Sports media and its role in the rise of violence in Yemeni stadiums

Abstract

Sports media (sports journalism) has an influential role on the fans, as it contributes to motivating and guiding them. This guidance may be misguided, generating fanaticism that leads to the spread of violence within Yemeni stadiums. This is an undesirable behavior due to the moral, physical, and material damage it causes. Matches are threatened with cancellation because of it, for fear that its negative effects will escalate to dangerous stages that are difficult to control. We have not forgotten the bloody events that occurred in the Egyptian city of Port Said between the Al-Masry and Al-Ahly teams on Wednesday, February 1, 2012, which resulted in the killing of 73 fans after a wave of riots swept through the stadium as soon as the referee blew the final whistle. This led to the cancellation of the Egyptian league. In addition, there was the riot that occurred in the Algerian city of Saida on Saturday, April 14, 2012, in which six players and one of the administrators of the USM Alger team were injured in riots after the end of the match against MC Saida, despite the two teams drawing (1-1) in the 25th round of the National Professional League One Championship. In addition to the football incidents that marred the CAF Champions League quarter-final match between Tunisian clubs Étoile du Sahel and Espérance on August 21, 2012, after fans invaded the pitch, forcing the Tunisian Minister of Sports to suspend the league indefinitely, there were also the unfortunate events that befell the Algerian national football team as they left Cairo Airport for their hotel during the 2009 World Cup qualifiers for Africa. They were pelted with stones, injuring the players, and this incident led to a diplomatic crisis between the two countries due to media coverage that failed to condemn the violence. All these unfortunate incidents that have become associated with football were also witnessed in the final match of the Yemeni President's Cup on June 27, 2012, between Al-Ahli Sana'a and Al-Hilal Al-Hudaydah. The match was marred by riots at the end of the first half, leading to its suspension. The federation then awarded the victory and the cup to Al-Hilal by administrative decision, as they were leading 1-0 at the time. Furthermore, the events that accompanied the political crisis in Yemen between 2011 and 2012, and the riots that swept the streets, which were broadcast by the media worldwide, led FIFA to ban clubs and national teams from playing in Yemen. This deprived them of the opportunity to play on their home soil and prevented Yemeni fans from watching foreign clubs and national teams. The ban remained in effect until the end of September 2013. This illustrates how sports media can play a negative role in inciting unrest, a destructive role that transforms matches from arenas of fair sporting competition into something resembling civil strife. This, in turn, legitimizes the imposition of sanctions by continental and international federations, as is currently the case in Yemen, which has been banned from playing on its own soil since 2011.