Football Violence

Euro 2012, is a football competition that pitches all European nations against each other.

The current competition is being hosted by Poland and Ukraine, which has caused some controversy. Poland has long been renowned for its football related violence, having one of the highest football related crime rates in Europe. Many worry that having such a large competition in Poland could be a recipe for disaster, and even though we are only a day into the competition, there has already been problems.

14 people have been arrested in Poland following a brawl over the Ireland vs Croatia match, which is yet to take place. Polish police have confirmed that 10 of the individuals arrested were polish and that the brawl included glass bottles and chairs being thrown.

My question is, who made the final call that resulted in Poland being chosen as a host nation? It has been well documented that football violence is rife in this country and why would this change for an international competition? The aforementioned brawl is not the only 'hiccup' so far, as Russian fans have been documented to have attacked stadium stewards during a game this week. Russians fans have also been accused of Racism. This all has occurred within the first week of the tournament and if occurrences like this continue, it could prove a disaster for Uefa.

Football fans by enlarge are peaceful and patriotic and simply enjoy watching the sport with the hope of there nation succeeding, but there are those who take this a step too far and decide to use violence. I am not accusing polish football fans of being violent, but you cannot deny that there are more football related violent incidents in Poland then in most other nations and i worry if letting Poland host the Euros was such a good decision.

Time will only tell if things get worse, but there are concerns that travelling supporters run the risk of being targeted by violent gangs while in Poland and this is something that must be addressed if the competition is to continue. The Euros is a fantastic opportunity for Poland and it would be a shame for the nation to be tarnished from violence.

Chelsea

I am a Chelsea fan. (for those who don't know, Chelsea is a English football team).


This team is owned by a Russian billionaire, who has made a reputation for having no limits to what he spends of this football club, most recently splashing out £50 million on Fernando Torres. Some people claim that money has been the key to his success, effectively 'buying success', but is this a bad thing? 


There are teams in the world who will only accept players who were born local to their area, regardless of that  teams finances, and other teams such as Barcelona and Manchester City have spent vast quantity's of money importing the best talent from around the world to their respective clubs. The afore mentioned teams have indeed seen success, with Barcelona being renowned to be the best club in the world. But the money spent in this industry has always been a contentious issue. The English football regulator, the "FA" are planning to take steps to prevent this money monopoly by implementing rules that state that if a football club does not turn a profit every year, then it will face punishment in the form of a fine or a positional penalty, which they think will eradicate the richer clubs from throwing money around and achieving success merely from the level of investment. 


Let me ask you: When purchasing a car or a watch, are you not of the opinion that to a degree the more you pay, the better quality you receive? A £30 watch will not be made to the same standards as a £500 watch, and obviously there are watches, in the same way that there are cars that cost a disproportionate amount of money, but that does not invalidate the point, would you not agree that when owners of football clubs spend more money, they are not buying success but investing, and success is a product of their investment?


The point im trying to make is that we do not live in a communist society, and there will always be financial differences, particularly in competitive sports such as football, and that should not be taken as an unfair advantage but rather seen as something to which all should aspire. 


'If you have the money, spend it"....would you not agree?

England and the Euros 2012

As im sure many of you are; I am a football fan. This year sees the Euro 2012 international football competition, and as usual the team is full of multi-millionaire football stars, and yet this is a competition that we as a nation have never won. 


Personally I think this is not due to the quality of the player available to us, which are amongst some of the very best in the world. I think it is due to the fact that win or lose, these players will be getting paid vast amounts of money. When you consider that teams like Greece have claimed this title, it begs the question, why we are so useless?


if I was manager of the England squad (currently managed by Roy Hodgeson) I would recognise the fact that every man in the squad is not only of great talent, but also very wealthy and there pay should be suspended pending victory on a match by match international basis, I think that this would not only re-invigorate the team to "earn there wage" but also to re-instil a bit of national pride.


Although this is merely my own opinion, I do think that my logic is undeniable. when you see far less established  footballing countries excelling in competitions such as the word cup and the Euro's it is clear that sometimes patriotism is the defining factor in success rather then the status of the players individually.