Firstly, this being the last article in 2005, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all readers for their following and feedback in the past twelve months and subsequently would like to honestly wish everyone, sport lovers or not, a sincere and serene Happy and very prosperous New Year.

A special dedication, without any doubt, goes towards all fellow local sport referees, not only those who referee my sport but also to all referees around, be it whatever sport they officiate, hoping that they continue to offer good, consistent and honest services to the local sporting community. I thoroughly believe that there are a number of excellent referees here on our islands who give a magnificent performance week in, week out, even though they may not be respected to the full in the end.

I do not want to sound gloomy but unfortunately I decided to end this year on quite a sour note as I want to fully condemn the obscene language and gestures which are becoming very frequent in our sports stadia, although I will be mainly deal with what I heard and saw in the local football stadium.

Shame, shame and yet more shame!!! This is the only comment I can put forward to those sections of local supporters to recur to such abyssal levels of human behaviour in their quest to try to support their team.

My fellow friend and sports editor, Henry Brincat, had dedicated almost all of his weekly Sunday editorial on the same topic just three weeks ago following the Valletta vs Floriana derby. Yet, such incidents did not stop but only repeated themselves up till the present week.

I would like to quote part of Brincat’s editorial as it also holds for the recent incidents, “But is insulting one another, using obscene language, a modern form of support? Is there a need to go down to such levels? Were the players on the pitch instigated and encouraged by that form of support? Just ask them and they will tell you that they were also disgusted!”

I have witnessed and also ‘felt’ tense games between arch rivals abroad (here I am not talking just of football and I fully know what I am stating) and fully understand that just like players, coaches and club administrators, the supporters come to a match fully charged and want to rejoice with a win.

In this sense, there is nothing wrong in following your team in a vociferous and enthusiastic way (actually this creates a nice environment for all the family as after all most sport disciplines are trying to sell themselves as a recreation for all the family). Yet, rival supporters usually taunt each other to great lengths (I have sometimes also finished smiling, even when on duty as an official, upon hearing certain ‘civilized’ taunts) but not resort to such low, foul and obscene remarks as those all can hear easily, in certain matches, locally. And that is what makes it a serious problem, the fact that all these remarks could be easily heard by all and sundry, including the police officers and the local sports association’s officials.

In my opinion, action should be taken immediately on site by the police officers. National laws prohibit (if I am not mistaken in this regard) the use of obscene language in public and thus immediate orders should be issued so that the main culprits (I tend to believe that it all boils down to a handful of individuals who need a good shake up in their interpersonal relationships) are apprehended and taken to police quarters there and then and if need be a show is made of it so that others get the message.

In no way do I want to be judged as if I am stating that the police do not do their job well. I know that such officers are human beings too and sometimes there would not be enough officers to face these few offenders. The reason is that, in all honesty, these individuals tend to be most rowdy and aggressive and sometimes a handful of officers would risk injury and thus more officers would be needed.

I truly wish that the police (although I cannot generalize as there are some efficient officers who are serious on their job and let nobody take the mickey out of them and these must surely be complimented) make use of their authority so as to curb a small number of persons who are unworthy to be called supporters and who may also be leading other true supporters not to continue to attend the games as they cannot stand such behaviour.

If, however, no action is taken (and this is what is happening most of the time), the initial offenders will be quickly joined by dozens of fellow supporters as the latter will start repeating the chants as they feel safe as no serious action was taken in the first place.

This will start off a ripple and multiplier effect as the opposing fans will quickly reply at par or worse still. If officers on their side make a reaction, the fans will (in a sense rightly) complain that their ‘friends’ on the opposite side are having a field day and nobody is stopping them.

The result? Who wins? Nobody. Who loses? Everybody. The chanting fans themselves have lost as they lowered themselves to a pitiful level but worse still they could easily have scandalized for ever the young children who attend wholeheartedly these games as they have a far different vision of sport.

I am a dad but will surely think it more than twice before deciding to take my son to a match in the future if the present trend continues and no consistent and concrete action is taken. Why should he hear (and I want to make it clear that I am no walking ‘saint’) such vile and obscene remarks?

Hearing swear words coming from your child’s mouth can be very upsetting. More astonishing and disturbing would be if those first swear words your young child utters were learned on the sports front.

I still think that we, honest citizens, rightfully expect action (not just merely trying to shush up the offenders but immediately removing them physically from the stands and fining them) from the police officers.

Yet, if this does not arrive, there is still other action that could be taken. This should arrive from the respective national sports association.

I fully am of the opinion that it will only take a case or two to the maximum for the lesson to be learned by everybody.

What sanctions could be taken? This will ultimately be the decision of the disciplinary committee or whoever deals with such matters. If it was up to me, I would start thinking on the lines of replaying a match, annulling a result, deduct points or even award a match by default.

If incidents persist, I would think of relegating or even disqualifying a club from competitions.

Here’s to hoping that the New Year will see twist in this matter and such incidents will be dealt with effectively. If this happens, I think that more true sport loving people will return to the stadia.

A Happy New Year to all!!

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