mom, i'm at the match, i might not return

sad, but true. that's a message written by a group of football fans after some incidents between the police and suporters. last wednesday dinamo and steaua, romania's top two teams played their eternal derby in the championship. dinamo won 1-0 with a goal scored in the 92nd minute. there was a debate about the reffereee who had some malicious decisions against steaua.

but the reff is not my concern here.some fotball teams in romania have a history of rivalry with each other, dinamo and steaua are rivals since their very beginnings. some dinamo fans threw torches into steaua fans and they got very angry. the police came into play to calm them but they only managed to provoke them even more. the conflict escalated after the game. fans were hunted on the nearby streets and beaten with brutality by the police. they even used tear gas from close range and rubber bullets. 37 people were imediately sent to the emergency rooms of two hospitals, including wemen and kids. the vicepresident of steaua was outraged and organised a press conference. everybody jumped, but it seems they forget that this is not the first time such things happen. it is extremely sad but football had it's share of violent episodes in the past. after almost all the derbyes between steaua, dinamo and rapid fans are either attacked by the ones from the other team or by the police. the police say that they are stopping fans gone amoc but all to often they end up beating innocent bystanders too. the teams rivalry has taken over the stands and away games at certain teams stadiums have a certain degree of danger. i never go to a match against steaua or dinamo because i live in a neighbourhood that's far from my team's stadium and i don't consider the trip safe being through "enemy teritory". i remember coming back from a game in 1999. we had one against f.c. national with 3-1 and we climbed on the first place and eventually won the title. anyway, i was in the troley with my brother when at an intersection we met with a group of steaua fans. i had nothing on to identify me as a rapid fan(and my brother is a steaua fan) but there were other poeple who got in a dispute with the group. they were ten times more that we so they attacked. they used pepper spray, destroyed the troley and kicked the ass of every fan they could get their hands on. except some stinging in the throat, nose and eyes from the peper spray i was allright and got away from there as quickly as i could. a friend of mine, who is a dinamo fan, told me about how the local gipsy clans were chasing them with swords on the streets of ploiesti.dnamo and universitatea craiova fans are arch enemies. a few years ago craiova fans were attacked when they arrived in bucharest and almost all their flags were destroyed. this year two craiova fans were stabbed in bucharest, and two steaua fans in timisoara. when rapid played against steaua in the uefa cup increased security measures were taken and nothing happened. after that dinamo played against steaua and their fans clashed on the streets because security wasn't as high as the prevoius games. so i guess the only way to prevent these kind of things from happening is to keep police in the strrets, but also to punish any abuse made by them.


i like going at matches. i like it even more when the stadium is packed and everybody sings. its magical. all those flags, the scarfs the banners the coreography, the confetti, the songs. there are many people who feel just like me. i believe that a fans job is to go at the game, cheer for his team and create hell for the other side. by hell i mean creating a feaning roar and boo-ing and whistleing them. violence has nothing to do with sports. the stadium is not the place for family picnics but neither is it for gang fights. it's a place where you go to see the most beautiful game and to create an awesome show in the stands. i don't know about other teams but i can tell you about rapid fans because i go to almost all of the matches played home. sadly, i noticed that most of them hardly sing or mess up the songs but when it comes to making trouble they are the first. the leaders are trying to stop this. they are making plees to keep the cursing to a minimum and to stop causing trouble. some idiots throw lighters in the field and then our stadium gets suspended and no more game for anyone. that happend last year.i was pretty angry because i missed two games because of that. if you do not come to sing, to clap, to help your team then you shouldn't be there at all. there are other places in the stadium where "old people" sit. i'm proud to be a fan to wear my teams scarf. if i come home with a sore throught and extremely tired it's ok because i know i gave everything i got to cheer for my team

we should learn from the english. after all they're the ones who invented huliganism so they have the best ways to keep it at bay. i want to enjoy many more matches from now on