Football match troublemakers to be dealt with by security experts

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Football match troublemakers to be dealt with by security experts A high-profile police presence and close monitoring of CCTV has always been the way that football clubs dealt with high-risk games; but now more are turning to security specialists who send in undercover operatives to help clubs and the authorities, thus identifying and banning those fans who are the ringleaders when it comes to violence and anti-social behaviour.

Racism has been rearing its ugly head again in British football, though many would argue that the problem had never really gone away in the first place. With John Terry set to face a criminal charge in July for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, an incident which cost Terry the England captain’s armband and Fabio Capello his job as international coach, and Luis Suarez returning to action after an eight-match ban for racist comments directed at Patrice Evra, the problem has never been more palpable.

This weekend’s match, with Liverpool and Suarez playing Patrice Evra’s Manchester United was always going to be explosive, and it is thought that both clubs hired undercover intelligence specialists to try and deal with the threat posed by fans hell bent on taking advantage of the fiery atmosphere to cause trouble.

In the end, Suarez managed that by himself when he refused to shake Evra’s offered hand but the move towards undercover operatives to root out anti-social fans is one that is proving successful at clubs around the country.

CCTV can only go so far in identifying potential culprits and it is much easier to prosecute and ban people if they are caught in the act; of course, most of these “fans” stop any abusive chanting as soon as police or stewards come near the, but undercover intelligence experts can be used to monitor any individuals which the club or the police have identified as being potentially “high risk”.

These undercover fans can then be used to stop any violent behaviour or simply to report on anti-social chanting – evidence which can then be used to ban supporters whose activities are unacceptable in the 21st century, even on the football terraces.

KOP racism row rolls on

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KOP racism row rolls on Liverpool FC’s reputation took another dive recently, when a young footballer accused supporters in the famous KOP stand of racially abusing him as he played in a FA Cup match at Anfield.

Twenty-year-old Tom Adeyemi, who was born in the UK but whose parents are originally from Nigeria, was playing for Oldham Athletic in the match, which his team went on to lose 5-1, when he appeared to react angrily to something said in the crowd in the dying minutes of the game.

Adeyemi, who was visibly upset by the incident, was calmed on the pitch by his own captain as well as Liverpool players, including Steven Gerrard. Merseyside Police are now investigating the incident and a man has been arrested and charged.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the successful club has been involved in a racism scandal, following the banning of player Luis Suarez for eight matches after he was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra. Witnesses to the incident involving Adeyemi claim that some Liverpool fans started to chant Suarez’s name after the young Oldham player became upset.

Adeyemi, who is on loan to Oldham from his home-town club of Norwich City, declined a place at prestigious Cambridge University to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional footballer.  The youngster, whose family runs a successful business in Norwich, secured three A grades in his A Levels two years ago.

Gareth Thomas states his support for gay footballers

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Gareth Thomas states his support for gay footballers Gareth Thomas, the previous captain of the Welsh rugby team has made a public statement about his support for gay footballers and his desires for the breakdown of prejudices that he has seen towards homosexual people in the sport.

He is regarded as the most high-profile sportsmen in the UK who is openly gay and he has recently made his remarks in a BBC documentary. He stated that many talented players are being turned off the sport because of its homophobic nature.

In the documentary he commented, “If the Football Association were to issue a statement saying that they would take a hard line on any homophobic behaviour in the game then more talented footballers would join in the sport.”

The documentary has recently aired on BBC3 and is presented by Amal Fashanu. Amal Fashanu’s uncle is Justin Fashanu, who was an openly gay footballer. After he came out he received a lot of abuse for being gay and ultimately committed suicide in the late 1990s. In the documentary Ms Fashanu confronts her father who was hostile to his brother after he revealed that he was gay.

The documentary features an interview with her father, John Fashanu, where he states, “I’m sick of the scandals that I hear day after day, I have a name to protect and my brother is tarnishing it. I wouldn’t even like to get changed in the same room as my brother, and I’m fairly sure the rest of the football world feels exactly the same way.”

Justin at the time commented about his brother’s remarks, “I thought he was a more tolerant man and I am disappointed that he feels this way.” In the documentary John says that he has certain regrets about his behaviour about his brother’s homosexuality and his reaction to it.

Al-Ahly fans bring Cairo to a standstill

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Al-Ahly fans bring Cairo to a standstill Thousands have marched from all over Cairo in support of al-Ahly and they all congregated in the capital centre, Tahrir Square. Fans within the city had already taken care to set up barriers that blocked off the square so that they could all meet up.

Once most had arrived the large group headed towards the interior ministry and surrounded it chanting out to the leaders demanding their rights and threatening that if they do not receive any rights then they will use their own methods to get them. They added that martyrs are loved by God, insinuating that there is little that would stop them.

The crowd was mostly younger men although during the march many women also joined in carrying al-Ahly and Egyptian flags. While the main goal of the gathering seemed to be to demand freedom, each different marchers had their own particular messages to convey.

While some choose to express anger at the governors of the Port Said, some at the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, some at the interior minister, and just in general to the police that were monitoring the event. Despite what many thought, the event was planned and not as a result of the violence that caused the death of 70 people at the Port Said football match this week.

Supporters did however bring up the violence that occurred at the game stating that the Scaf is the reason why these disasters continue to occur with one supporter at the rally explaining that if the Scaf is not able to make a football match safe to attend it is impossible to imagine that they could bring stability and security to the entire country. Others are asking that the Scaf and police be held responsible at trials to bring honor to the martyrs that gave their lives for the cause.

Ryan Giggs and David Beckham consider team GB

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Ryan Giggs and David Beckham consider team GB Ryan Giggs and David Beckham have recently indicated that they would like to be considered for the football team competing at the 2012 Olympics. Nearly 100 players received letters from the Football Association inviting them to apply to be part of the Olympic team. Currently only seven of those selected have refused the invitation.

They can be three overage players selected for the squad and Giggs and Beckham are hoping that they will be two of these players selected for the team. The letter asked players to write back if they did not want to be included in the selection and the vast majority have not. Darryl Seibel is from the Olympic Association and he has stated, “The players understand what an opportunity this is for them to perform at the highest level of their sport.

The fact that we have only seen a few refusals confirms what we expected, that there will be a very big interest among players in the sport to compete for the British team at the Olympic Games this summer.” There has been no information released about the players who have refused to be selected but it is known they are from several clubs across the country.