SPORTS> Soccer
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Croatia moves to rid sport of violence
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-10 14:54 "I think they should hear what sport is really about, what happened in the past when violence prevailed, like the famous Heysel tragedy, and how they should look after themselves, others and public property when attending the games," she said. Thirty-nine people were killed and hundreds injured when a wall collapsed in the Heysel stadium in Brussels after fans charged before the 1985 European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool. The tragedy prompted Europe to take a tougher stance on soccer hooliganism. Uroic said that presentations, reinforced by visits from popular soccer players or other athletes, could also be held at soccer fans' groups. "Many fans don't even realise that, for example, it is not acceptable to boo when a national anthem of another country is performed, or that any destruction of property would ultimately bring costs to their own families...not to mention if someone gets hurt or something worse," Uroic said. VIDEO CLIPS The Croatian FA welcomed the initiative and said it was ready to help by involving players and broadcasting its own video clips. "We have been dealing with this problem for some time and we want to help educate young people by promoting tolerance and joy of sport," said Zorislav Srebric, the FA's secretary-general. The leader of an association of Dinamo Zagreb fans, Denis Seler, said he was not familiar with the project but believed it could be helpful. "It seems to me that incidents at the stadiums have been reduced in recent years. There were cases of throwing flares on the pitch in recent games, which we don't support, but it was a reaction to a string of meagre performances and, consequently, the overall atmosphere around the club," he said. Drazen Lalic, a leading local sociologist, said prevention was the key, rather than the repression to which authorities mostly resorted in the past. "However, I'm not convinced that going to schools alone will be enough. It would be crucial to go directly to places where soccer fans gather...talk to them in their premises, bars, join them during journeys. There are maybe 1,000 problematic fans in the country but so far there has been no prevention," he said. In a separate attempt to tame violence in stadiums, Deputy Prime Minister Djurdja Adlesic visited London this month to talk to British officials about how they tackled similar problems. |