Among The ThugsThe Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives Click here to go to the current Soccerphile.com
11/4/2002
by R. Sanborn Brown
Among The ThugsIn addition to selling this summer's World Cup, the Japanese media is also playing another important role: fomenting mass hysteria. "Take cover for the thugs will soon be here!" is a strong undercurrent running through recent Japanese media coverage on the upcoming tournament. Particularly in areas in which England will play - Osaka, Saitama, and Sapporo - mass media-induced panic is building. Shops and restaurants are threatening to keep their shutters down, schools may close, airports will be tightly patrolled, and heavily armed police and security teams will be out en masse.
In a recent issue of a Japanese sports tabloid, a feature story - entitled "To All Japanese: These Are the Fans Who Will Be Coming to our Fare Shores to Support the World Cup" - appeared along with a two-page grainy black-and-white photo spread of a pub full of hundreds of Chelsea supporters, many of whom fit the beefy, closely-shaved head, lager-jar-in-hand profile of a Hooligan. The subtitle of the article read, "Less than eighty days to go: A special report on the Korea/Japan World Cup. Most worrying to the organizers are the so-called Hooligans, those who go berserk in and around soccer stadiums. A first-hand account from the birthplace of Hooliganism, England." More badly-lit, cinema-verité pictures followed: tattooed skinhead supporters in their Chelsea strip bellying up to the bar; away supporters at a Millwall match seated in complete isolation from any other spectators for their own safety; police presence at a match; and, outside a pub, a cavalry division in full riot gear.
The article begins with our intrepid Japanese journalist wandering off in search of some refreshment and a bit of a thrill at a pub next to the Stamford Bridge ground. "Male Chelsea supporters had gathered at the pub some two hours before kickoff. They were drinking and singing the team's anthem over and over. The mood of the establishment did not look in the least bit inviting to a Japanese out for a day of football." Outside of the pub for a breather and bit of fresh air, the reporter asked some policemen if the patrons inside were Hooligans or not. "No," came the reply, "those are just ordinary supporters."
An unemployed philosopher in the crowd, "Joe," asserted: "It's a stereotype that every skinhead sporting tattoos is a Hooligan. Like thinking all blacks are murderers. Among the hardcore thugs, there even those who will come to matches in suit-and-tie. Then, using their cell phones, they will gather and start trouble."
A Millwall fan - whose supporters are notoriously violent - 40-year-old Joe continued that "our lot" recently got into a bit of trouble with some Portsmouth supporters. "A few years back," he went on, "one of ours was killed by some of the Portsmouth fans. We love Millwall, get excited at the matches - but we're not like those who come just to stir up trouble."
The match in Japan that has everyone most nervous is England-Argentina, which will be held in Sapporo. Joe: "Something might well happen. There was the [Falklands] war…there are still bad feelings." With even these "ordinary football supporters" - so full of menace - scaring the living hell out of Japanese, the report thus concludes any sign of trouble must be nipped in the bud. "We can only hope the ordinary supporters don't start any Hooligan-like trouble."
In the obsession with Hooligans and the potential for trouble they represent, the Japanese media rarely if ever discuss non-British supporters. In a recent deviation, though, fans from Germany, Ireland, and Argentina joined English supporters on a list of potential sources of trouble. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation announced in early April that - in a move to combat terrorism and Hooliganism during the World Cup - plainclothes cops, or "air marshals," will fly on select (unannounced) international and domestic flights. A la Israel's state carrier El Al, the marshals will be armed and on hand to prevent drunken and rowdy behavior.
An issue that has yet to be considered though is that, to date, the majority of fans coming from England will be made up of 4,000 members of the official England supporters club - none of whom may have a criminal record. Some 2,000 other supporters are expected to come on their own. In terms of sheer numbers, then, the organizers will be dealing with far fewer people than a European venue would. Also, "foreign experts," or "spotters," have been hired and will be stationed at all major airports and at the matches themselves. If a known Hooligan is spotted, he will be arrested on the spot.
The birthplace of football, the birthplace of Hooliganism: this ultimately is what has Japanese organizing committee (JAWOC) most worried. To allay these fears, British Ministers have been sent on walkabout near the venues where England will play to reassure local storeowners and residents. In another counter-terror, counter-hooligan measure, JAWOC announced on April 2nd the list of items that will be banned from the venues: non-folding umbrellas; alcohol; cans, bottles, pet bottles; whistles; confetti; flagpoles; tripods; political and/or religious banners; suitcases and large bags. Moreover, Japan Railways (JR) West, which serves the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto region, announced that it would be securing the rocks that line the track beds at the major stations near venues at which England will be playing. "Dear Honorable Hooligans," read the title of an article in the Asahi Shinbun, and then in earthy Osaka dialect: "No goddam rock throwing!" Using a resin, the rocks will be "glued together" - and thus prevent them from being taken from the stations for the duration of the Cup.
Ten years into recession, Japan may be witnessing the "mini-bubble" the World Cup potentially represents being slowly and unwittingly eaten away by overheated media coverage. Shop owners near Osaka's Nagai Stadium, where England will play Nigeria, were recently coerced into a photo-op with a smiling John Denham, British Minister of State at the Home Office. The storeowners themselves are well aware of the bind they are in: stay open and make a killing, or succumb to (perhaps legitimate) fear and cower behind locked steel shutters.
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