<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">8:13 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (2 of 14) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>4292.2 in reply to 4292.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Dec 25, 2008
COMMENTARY
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : start --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Act now on football violence
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Marc Lim, Sports Correspondent
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE message sent out should be loud and clear: We will not tolerate football hooliganism.
Sunday's violent scenes at the National Stadium after Singapore's 0-1 defeat by Vietnam in the Suzuki Cup semi-finals were both disturbing and shameful.
View the many footage online and you will know what I mean.
Rude words were exchanged, followed by harsh hand gestures. Then came the blows and the flying plastic bottles; in some instances, blood was spilt.
Once a disease thought to have inflicted only European and South American football, violence has now found its way to Singapore - and we should be ashamed.
Ashamed, because talk of Singapore being a gracious society rings hollow when incidents like these happen.
Ashamed, because with Singapore aiming to be a sports hub - where we welcome the world with marquee events like the Youth Olympics and Formula One - we have shown that we aren't always a sporting bunch.
In fact, when provoked, be warned, we'll come at you with flying kicks and threaten to burn your flags - if the accounts of some fans are to be believed.
It is one thing for over 40,000 fans to swear in unison but, when they turn on fellow human beings just because they can't stand to lose, that's taking it too far.
Yes, the cliche 'it takes two hands to clap' may ring true here.
Internet footage showed both Singapore and Vietnam fans taunting one another as they made their way out of the stadium.
One group rubbed the taste of victory into the other, prompting angry responses from the ungracious hosts.
But surely as hosts - Singapore fans outnumbered Vietnam fans 45,000 to 3,000 - there should have been some sort of restraint?
But should the finger also be pointed at the Football Association of Singapore and security at the stadium? Maybe.
The FAS said yesterday that there were 200 security personnel on duty on Sunday, more than the number usually deployed for such a large crowd.
Organisers were right to segregate the majority of the Vietnamese fans.
Video evidence suggests that the security personnel were prompt in moving in to break up scuffles.
But more could - and should - have been done.
It is common practice, even during the Malaysia Cup days, for visiting fans to be led out by security officers only after the home fans have left the stadium. That should have been done.
More personnel should have also been armed with video cameras, which is the usual way for law-enforcement authorities to handle large crowds.
If something breaks, video footage can be relied on to aid investigation.
Which is why video evidence from those posted online should be used to take last Sunday's hooligans to task.
If a jail term is too harsh, shame them publicly and ban them from future matches. Weed out football violence before it hurts Singapore sport - or, worse, the nation.
[email protected]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
COMMENTARY
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : start --></TD></TR><TR><TD>Act now on football violence
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Marc Lim, Sports Correspondent
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE message sent out should be loud and clear: We will not tolerate football hooliganism.
Sunday's violent scenes at the National Stadium after Singapore's 0-1 defeat by Vietnam in the Suzuki Cup semi-finals were both disturbing and shameful.
View the many footage online and you will know what I mean.
Rude words were exchanged, followed by harsh hand gestures. Then came the blows and the flying plastic bottles; in some instances, blood was spilt.
Once a disease thought to have inflicted only European and South American football, violence has now found its way to Singapore - and we should be ashamed.
Ashamed, because talk of Singapore being a gracious society rings hollow when incidents like these happen.
Ashamed, because with Singapore aiming to be a sports hub - where we welcome the world with marquee events like the Youth Olympics and Formula One - we have shown that we aren't always a sporting bunch.
In fact, when provoked, be warned, we'll come at you with flying kicks and threaten to burn your flags - if the accounts of some fans are to be believed.
It is one thing for over 40,000 fans to swear in unison but, when they turn on fellow human beings just because they can't stand to lose, that's taking it too far.
Yes, the cliche 'it takes two hands to clap' may ring true here.
Internet footage showed both Singapore and Vietnam fans taunting one another as they made their way out of the stadium.
One group rubbed the taste of victory into the other, prompting angry responses from the ungracious hosts.
But surely as hosts - Singapore fans outnumbered Vietnam fans 45,000 to 3,000 - there should have been some sort of restraint?
But should the finger also be pointed at the Football Association of Singapore and security at the stadium? Maybe.
The FAS said yesterday that there were 200 security personnel on duty on Sunday, more than the number usually deployed for such a large crowd.
Organisers were right to segregate the majority of the Vietnamese fans.
Video evidence suggests that the security personnel were prompt in moving in to break up scuffles.
But more could - and should - have been done.
It is common practice, even during the Malaysia Cup days, for visiting fans to be led out by security officers only after the home fans have left the stadium. That should have been done.
More personnel should have also been armed with video cameras, which is the usual way for law-enforcement authorities to handle large crowds.
If something breaks, video footage can be relied on to aid investigation.
Which is why video evidence from those posted online should be used to take last Sunday's hooligans to task.
If a jail term is too harsh, shame them publicly and ban them from future matches. Weed out football violence before it hurts Singapore sport - or, worse, the nation.
[email protected]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
