Our View: Football clubs are to blame for all the violence

There was violence at two matches at the weekend, exposing the ineffectiveness of the measures taken by the authorities to quash hooliganism and highlighting the need for new thinking.

In Larnaca, in a match between Salamina and Paphos, there was a scuffle between members of the two sides’ coaching staff, with allegations that the latter’s technical director had hit the former’s coach and that the Paphos bench made rude gestures at the home fans. After the end of the match players and coaching staff of the visiting club could not go to the changing rooms because a mob of angry home fans had gathered above the entrance and were shouting abuse at them. Outside the stadium hooligans smashed the windscreens of visiting fans’ cars.

Meanwhile in Limassol, midway through the first half of the tie between Apollon and Apoel, groups of rival fans decided to have a fight on the pitch, stopping play for 15 minutes. Police made three arrests to restore order. Τhese were the latest incidents but these incidents appear to have become a weekly occurrence with neither the police nor the club authorities able to do anything to prevent them.

The fan ID card, which sparked endless controversy and was boycotted by the so-called organised fans of the clubs (also known as the hardcore supporters) for some years, ensure trouble free matches for as long as the boycott was in place. Once the boycott was ended and the organised fans returned to football grounds, the crowd trouble also returned. Opponents of fan ID cards used this to argue that the cards were ineffective, however the reality was that stadium stewards never asked to be shown an ID card to ensure the spectator’s name was on the ticket. Even banned fans could enter a stadium.

This highlights the gist of the problem – the club and stadium authorities have shown complete disregard for the ID card, behaving as if it does not exist. It is outrageous that they have undermined a measure introduced by the state in an attempt to control crowd trouble. In fact, other than issue the obligatory statement condemning crowd violence, the clubs do nothing to stop hooligans, in order not to alienate their ‘organised fans.’ They are as much a part of the problem as the actual fans.

There is only way for the state to deal with this irresponsible attitude of the clubs – make them pick up the bill for policing and the presence of adequate stewards at stadiums. If a match is classed ‘high-risk’ by police and requires more officers to keep law and order, the home club should pick up the bill and not the taxpayer as is the current practice. It is the only way to make clubs take responsibility for the behaviour of the troublemakers among their ‘organised fans’. The taxpayer gives many millions to football clubs every year, without also having to pay for their lax attitude towards ‘their’ hooligans.