IATE term of the week: football hooligan

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football hooligan 1EURO 2016 is in full swing and if last week the IATE term was football stewards, a useful aspect of the game, this week the term is not related to the things that happen on the football field, but in the stands or after the game. Of course, we are linking the IATE term of this week to the violence that unfortunately happened after the England-Russia game, in the stadium and on the streets of Marseille. The IATE term of this week is football hooligan.

Football hooliganism refers to unruly, violent and destructive behaviour by overzealous supporters of association football clubs, including brawling, vandalism and intimidation. It involves conflict between different gangs, with the purpose of intimidating or even physically attacking the supporters of the other football team. Some gangs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and when the football teams meet for a game, the hooligan activities are more likely to occur.

The conflict may take place before, during or after the game and in such cases often shop windows are smashed, rubbish bins are set on fire and police cars are overturned. It is also possible that the gangs attack the police forces, which try to separate them, and in extreme cases hooligans, police officers or bystanders may be killed. It is also common that when rival gangs meet, the police intervenes with tear gas or water cannons.

There is also a special jargon related to football hooliganism. For example, the football supporters, which form an association, can be also called “firms”, “army”, “boys”, “casuals” and “crew”, the violence can be replaced with “aggro” (aggravation) and “bovver” (trouble).

The UEFA Fair Play Regulation states that each team is awarded points for the behaviour of its spectators. The maximum number of points that a team could get is 10. More specifically, article 10 of the regulation describes what is considered as fair play behaviour for the spectators: “They are expected to encourage their teams by singing and shouting and to create a positive atmosphere in the spirit of fair play. They must respect each other, the players and team officials and the referee team. The spectators should acknowledge the other team’s performance, even in defeat, and must in no way intimidate or frighten the opposing team, the referee team or opposing supporters.”

If team supporters behave badly, the football club can be sanctioned with a fine, or in extreme cases can be disqualified from the competition.

iate football hooligan

[su_note note_color=”#dcea0f”][su_button url=”https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19Mp5pkHh8jspUH98FCzl6EEE_Cgnmkb0WLic8LyHc44/viewform” style=”flat”]Contribute to IATE![/su_button] We would welcome your contribution if you know the correct term in your language and it is among the missing ones or if it needs an update. A terminologist for the respective language will revise your answer and validate it. Given the implications of the process, a delay is to be expected.

Languages to be completed for this term in IATE: BG, CS, ET, FI, GA, HR, HU, LT, LV, MT, PL, RO, SK, SL, SV.[/su_note]

Sources

iate term of the week hooligans

Written by Raluca Caranfil
Communication Trainee at TermCoord
Journalist & Student at the University of Luxembourg