Italy Declines Rematch with Serbia: Did Hooliganism Ever Go Away?

Tuesday’s Euro 2012 Qualifier between Italy and Serbia clocked just six minutes on the referee’s watch before the match was suspended.

Unruly fans sporting Serbian colors committed vandalism and open violence in the city of Genoa as well as during the opening minutes of the Group C matchup.

Several arrests had to be made, but the match officials decided the game could not continue.

Recollections of the Heysel Stadium disaster when Liverpool was set to play Juventus in the 1985 European Cup Final, with riots and violence breaking out before the match began leading to 39 deaths and 600 injuries, calls to question if football hooliganism will ever recede.

The answer is a blatant no.

Everywhere in the world, no matter the sport, no matter the competition, no matter the venue, there will always be a defining characteristic between casual fans, pious fans and the downright unruly fans. Despite the common inclination of a victory over the opposition, these groups demonstrate their fan hood in disturbingly much different ways.

It is fanaticism to its deepest root meaning. It is a great manifestation of support for a club, but it also goes beyond the standards of entertainment and spectatorship.

Safety of the fans and players is a priority for every organization at any venue, and minimizing the incidents of violence and random skirmishes between opposing fans or even law enforcement can ensure that security.

But when push comes to shove and the well-being of fans is endangered, then the overseeing federations need to take action.

Italy has already stated that they are uninterested in a rescheduling of its Group C fixture. The FIGC, Italy’s national football federation, said that replaying the game “would set an enormous precedent,” an example that shouts the condoning of hooliganism.

UEFA’s disciplinary panel is set to investigate the case next week.

For any sport, in any country, in any league, there will always be the head cases and ultra-fanatic supporters who go to extreme and wild measures that brush up against the definition of support.

But as long as there are fierce competitions, whether in domestic leagues or on the international level, bouts of frenzied nationalism and rigorous support on the verge of lunacy will always emerge. It is up to the managing federations and law enforcement to control and subdue these acts of hooliganism.

Threatening the security of the players and fans is jeopardizing the fluidity of the sport.