A sports riot is a riot that occurs during or after sporting events. Sports riots occur worldwide.[1][2] Most riots are known to occur after the event is done, but some have been during the game (see football hooliganism). While association football is one of the more well-known triggers for riots, other sports which have triggered riots include ice hockey[3] and motorcycle racing.[1] There are a number of factors believed to influence whether riots occur, including cultural factors; environmental factors such as temperature, darkness, and noise; and witnessing player violence.[1]
A riot broke out between local Pompeiians and visiting Nucerians which escalated from taunts to stone throwing to assaults with swords. The Pompeiians fared better with many wounded and killed Nucerians. The emperor ordered the senate to investigate the affair, which was done by the consuls, the results of which led the senate to forbid Pompeii from holding similar events for 10 years.
In what is known to be one of the first forms of sports rioting, supporters of the chariot racing teams, the Greens and Blues, revolted against the Byzantine Empire's leader Justinian. At least half of the Empire's capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul) was burned by the rioters, and 30,000 people were killed. Soldiers under the Roman generals Narses and Belisarius trapped the rioters in the Hippodrome and slaughtered them.
After the Scottish Cup ended in a tie, instead of going into extra time, an angry crowd invaded the pitch and tore down the goalposts, as well as attacking the mounted police, resulting in over 100 injuries.
After African-American boxer Jack Johnson defeated the "Great White Hope" James J. Jeffries in the "Fight of the Century", race riots erupted in dozens of U.S. cities.
In an evening race at the former Roosevelt Raceway racetrack in Westbury, New York, two horses finished following a mid-race crash. The race was declared official, and it angered the 23,127 fans in attendance that night, setting off a riot. The fans were throwing bottles and other debris, and then jumping over the railing, smashing the tote board, followed by them attacking a judges booth. Finally, the fans set fires, as arriving firemen set their hoses on the rioters to push them back. 15 people were treated for injuries. [8]
In the worst riot in association football history, the host Peru was losing to Argentina, and before the game ended, the fans ultimately rioted, and the police fired tear gas into the crowd, as well as padlocking the gates, leading to 318 deaths, with many from asphyxia.
Ten Cent Beer Night was a promotion held by Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians during a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Stadium on Tuesday, June 4, 1974. The idea behind the promotion was to attract more fans to the game by offering 12 U.S. fl oz (354.9 ml) cups of 3.2% beer for just 10 cents each (regular price was 65 cents) with a limit of six per purchase.[9] During the game, fans became heavily intoxicated, culminating in a riot in the ninth inning.
Disco Demolition Night was an ill-fated baseballpromotion that took place on July 12, 1979, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with disco records was blown up on the field between games of the twi-night doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers. Many of those in attendance had come to see the explosion rather than the games and rushed onto the field after the detonation. The playing field was damaged both by the explosion and by the rowdy fans to the point where the White Sox were required to forfeit the second game of the doubleheader to the Tigers.
10 years after the controversial tour of Australia, South Africa began its tour of New Zealand, and like the '71 tour, South Africa became an international pariah due to its apartheid law. Protestors eventually revolted and broke into the country stadiums before and during games, leading to 2 of the games being cancelled.
After the Detroit Tigers' World Series victory over the San Diego Padres in 1984, riots broke out that killed one person and left 80 injured and eight rapes reported. Millions of dollars in property damage including a burned squad car and taxi. Rocks and glass bottles were reportedly thrown at police who were wearing riot gear.[10]
In 1984 and 1986, after 2 college football games between rivalsKansas State and Kansas, a group of 6,000 celebrating KSU fans, after a 24–7 victory, crowded into a bar, and eventually became rowdy, and initiated a riot. 2 years later, after KSU once again defeated KU, this time 29–12, another group of 6,000 KSU fans, this time wearing "Riotville" shirts, rioted again, and also torched a Volkswagen Beetle.
A year before the riot in Vancouver, Montreal experienced a riot shortly after their Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, as victory celebrations mutated into unrest. In the epicenter of the riots, Ste. Catherine St., stores were looted and police cars were set on fire. The riots eventually caused $2.5 million in damage,[11] $4.59 million in 2023 dollars.[12]
The National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks lost to the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. In what was supposed to be a congregation of 50 to 70 thousand fans led to riot after a man fell into the crowd. Policemen attempted to aid the man on bicycles, which the fans attempted to take, and the police fired tear gas into the fans, initiating the riot.
The Wednesday before the UEFA Cup Final, a fan from Copenhagen was stabbed, and eventually, a group of Galatasaray fans confronted and provoked a group of Arsenal fans in a bar, starting a brawl. Later, approximately 500 Arsenal fans[14] attacked from the main road behind the Galatasaray fans. This caused a severe riot in the city square with several restaurant facilities used by fans to fight each other with iron bars and knives also being used.[15] This lasted about 20 minutes[14] before the police attempted to break up the fight with tear gas.[16] The violence, which reportedly included fans from other Premier League clubs,[17] lasted for 45 minutes.[18] There were further also clashes at the airport the day after the game.[19]
Following a playoff victory against the San Jose Sharks, up to 30,000 fans of the Edmonton Oilers flooded onto Whyte Avenue to celebrate, with vandalism breaking out and bonfires being built on the street. 49 arrests were made, 8 of which were riot-related
Fans of FC Basel 1893 stormed St. Jakob-Park in the waning minutes of a game against FC Zürich. Zürich eventually scored, and ended Basel's chances of a threepeatSwiss Super League championship. In an attack of Zürich player Iulian Filipescu, who scored the winning goal, a flare was thrown at him, and Filipescu and teammate Alhassance Keita was forced to kick at the fans before police detained the hooligans.
During a game between A.S. Roma and Manchester United F.C., groups of fans started throwing missiles over a barrier that was to separate the fans, prompting Italian riot police to enter the stadium, which eventually sparked a brawl.
Seventeen years after the 1994 riot, Vancouver was faced with a second riot, after the Canucks lost, also in Game 7, to the Boston Bruins. Unlike in 1994, the fans met at giant screens, where Game 7 was being televised. Shortly before the game's end, fans began throwing bottles at the screen, as well as burning Canuck and Bruin jerseys and flags. The riot eventually escalated when fans began overturning and burning cars. In all, the fans burned 17 cars, as well as a fire truck, and ultimately, 85 rioters were arrested.
After a match between Croatia and France, Serbian hooligans attacked several Croatian fans, including a notable incident where a group of Croatian fans who were heading home were attacked by 50 masked men with axes, stones and bricks, and a fan was stabbed, with a Croatian van being set alight.
In Port Said, Egypt, 79 people were killed by Al-Masry Club fans using knives, swords, clubs, stones, bottles, and fireworks as weapons, who were attacking the Al-Ahly S.C. players.
After the San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series, Giants fans set fires, vandalized buses and police cars, shattered windows of businesses, scrawled graffiti, and threw bottles at police. Two people were shot, one person was stabbed, and a police officer was badly hurt from fireworks exploding. 40 arrests were made.[25][26]
On the day of the UEFA Euro 2020 final between Italy and England riots broke out at the entrance to Wembley Stadium shortly after kick off, and after the match in Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. A McDonalds was looted, a Burger King was looted and a Portuguese flag was burnt in Leicester Square. 86 people were arrested by police that day.[29][30][31][32][33][34]
During a match between Querétaro F.C. and Atlas F.C., supporters from both clubs erupted into violence at the second half, causing the match to be suspended.[35][36]
Los Angeles experienced unrest after the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series in New York on October 30th. Dodgers fans celebrated by taking to the streets of Los Angeles to loot stores, tagged buildings with graffiti, [39] and violently confront police who tried to stop the riot. [40] At around 12:30 AM PT the following day, the Los Angeles Police Department reported that fans setted a MTA bus on fire. [41]
Riots broke out in Amsterdam following a UEFA Europa League football match between Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch club AFC Ajax where Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were actively targeted, kicked, beaten, stabbed, thrown into the river, spat on, and even ran over by cars. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were also seen pulling Palestinian flags from local houses, chanting anti-Arab slurs, assaulting people, and vandalising local buildings as well as a taxi. The attacks came amid the Israel–Hamas war and were denounced as antisemitic, Islamophobic, and racist towards Arabs.[42]
References
^ abcRussell, Gordon W. (2004-07-01). "Sport riots: A social–psychological review". Aggression and Violent Behavior. 9 (4): 353–deutsched Reich 378. doi:10.1016/S1359-1789(03)00031-4. ISSN1359-1789.
^Roberts, Julian; Benjamin, Cynthia (2000-06-01). "Spectator Violence in Sports: A North American Perspective". European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. 8 (2): 163–181. doi:10.1023/A:1008753024786. ISSN0928-1371. S2CID140746185.
^Lang, Kurt; Engel Lang, Gladys (1961). Collective dynamics. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. OCLC922139509.
^Willem, Feenstra; Haro, Kraak; Mark, Misérus; Loes, Reijmer; Marjolein van, de Water (8 November 2024). "Hoe de oorlog in het Midden-Oosten Amsterdam in geweld onderdompelde" [How the Middle East War Engulfed Amsterdam in Violence]. De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 November 2024.
