingly strange to me that soccer, which is a simple sport not involving much violence at all (certainly nothing like football, hockey, or boxing), has the most deranged and homicidal fans of any sport since the Mayans' Headball (that one which used a head for a ball). Soccer fans kill more people, in riots, stampedes, and apparently now car bombings, than all other sports fans combined.
Really the sport should just be done away with if we want it to get more peaceful. Don't think the fans can be converted to sanity, we should just abandon professional soccer as fatally flawed in some obscure way, and not helpful to humanity's self-improvement.
Really the sport should just be done away with if we want it to get more peaceful. Don't think the fans can be converted to sanity, we should just abandon professional soccer as fatally flawed in some obscure way, and not helpful to humanity's self-improvement.
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Perhaps that's the key...more violence in the game engenders docile spectators.
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Doesn't seem to be the case at Raider's games.
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Sorry, but I find your comment ridiculous and lacking context. Please show me the violence at soccer matches in the US, Australia, Japan, and most of Northern and Western Europe. Show me the violence at the World Cup. You can't. Sure, there are still minor incidents among fans in places like England, Spain, and France, but this sort of tribal idiocy can also be found among baseball and football fans here in the US. Just go to a Jets or 49ers game, and you'll see what I mean. It's partially corruption and disaffected people who feel it's the only venue where they can blow off steam, vent their anger, and generally act like fools with little consequence. But it's also a consequence of provincial rivalries within a given country. It really doesn't matter that it's expressed by people at soccer matches. It could just as easily be another sporting event. Have you seen video footage of basketball games in Turkey and the Balkans? Fights all the time.
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