European football is plagued by violence and racism, an epidemic that seems to infect primarily young, unemployed men.
Sunday, the Serie A match between Roma and AC Milan was suspended for two minutes shortly after halftime due to racist chants. This wasn’t the first time Milan’s black players have had to endure such taunts. The team walked off the field during the first half of its friendly with lower division Pro Patria back in January because the home fans were similarly directing racist chants toward Milan’s black players.
Unfortunately, soccer in Europe has long been plagued by incidents of violence and racism. The connection between soccer hooligans and neo-Nazi elements is well documented. The far right British National Party, whose 2005 platform includes a rather pithy little response to immigration—including “firm but voluntary incentives for immigrants and their descendants to return home”—has long been reputed to have connections to the soccer gangs. In 2000, neo-Nazi hooligans were suspected of targeting black players.
And it isn’t just Britain. Go to the Wikipedia page for Football hooliganism and you will see there the full list of countries, from Belgium to Turkey, who have their own hooligans. Borussia Dortmund, which will be meeting fellow German club Bayern Munich this month in the European Champions League final, has long struggled to contain its fans’ violence, going so far, according to a February USA Today article, as bringing in social workers during games to try and “defuse tense situations and help promote tolerance.”
And, of course, earlier this spring we reported on the Greek player, Giorgos Katidis, who was barred for life from representing the country’s national team for giving the Nazi salute during a club match in Athens. He claimed after he didn’t realize the salute’s significance. It’s much more likely, however, he knew his fan base and was just giving them what they wanted.
I wrote then about the lingering economic problems plaguing the European Union—Katidis gave his salute the same week there was a run on banks in Cyprus—and about how extremism so often flourishes during times of economic uncertainty. Italy is no stranger to such uncertainty. Considered one of the PIIGS, its economy has been teetering on the brink of collapse ever since our recession began back in 2008.
More ominous, its unemployment rate, particularly for young people under the age of 30, is high, some might say astronomically so. What’s left is a young, rather restless and discontent swath of the populace who become prime recruits for gangs.
We might even call this an international pattern, because no matter the setting—Europe, the United States, the Middle East—the young men, and it is mostly young men, committing the violence plaguing our societies are un– or only marginally–employed. As a result, they become bitter and disenfranchised. With no hope for the future, their outlook becomes nihilistic and violence is a natural outgrowth of nihilistic attitudes. After all, why care whether you are physically harming another person or even cutting short their future if you don’t believe in your own.
Photo: AP/Giuseppe Calzuola
If racist Europeans want their teams to be all-white, then their countries need to produce better soccer players. Ironically, if white people really were far superior then there would be no nonwhite players. Do you think the African and Latin American players are really there because of affirmative action, or because they can score goals? I’m thinking it’s because they’re good players. Do you want your team to be the best team or not? Don’t be upset because your country’s unable to find nine players who are good enough. How about putting down the chips and the curry wurst and… Read more »
I wonder if stopping the game is the best thing to do. That basically means that the racist fans took control of the game. Now they’ll try to break their record and suspend the game for 5 minutes next time. Now they’ll be emboldened to see if they can get the whole second half canceled. So now, if you’re a sore loser and you want to stop the match, now you know what you have to do. We’ve shown the hooligans exactly what they need to say to get even more power.