“Hooliganism in Portugal is not new and in the short term it tends to grow”, says specialist
Hooliganism episodes, like the one witnessed on Wednesday night at the Estádio da Luz, are not new and the trend in the short term is for them to grow, says specialist Daniel Seabra.
Speaking to the Renaissance, the researcher on the phenomenon of cheering and hooliganism says he was not surprised by the clashes that took place between fans of Benfica and Dynamo Kiev, which resulted in 14 injuries and dozens of prisoners.
“It’s not really a new phenomenon, and it’s a phenomenon that typifies what we call hooliganism. What we find is related to participation in confrontations and this is one of the main aspects of hooliganism as a phenomenon that exists, or existed in England since the 19th century, and from the 60s of the last century, at the time of the 1966 World Cup this phenomenon was already perfectly defined”, begins by explaining Daniel Seabra.
“This is one of the last stages in the evolution of hooliganism, combining matches with hooligans who support opposing teams. In the Portuguese context, as surprising as what I am about to say seems, it is not recent either. It’s something that we’ve been able to find since the 1980s and that became more acute in the 1990s of the last century”, he adds.
Daniel Seabra – Hooliganism in Portugal tends to grow
In Portugal, this type of violence is not exactly common, but there are also “elements that, within the claques, aim to participate and get involved in clashes with opposing supporters. And that is a manifest and declared intention. And some of them get pleasure out of it. And they state it clearly. ”
Cat and mouse
Asked whether the authorities should have been able to foresee and prevent the clashes on Wednesday night, Daniel Seabra says that in Portugal the Police’s work is well done, but that in this “cat and mouse game” the mouse is always bitten. forward.
“The authorities in Portugal are perfectly aware of these facts and I don’t think they are properly surprised. They know it is a real possibility, they have information systems that are increasingly effective in researching this, especially now it is even more difficult, as a result of social networks and their communication facilities, but despite this difficulty this is a game of mouse and mouse. cat where the mouse always goes a little further. ”
“But despite the need, the police and the Portuguese authorities have been alert and, in some cases, are able to detect these scheduled meetings in a timely manner and even manage to prevent and avoid, or at least react quickly to them.”
The specialist says that in Portugal the phenomenon of hooliganism had a “turning point” with the creation of the group No Name Boys, from Benfica, in the beginning of the 90’s. “If you ask me if the phenomenon is growing in the short term, I say yes, but in my view it’s still in a smaller dimension than what was possible to identify in the 80’s and 90’s. ”
Finally, the academic says that the best way to stop this growth is to increase punishments, but that clubs also have a role to play.
“One way is to make the first clashes participate believe that the punishments can be severe. Another bet must obviously be oriented towards prevention. There is another dimension in combating this phenomenon that, in my view, needs to be promoted and implemented, and which focuses above all on the responsibility of clubs. I welcome clubs creating their own punishment mechanisms for fans who seek to get involved with types of phenomena”, concludes Daniel Seabra.