The ugly face of football violence showed itself once more on Wednesday night at Port Said in Egypt following the surprise 3-1 home victory of Al Masry against Al Ahli from Cairo. At least 74 people were killed and over 1,000 people injured with further protests across the country following the happenings in Port Said.
The events in Egypt have a political angle to it, which shows that football or for that matter any sport can be misused for other purposes; but the events also show that fans should not take their rivalry to a violent level. Egypt has a history of such acts, but it is unacceptable in football then it harms the beautiful game.
Now giving this an Indian angle. Tomorrow we have a Kolkata derby between East Bengal Club and Mohun Bagan AC coming-up at the Saltlake Stadium at 2 pm. And undeniably there have been problems in recent Kolkata derbies with floodlight issues, the two fan groups having a go at each other causing serious injuries, abuse being hurled at each other around the ground & on social media, etc.
As said above a healthy rivalry is good to have between football teams, but it needs to remain on a level which is acceptable. Often a fair play is called for on the pitch, but fans should follow it as well in their behaviour with opposition fans or even with their own teams especially after losses.
I myself have seen at recent Kolkata derbies the disturbing behaviour and gestures of rival fan groups. Honestly that isn't acceptable and what these so-called fans forget is that a major disaster could happen any day.
Lets hope things stay fine tomorrow...
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