A disaster? Which disaster do you mean?

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By Walter Broeckx

Last night after the game I put myself in front of my computer. Ready to give my view on the game. The TV was on our local channel. The news was starting but I wasn’t really paying attention to be honest.

I usually start with writing a few things down about what I really want to include in my views.

So I had the fact that we missed too many chances and wanted to dig a bit in to the reasons why I think we miss those chances.

I had the fact that we were unlucky because hitting the woodwork twice in one game with the keeper well beaten is bad luck.

I had the fact that our first half was outstanding and that we should have been home and dry by then.

I had the fact that we kept a clean sheet and that this is something good to build on.

 

But I also wanted to say that this draw was not yet a disaster but close to getting one.

So I wanted to work a bit with those points and elaborate about them. But then the news man got my attention.

 

They showed images of a football match in Egypt between Al-Masri and Al-Ahly. They showed terrible images of hooligans attacking other supporters. They showed images of hooligans attacking football players of the visiting team. I suddenly was thrown back some 25 years in time. The Heysel tragedy in Brussels. Images of a day that started so nice with warm sunshine and ended with the dead of 39 people in the stadium. Terrible images of people being crushed to death.

And now some 25 years later an even bigger disaster in Port Said. The latest reports tell us that 74 people are dead. Hundreds are wounded. The army had to evacuate the players and supporters of the visiting team. And I wondered: is this football? Is this the sport I love?

The “disaster of Arsenal not winning their game” was washed away in an instance.

Just imagine. 74 people never going home again. I don’t know how many man, woman of children will be in those 74. 74 people who said ‘see you later’ but for whom there will be no later. There will be no later for their wives, children, parents, brothers, sisters. Just the memory of a person going to see a game of football.

Why? I ask myself. Why? Yes I have chosen my colours. I have chosen the red and white of my beloved Arsenal. Just as others have done. Just as others have chosen their colours at some point in their live. And we can have a laugh about others people choice. We can even find it stupid. We can find it ridiculous. But does it make them less human beings for having made their (different) choice?

In the stadium we can shout at each other. We can do some (childish in fact) name calling. It is part of the atmosphere of a football game. We can have our arguments in the pubs, we can discuss our teams and agree to disagree. We can have some banter. We can have some arguments on the internet as a new form of modern teasing.

But what I really do fail to see is the need to punch another fan on the nose. Or a player of the opposing team. And yet this is what they were after last nigh in Egypt.

If you see the images of those hooligans I really wonder if we still can call them human beings. We as human beings pretend to be better than animals. But I wonder if animals could have a look at that and I think they will ask amongst each other: “why are they killing each other if they don’t do it to eat them?” Because if an animal kills another animal it us usually to eat it and to stay alive itself.

But us human beings, the top of the pyramid of civilisation as we like to think of ourselves, we have species that just go out to kill other people just because they have chosen to support another football team. How low can you fall.

 

Maybe they didn’t mean it? Oh, what is the difference. There is no justification for attacking other supporters or players of the other team. I really hope that the Egyptian authorities can identify those murderers. And that they can put them behind bars for a very very long time. And I hope their conscience (if they have one) will give them a guilt feeling for the rest of their live.

 

And I hope that those wounded will recover well and will not face a life full of misery because of this barbaric attack.

And I hope that the souls of the dead people will find a resting place.

And I hope that the people who have lost somebody they loved will find the strength to get over it. Just imagine how dreadful it must be to see your man, father, brother, sister, sun or daughter go out the door to see a game of football and  never see them again.

 

So forgive me but after seeing all this I really didn’t feel in the mood to talk about the events that happened in Bolton last night. You can still comment about the game if you like but the events in Egypt have hurt me as a football lover too much.

 

Why is it that our great and beautiful game is brought down by such criminals? Why don’t I hear of such things in relation with other sports? Why is it that the morons and criminals have chosen football as the sport they want to destroy? Why do we only see such violence around football pitches and in football stadiums?

Just as some 25 years ago after the Heysel drama I had my doubts about football and their supporters. But just as 25 years ago I will probably come to the conclusion that the vast majority of football supporters are decent human beings. And that they are shocked as much as I am. I hope this to be the case in fact.

 

Destroying lives for a game of football….how stupid can one be….live is to valuable to have it destroyed like that.

 

So we didn’t win yesterday. Some people could call it a disaster. I also almost did right after the game.  But just imagine if you father, mother, brother, sister, sun or daughter was in the stadium at Port Said and got killed or injured. Now that is a disaster.

 

I know it is hard to achieve on the internet but I do hope that after reading this you will hold a moment of silence to remember all those people whose live has been destroyed yesterday. And then we should say to ourselves: enough is enough. Give those morons no more opportunity. Not in Egypt, not in England, nowhere in the world. Let this be the last of such incidents if possible.