The World Cup is the biggest stage for the sport of soccer. Fans from both Germany and Argentina filled not only the Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, but also every city around the world. At every location you can find the whole spectrum of fans. From your social fans whose interest in soccer and the World Cup is primarily a social aspect or a way to gather with friends, to your highly vested fan who is so emotionally attached that they wear their team and fan pride on their sleeves.
Unfortunately, there is another type of fan that rears his ugly head every once and a while. These fans are classified as dysfunctional fans. Dysfunctional fans are normally overly aggressive towards the opposing team, its fans, the officials, and sometimes each other and law enforcement. In the case of Argentina’s one to nothing loss against Germany, tens of thousands of fans decided to take out their emotions on the town of Buenos Aires. Fans started taunting law enforcement and destroying public property. Riot police were forced to step in to control the crowd. Cans of tear gas as well as water cannons were shot at the rioter’s in an attempt to control the situation. Police were even forced to use their nightsticks while riding a two manned dirt bike. 
In the end, at least 15 police officers were wounded from the angry rock chucking fans. In addition to those wounded officers, countless fans were injured and more than fifty rioters were detained. If you ask me, I see this whole riot situation as a huge temper tantrum. I’m sure these fans were all happy jolly at the beginning of the game, but once they lost then that’s when the vested fan turned into the dysfunctional fan. 
No comments:
Post a Comment