Hooliganism (France v Denmark (11 June 17:00 BST))

Member Name: mark1

Product:	France v Denmark (11 June 17:00 BST)
Date:	12/06/00 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Gives the game a bad name.

I read a newspaper report the other day stating that a shopowner in Amsterdam has made a small fortune selling knives which are illegal in this and most other European countries to football fans. The FA have once again stated that they are aware of known football hooligans who have travelled to Holland yet once again have done very little about it. I know this is not just an English problem, Holland, Germany and of course Turkey have had serious problems in the past also, but what are the English FA and government afraid of? Why don't they take a more positive action? OK, some fans have been banned from travelling abroad but so many others known to the FA and police still get away with it. Perhaps we should support the host nation in exacting severe punishment on trouble-makers during Euro 2000. What will happen, however, is these guys will spend a night in the cells, be deported the next day and that will be the end of it - they'll be at it again next time round. These thugs aren't football fans - this is not what the game is about - and they give the real fans a bad name with them. I believe the reputation of what is a mindless minority largely contributed to the trouble over in Turkey, and will continue elsewhere until the FA and government get tough and sort them out permanently.

Summary: