About Football

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About Football Football, the beautiful game. The most popular sport in England yet

tainted by the violence that accompanies it. Last year 3391 people

were arrested for football related violence including assault, drink

and drug offences, running on the pitch and missile throwing. These

are just some of the despicable acts that are committed across the

country every week. A report made by the NCIS (National Criminal

Intelligence Services showed a 8.1% increase in football related

offences between 1999 & 2001. Today I'm here to talk to you about why

I think better measures need to be taken to ensure these figures are

considerably lowered and to put the enjoyment back into football

before it is lost entirely.

Although there has been a considerable improvement in the amount of

violence since the 1970's it is still a major factor in the downfall

of British football and action needs to be took to prevent

restrictions and punishments being implemented into the game. An

example of this is the risk of fans ruining England's chances in Euro

2004. This has already been touched upon during the English fans awful

behaviour during the qualifying matches between Liechtenstein,

Slovakia, Macedonia & Turkey and if not considered thoroughly could

force FIFA to disqualify England from the tournament. This would be a

major blow for the team and could lead to subsequent problems such as

the sacking of the manager. Nowadays people even arrange riots on

their mobile phones. I'm not saying that the police can stop all

violent behaviour as that is impossible...

... middle of paper ...

...(Darius Vassel) ran into the

tunnel at half time and struck out at a Turkish player who had uttered

something racist whilst on the pitch. Although I do not condone his

actions, I do think that the English player was right in not

tolerating the verbal abuse.

Overall I think that if these factors are thoroughly considered and

action is taken then the game will become more enjoyable and will grow

even more in popularity. Just take the Rugby World Cup as an example.

The English fans behaved impeccably and there were no reports of any

trouble whatsoever. "The English Disease", as football violence is

known, can never be destroyed but it can be quarantined. I just hope

that the authorities and the criminals involved, listen to what is

being said and help give English football a good reputation. Thank you

for your time.

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