How did football(soccer) fans get so involved in right-wing violence? In the UK, Greece, now Egypt..

[pampango]

GlobalPost correspondent Erin Cunningham, who is in Cairo, added that the protestors hail from a few specific groups:

"The protests are dominated by the reactionary fringe — the fundamentalist Muslims, or Salafis. But there are also non-extremists there as well, including football fans, known as "Ultras"...

"As for the Ultras, they're normally at the forefront of any Cairo protest — and are around to do the heavy lifting like scaling or tearing down walls, and hanging flags. That's not to say they're not there to protest the film, but they're known for bringing energy to Egypt's protest crowds."

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/egypt/120911/egypt-angry-protest-terry-jones-film-scale-us-embassy-walls-tear-down-flags

This is similar to the role that the English Defence League in the UK.

The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the United Kingdom. At many of their demonstrations, EDL members have clashed with counter-demonstrators, including supporters of Unite Against Fascism (UAF).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Defence_League

Ties between football (soccer) and right-wing violence seems to be a problem in many other European countries, including:

Greece: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dawn_%28Greece%29#Football_hooliganism
Germany: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism#Germany
France: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism#France
Denmark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism#Denmark

I understand that sports fans can at times be too passionate about their favorite team, but the transition from sports to right-wing politics is hard to figure.

[The Magistrate]

1. Wherever You Go, Sir, Jocks Is Jocks....

[no_hypocrisy]

2. They mistakenly assign nationalistic superiority to rooting for their team to win and to exact

revenge when they don't.

[tama]

3. Culture of violence

Young male macho thugs who enjoy us-against-them tribal violence.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Tribalism is right wing - a form of "us against them"

and football supporters are intensely tribal - it's one city against another, or one district of a city against another. You get one group of supporters coming into the 'territory' of another for a match - at once, often delivered altogether at a railway station, from where they make their way to the stadium - which turns into a 'march'. It's also mainly at weekends, when people are drinking. The potential for confrontation and violence is obvious, and those who look forward to violence gravitate to it. And anyone capable of making someone from a few miles away "the other" will probably do it, only far worse, with immigrants or foreigners.

[tama]

6. Drinking is big part of it

And that's why there have been soccer matches (IIRC in Spain) where alcohol was banned but cannabis allowed. No problems in those events.

[TheMightyFavog]

5. And some clubs have a history of attracting right wing supporters.

IIRC, SS Lazio in Italy has a notorious history of being very pro-right wing.

Now there are also teams with left wing supporters, such as A.S. Livorno Calcio, Celtic, (Whose supporters have a song called "We're having a party when Thatcher dies&quot Hapoel Tel Aviv and Olympique de Marseille.

And then there's some teams with both left and right wing supporters groups (ultras).

[pampango]

7. Reading about the Cairo riots was the first time I had seen the term "ultras". Thanks for the info.

Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of association football teams. The behavioral tendency of ultras groups includes the use of flares (primarily in tifo choreography), vocal support in large groups and the displaying of banners at football stadiums, all of which are designed to create an atmosphere which encourages their own team and intimidates opposing players and supporters.

The actions of ultras groups can occasionally be overly extreme and are sometimes influenced by political ideologies or views on racism, in some instances to the point where the central ideology of the ultras phenomenon, passionate and loyal support of one's team, becomes a sideshow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultras

[Blue_Tires]

8. This has been going on for a LONG time...

Check out Poland and some other Eastern Europe leagues...

May as well check out Argentina too, while you're at it...