Last weekend’s clash between Perak and JDT was marred by a post-match altercation between fans, which left plenty of individuals hurt, including a sports photographer, who was merely there to get his job done on a Saturday night.
Obviously, we were fed with two different narratives after incident was curbed. JDT were quick to assert the innocence of their fans, especially after rumours suggested that the photographer was assaulted and robbed by individuals from the ‘Boys of Straits’ – JDT’s official supporters club. Perak on the other hand, claimed that the incident was triggered by the away section, before the incident exploded to a bigger scale.
A few months back, during Perak’s FA Cup tie against Kuala Lumpur at the Selayang Stadium, a group of fans outside the stadium threw firecrackers into the seating area, which inevitably caused panic and distress. Moments after final whistle, a fight expectedly broke outside the stadium, which led to people being severely hurt.
I was in my car, looking to get out of the vicinity, and I was handed a clear view of people howling at one another, whilst throwing bricks and stones. People were bleeding, families were fleeing – it was a horrible sight to see. Do you know what instigated this incident? ‘Banter’.
The problem with banter in football stadiums is that there’s a very fine line between it and abuse. And more often or not, when you consider how volatile and different people can be, banter is extremely subjective in terms of how it can be perceived. All it takes for the line to be crossed is one individual feeling enraged. That’s all it takes.
But isn’t banter a beautiful part of football? Yes, perhaps it is. Some of the greatest atmospheres in world football have been produced as a by-product of hostile banter between supporters. Unfortunately, the same can be said of the horrendous fan riots that have taken place across the globe.
At what point do we step up and point out that chanting ‘JDT bangsat’ – even if it’s done with friendly intentions of merely engaging in banter – is a horrible thing to do? At what point do fan club leaders proclaim amazing atmospheres shouldn’t come at the expense of people getting hurt and general safety being compromised?
On good days, banter plays an exceptional role in attracting crowds at large stadiums. But every single time a fan riot happens, people get a bit more discouraged to go and watch games at the stadium. It’s already difficult enough to get Malaysians to support local football, this only adds to the burden we’re already struggling to shoulder at this point.
We’re a nation of 30 million people, and in most stadiums across the country, we struggle to even consistently attract 10-15k every match day. A big portion of this is due in no small part to different administrative and cost factors, but safety remains a key issue. Would you bring your family to a football stadium, if there’s an active risk of violence breaking out? Would you bring your small kids and help nurture the culture of local football into them, if there is a big risk of them getting hit by bricks or stones?
What’s even more frustrating is, some of these ‘hooligans’ are the ones that actively call for the local football scene to be revamped. But there’s no real point to it, if hooliganism is going to persist in Malaysia for the foreseeable future. Forget about attracting crowds through excellent football and great community engagement projects – if we can’t ensure basic safety consistently, none of that matters, does it?
The intricate details of what transpired in Ipoh will evidently help identify what went wrong – but this incident is in no way an isolated one. While PAFA could have visibly done better in preserving security around and inside the stadium, the culture of hooliganism is not new in Malaysia. It’s been there, it’s been brewing and we’ve got to deal with it.
We can point our fingers at inept security structures and evaluate how to better the system. But all of that should be secondary to the process of identifying the root cause of the problem – hooligans. Deterrence measures can be implemented; though hefty fines don’t appear to cut it? We can discuss prison, community service, lifetime bans and a plethora of other strict avenues to deter hooligans.
At the end of the day though, it all boils down to attitude and mentality of fans. You’ve been a key part of Malaysian football’s growth; you’ve been a key proponent of change within FAM. But do you realize that none of that matters, every time you pick up a stone and attempt to hurl it at someone in a football stadium? None of that matters, every time a small kid observes your actions and self-legitimizes it in his head.
Because at the end of the day, qualifying for the Asian Cup or even the World Cup means nothing if basic safety – be it for fans, players or even members of the press – is compromised every time there’s a local football game in Malaysia.
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