No need to die for football

FOOTBALL is called the beautiful game and it was Pele, widely celebrated as the greatest footballer of all-time, who coined this phrase.

It is the world’s game because it is followed by more people, across the globe, than any other sporting discipline.

Every day there is a football game being played around the world and we see stadiums full to capacity.

It’s appeal lies in that it is a simple game which is easy to understand - eleven players aside trying to beat each other and score a goal.

Here in Zimbabwe, football is the national game and that is the same in many parts of Africa, Europe and Southern America.

It is also a game which triggers a lot of emotions.

That comes with a lot of risk and, sadly, we have seen tragedies at various stadiums over the years.

In the ‘80s, European football was ruled by hooligans and in one tragic incident, 39 Juventus fans lost their lives at Heysel Stadium in Belgium because of crowd trouble.

We also lost a number of lives at the National Sports Stadium, at the turn of the millennium, in a stampede after crowd trouble erupted.

However, this is different from tragedy which is provoked by arguments between individuals in the game.

This week, there was a tragic incident in Zhombe where Liverpool fan, Peter Mhike (22), was fatally struck by his elder brother Edmore (26) after the Reds’ game against Manchester City.

The fracas started when Peter was trying to restrain his brother from attacking another fan, Joakim Moyo.

In turn, Edmore turned his anger to Peter and fatally struck him with a stone.

Edmore now faces murder, or culpable homicide charges, following the death of his brother.

What is disturbing about this incident is that it was the good fellow, who was trying to ensure that sanity prevails, who was killed.

There are some football fans who just cannot control their feelings when their teams lose.

Others also become very emotional when they lose the bets they would placed on their teams, or other clubs, to win their matches.

Fans need to handle their emotions during a football match.

The world’s most beautiful game should not be soiled by a few people who cannot handle their emotions.

Football matches are meant to provide fun and not fights.

The Zhombe murder could have been avoided had one of the brothers controlled his emotions.

There was no need to attack his brother because of football.

Noone should die because Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal or Chelsea have lost a game.

Noone should also die simply because Dynamos, Highlanders, CAPS United or FC Platinum have lost a game.

The reality of football is that one team is bound to lose, at some point, and another team is bound to win.

We should understand that there will always be three possible results in the game - a win, a loss and a draw.

If we understand that we don’t need to fight.