‘Act tougher on hoologanism’

29 Mar, 2020 - 00:03 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Sweeney Mushonga
Special Correspondent

PREMIERSHIP football is by far the most followed sport in the country owing to its rich history, and its spectatorship is predominantly male, with the female numbers on a steady rise.

It is largely believed that the majority of the spectators are drawn from the middle- and high-density suburbs, while the league’s biggest crowd pullers are Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United.

Reigning champions FC Platinum are fast proving to be a force to reckon with, owing to their recent dominance, although they used to live in the shadows of Shabanie Mine.

Sadly, attendance at football matches has been on the decline owing to a variety of reasons, notably an avalanche of high-quality English Premiership, La Liga, Serie A and other games on TV.

In contrast, the standard of our local games has declined and the monster of crowd trouble, which somehow refuses to go away, has occasionally reared its ugly head.

Of late, the incidences may be far between but the effects are devastating and have long-term effects.

The local game has lost potential partners and sponsors owing to violence.

It is indisputable that the game has lost a significant number of its supporters too, some to other forms of entertainment, but also a sizeable number shun violence and stadia.

Many neutrals across the country allege that clubs have failed to create a family friendly environment during match days, and that there are no guarantees against crowd trouble.

A classic example is the recent violence at Barbourfields Stadium when Highlanders played FC Platinum in a Castle Challenge Cup final, which was meant to be a season-opener.

The orgy of violence witnessed at that match has no place in football and, predictably, there was a routine reactionary approach by the PSL and ZIFA through issuance of letters condemning the violence and a monetary fine.

But, as shown over the years, that has fallen short of stemming hooliganism.

We have said so many times that football is a billion-dollar industry, but until we start creating that enabling environment to harness the commercial potential that is inherent in sport, this will remain a pie in the sky for the domestic game.

We need to put in place systems and structures which will attract and retain investors.

Our actions, more than statements, will endear us most favourably with sponsors. ZIFA is mandated with the administration and welfare of all football in the country.

It must take the lead to ensure reasonable safety and comfort for the spectators, and, in the same vein, encourage appropriate spectator behaviour by precept and example.

They have a duty to offer guidance to clubs on safety matters.

The era of a “patching up management style” is long gone.

There is need to apply a holistic approach which looks at all the facets of football management and come up with the requisite systems and procedures in order to achieve the desired output.

We have become accustomed to periods of sporadic disasters and narrowly avoiding many through paddling in muddy waters and clutching to a bottle of anointing oil.

We need to invest in higher standards of governance, be it in brick-and-mortar or human relations.

Football requires a leadership with the vision and imagination to achieve a new order that is aimed at providing more modern and comfortable accommodation, improved facilities and better engagement with supporters.

If such an approach is adopted, it will not only curb crowd violence but also spark behavioural change that makes crowd control a lot easier.

ZIFA can achieve this through a cocktail of measures that include:

Advocating for appropriate legislation, as is the case with other national associations that have pushed for the following Bills:

Football Disorder Act

Public Disorder Act

Football Spectators Act

There is also need to capacitate the First Instance Board to take a more pragmatic role in:

Planning grounds improvements

Advisory role in the designing of stadia

Advocating for safety legislation

Setting minimum safety standards

ZIFA should clearly define roles and responsibilities for police and stewards, drive for installation of CCTV at stadia, which will improve police surveillance for crowd trouble in and outside the stadium, and press for pre-sale of numbered tickets which match the turnstiles and numbered seats for easier identification of miscreants.

There must be designation of family membership areas, maintenance of club membership registers, appointment of club risk officers to deal with the management of crowd trouble, coordination of emergency services and effective club policy on management of violence.

In the absence of a systematic approach, as is the case now, crowd violence will remain detrimental to the growth of the local game.

Strangely, we remain complacent when the global family is moving mountains to control this ill.

Again we remain amazingly complacent even after many catastrophic incidents.

We have lost too many precious lives and one more life is just far too much, but against a background of lack of precautions, crowd trouble remains an albatross around our necks.

This is no longer the time to ask “how it happened?” but to act and rid our game of this monster, which is so greedy, and always ready to pounce on the life of another unsuspecting fan.

Sweeney Mushonga is a Northern Region executive committee member, FIFA CIES graduate and co-founder of Gunners Football Club.

 

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