Football shouldn't lead to violence

I've never really liked football. And, after the Algerian-Egyptian World Cup qualifier fracas, I like it even less. Watching over-paid demigods chasing a ball, faking injuries, throwing tantrums and indulging in group hugs can be entertaining. And, for some, reading about Wags gone wild in the gossip columns even more so. It's the lunatic fans who irritate me.

Some years ago, I was dragged to a Manchester United game and, within no time, felt physically ill from the atmosphere of raw aggression. Then, some years later, while visiting the normally quiet southern Spanish town of Granada, one minute I was peacefully drinking cappuccino in an outdoor café, and the next, I was dodging chairs thrown by San Miguel-infused Real Madrid fans, who, when the furniture ran out, tried to topple buses.

To be fair to the Spaniards, football hooliganism is a worldwide scourge. Hardly any country is immune from testosterone-charged youths and their dads who live vicariously through the exploits of their heroes on the field. It doesn't matter whether their team is peppered with bought-in foreign talent. They identify with any lad who dons their team colours, even though he may not speak their language. When he scores a goal it becomes theirs.

Unlike most sports, football seems to produce crazed followers ready to travel to the ends of the earth to cause problems. From Manchester to Mexico, and everywhere in between, history is littered with thousands of football victims.

Be that as it may, governments are generally supportive of football. Along with alcohol, drugs, materialism and consumerism, it is the opiate of the masses. It keeps them from focusing on real-life trials and tribulations, such as keeping up with the mortgage repayments. It also channels frustrations away from authorities into patriotic fervour.

Unhealthy

The problem is that too much patriotic fervour can be unhealthy, as we witnessed last week when Egyptian fans threw projectiles at the Algerian team's bus, injuring three players. "They struck our bus with large bricks," said the Algerian centre-back Antar Yahia. "Players have open head wounds with blood …"

But instead of condemning this mindless attack, the local press either denied the incident ever happened or suggested it was payback for a 1990 World Cup qualifier between Algeria and Egypt that erupted in an on-pitch fight, causing the Egyptian team's doctor to lose an eye.

It wasn't long before furious Algerians trashed the Algiers' headquarters of Orascom, a telecom multinational owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, when, instead of offering recompense, the Algerian authorities chose to slap Sawiris with a $600 million (Dh2.2 billion) tax bill.

Since then, tensions have escalated with 20 Algerians assaulted in Cairo and numerous Egyptians coming under attack in southern Algeria, as well as in Sudan, where the qualification decider was played. During the early hours of Friday, an enraged mob tried to rush the Algerian embassy in Cairo's upmarket Zamalek neighbourhood, smashing shop windows, burning Algerian flags, destroying cars and using insecticide to create streams of fire.

Okay, so we're used to tit-for-tat hooliganism. Nothing out of the ordinary there! What's unusual in this case is that governments have taken up the cudgel. Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Algeria "for consultations" and warns Fifa that it might withdraw from international games for two years.

President Hosni Mubarak has upped the ante, warning "Egypt does not tolerate those who hurt the dignity of its sons." His eldest son, Ala'a Mubarak, was even more vocal. "We have to take a stand … whoever insults us should be smacked on his head," he said.

It seems to me that enough Egyptians and Algerians have been smacked on the head already. Surely, governments would be best employed diffusing tensions that arose due to the actions of thuggish fans.

Rather than drift apart on an ocean of bad feeling, Algeria and Egypt should come together to jointly condemn the troublemakers on both sides. People who wilfully hurt others or trash and burn property under any pretext should not be excused. They are nothing more than criminals, who tarnish both their countries and the sport.

Friendship

Both sides should put their wounded egos aside and remember the days of friendship and brotherhood when Egypt supported Bin Bella in his bid to oust the French. Hopefully, when tempers have calmed these major Arab countries will realise that this past week's debacle has been much ado about nothing. It's just a silly game. Or is it?

Former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly may have a point when he joked "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that."

It seems so. This row has galvanised ordinary Egyptians and Algerians to action in a way that Israel's invasions of Lebanon and Gaza or America's invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq never did. Tragic, isn't it!

Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com Some comments may be considered for publication.