by Carlos Soriano

Created on: February 03, 2009   Last Updated: March 01, 2009

When the word soccer is mentioned, many thoughts come to mind, competition, endurance, glory, exhibition, triumph, and many more. Unfortunately, the coin always has two sides; more and more hooliganism is affecting the sport that the majority of the world adores, is passionate about, and cant miss a Sunday without any type of fanaticism. Hooligan, a tough and aggressive or violent youth. That's a precise definition for the typically famous, beer drinker(most of them), cant enjoy a soccer game in peace, type of individual.

Many drastic measures has been taken by FIFA (Federacion Internacional de Futbol Asociado or International Federation of Associated Football for my non-spanish speaking readers) to control and try to stop such uneducated behavior. The suspension of games, the "closed door" matches, and the intervention of the police force in such events are just some of the measures taken. Unfortunately, these rules and regulations can only do so much to prevent such neanderthal conduct. The problem is unimaginably deep and very serious.

Such issue has to be addressed by the core. Many of the primitive troublemakers take the level of competition too far off the tracks. Many of them and innocent fans have been killed because of such lack of decorum. In the game of soccer there will always be a winner and a looser, whichever way you look at it. We need to become good winners and good losers. It should always be kept in mind that there will always be a second chance for a championship or a classic game, soccer is not going anywhere. Soccer like many of us know, is an athletic competition with a highly reputable past and present.

Hooliganism becomes a dirty spot on the trophy, a rotten principal of etiquette, a polluted city, or a dictatorial government. All of these examples contribute to the degradation of the circle of life. In my native country, Honduras, the fans and teams are literally used to and tired of these types of behavior. The problem is not taken seriously enough by the people in power who can make a difference. A person who I've admired my entire life and is a big fan of soccer who also attends local games, told me one day, "its like the wild wild west over here". With that said, all I can do at the moment is to write about it and hope more people get involved on the issue. It's a sad thought but it can be fixed.

There's a solution to it, but its not an important one for many until the media blows it out of proportion. Many of the facts of hooliganism is, that there's a lack of morality and principal of ethics. yes, I am talking about the person being raised unprincipled. All we can do is raise our children and teach them respect, values, morals, manners, and make sure they'll infiltrate positivism in society. Parents are responsible for what their kid becomes up to a point; once adults, they know what is right and what is wrong. Violence and soccer doesn't match in any domain. The victims who unfortunately get killed by these cold-blooded criminals are an example of what kind of society we live in. As the famous Aristotle said, "At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.

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