Fan behaviour can damage team’s brand
SEEING someone dressed in your team’s colours and logo beating up a rival fan without the slightest concern for cameras around them is a brand manager’s worst nightmare.
With technology, the spread of such videos and images is instant.
I used to take my daughter to watch football matches. I remember taking her and my nephew to Rufaro Stadium several times to watch CAPS United play.
They became fans, although I suspect the real drawcard was the little sadza and braaied T-bone steak served up under the VIP stand, as well as the nuts sold in the stands.
At some of these matches, I would be on duty as a club official, but I would be comfortable enough to find an adult to supervise the children.
So, you can imagine the horror I felt last week when I saw the drama unfolding at Barbourfields Stadium at the match between Dynamos and Highlanders.
I imagined myself at that stadium, having left my child in the stands while I stepped down to get some braai, then hearing the chaos erupt behind me.
Zimbabwe has experienced tragic loss of life at a football stadium before.
On July 9, 2000, 13 people lost their lives at the National Sports Stadium after fans reacted when South Africa’s Bafana Bafana took a 2-0 lead against the Zimbabwe Warriors.
Apparently, while celebrating, Delron Buckley, the South African scorer, appeared to put his finger to his lips in a gesture to silence the home fans.
Incensed fans threw missiles onto the field. Police fired teargas into the crowd. A stampede followed and 13 people lost their lives.
However, last weekend, at Barbourfields, no deaths were reported.
But when one pays to watch a football match, concerns over death or injury should be the last thing on their mind.
Football fans are passionate about their teams.
The word fans itself is believed to have been derived from “fanatic”, which describes a person with excessive and uncritical zeal, including passion or obsessive enthusiasm.
To this day, there are some clubs that still have fans generally labelled “ultras”, who generally make life unpleasant for anyone who supports a different team from theirs.
In the unfortunate event where a fan injures or kills another, they are charged in their individual capacity.
A club may be fined or have their points deducted, among a range of sanctions. So, rogue fans are pretty much on their own. Sometimes, as fans unleash all manner of martial arts on each other on the streets around the stadium, the players are huddled in the same changing room, worried about their safety and praying they will all be able to get home.
While players will always have rivalries, there is always a real possibility that a series of meetings between club owners could result in former adversaries becoming teammates.
The number of players who have moved among Dynamos, CAPS United and Highlanders is instructive.
So, why do fans end up being more aggrieved than the players?
It is good to identify with a group if this makes someone feel better.
This is why some people proudly associate with religious and political groups, among others. True, as fans, we might pay to watch the game, but players are actually paid to win a match. So, sometimes we end up costing our teams more than we help them when we unleash violence.
For the past decade, football has been battling for sponsors and grappling with falling attendance. Clubs and sponsors have made progress in encouraging fans to come back to the stadiums. Let us all help make football a family sport again.
This also benefits those who make a living out of it. Well-resourced players mean better performances and more fun for the fans.
More fans enjoying themselves lead to greater corporate interest, thus, increasing partnerships and sponsorship.
The fans hold the key to football’s success. It is up to them to decide how they want to use it.
◆ Feedback: arthurchoga@gmail.com