From memories of Vinh Stadium to Hang Day Stadium: A painful lesson from flares.
(Baonghean.vn) - Eleven years ago, at Vinh Stadium, "horrific" and any other strong words could describe the riots during the match between SLNA and Hai Phong. September 11th at Hang Day Stadium can also be considered a dark day for Vietnamese football. The common thread in all these incidents stems from flares.
Heads heated up because of "flares".
Flares and parachute flares, originally used for maritime rescue, reach temperatures of 2,000 to 3,000 degrees Celsius when ignited. These are not prohibited items and are widely available on the market, especially in the port city of Hai Phong. Not only in Vietnam, but flares are banned by FIFA in football stadiums worldwide.
In 2008, during a match between SLNA and Hai Phong, riots broke out, fans fought each other, numerous people were injured, and one Nghe An fan died after being run over by a vehicle carrying Hai Phong fans.
The most horrific scenes unfolded, worse than the previous match against The Cong. The Vinh stadium was suspended for the rest of the 2008 season (3 matches), SLNA was fined 50 million dong, and 3 points were deducted for allowing the riots to occur.
Those were unforgettable days for both Hai Phong and true SLNA fans. And the root cause of what happened that day was flares. Hai Phong fans lit them after their team scored the equalizer at the end of the match, igniting a horrific brawl.
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| The riots at Vinh Stadium in 2008 stemmed from flares. (Archival photo) |
Fortunately, after many years, this story subsided, and Hai Phong fans and SLNA fans officially shook hands in 2012, "closing the past and looking towards the future," building a good relationship together for the sake of the team and Vietnamese football.
Recognizing that flares pose a risk of violence and create a negative image, Hai Phong fans have stopped setting off flares at Vinh Stadium. Of course, the Vinh Stadium organizers now have ample experience in controlling such issues. Conversely, SLNA fans, though few in number, are extremely well-intentioned when they come to Hai Phong.
In what happened at Hang Day Stadium on September 11th, when Nam Dinh scored the equalizer, flares were lit in the excessive excitement of the fans, causing agitated behavior in the stands. Especially when Nam Dinh lost 1-6, the sadness and frustration turned into rage, and Nam Dinh fans again used flares to vent their anger.
In foreign stadiums such as those in Thailand and Malaysia, security cameras are installed in large numbers in the stands to monitor fans.At the Bukit Zalil Stadium, with a capacity of nearly 90,000 seats, even a single fan caught smoking will be detected by security. In the Netherlands, fans will be banned from stadiums for 10 years if security forces find them bringing flares into the stadium.
The role of the Supporters' Club
The worst consequences were that a female fan sitting in stand A suffered severe burns, and a riot police officer was assaulted by the fans, resulting in a broken arm.
Clearly, the riots stemmed from the irresponsibility and negligence of Hanoi FC and the organizers of Hang Day Stadium. However, it should be remembered that Hang Day Stadium had previously escaped a stadium ban for a similar offense, due to a decision by the VFF Disciplinary Committee.
The stadium's organizing committee failed to fulfill its duty, unable to control the hooligans and unruly elements, but all the brawls and flares lit in the stands stemmed from the way the fan club and its leader organized the match.
The author still remembers that, after the 2008 riots, the leaders of the fan clubs of Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, The Cong, SLNA, etc., sat down together. Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong - Chairman of the SLNA fan club - proposed a short exchange, where fans of both teams would exchange flowers before each match and agree on many issues to move towards authentic football. A small act, but full of humanity and meaning.
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| The SLNA and Hai Phong fan clubs have recently been working together to create a beautiful match. Photo: SLNA FC |
In 2013, the fan clubs of Hai Phong, SLNA, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, and the northern region, along with Nam Dinh fans, also came together for a V.League 2013 end-of-season gala. Unfortunately, the Hanoi fan club was not among the attendees. That camaraderie and connection has not been maintained to this day.
Now, the question arises: why is Hanoi and Hang Day Stadium a favorite destination for flare-burning and disturbances by extremist elements? Where were the security forces when they failed to screen spectators for "prohibited items" in the stadium? However, if representatives of Hanoi and Nam Dinh fans had sat down together before the match, things certainly wouldn't have turned out so badly.
True Nam Dinh fans have put in a lot of effort to build a positive image for Nam Dinh football and for Vietnamese football in general. But then, just one match ruined it all.
Not only the VFF, VPF, and the Hang Day Stadium organizing committee need to be vigilant, but it's also time for V.League fan clubs to take action and come together for the development of Vietnamese football. The stadium is the fans' home ground, and no security or organizing committee can monitor fans better than the core members of these fan clubs.
Learning from past mistakes, on September 15th, when SLNA plays away against B. Binh Duong, the SLNA Supporters' Club has adopted a policy of "no flares" in all matches. This call has been widely supported and approved. The lessons from the past are very valuable, and hopefully, the Supporters' Clubs will unite to avoid similar unfortunate incidents in the future.
In addition, football teams in Vietnam need to genuinely care more about their fan clubs and groups, instead of just handing them hundreds of tickets and leaving them to the stadium organizers and security.
Harsh penalties for clubs and stadium organizers only address the symptoms, not the root of the problem. For fans to become professional, the league organizers, the teams, the players themselves, and the referees must all take the lead in behaving professionally and fairly.
Beautiful images of Phan Văn Đức and SLNA on the opening day of V.League 2019.
(Baonghean.vn) - Foreign player Michael Olaha shone, SLNA secured a convincing victory, and Phan Van Duc interacted with special fans after the win against Quang Nam – these were some of the beautiful images from Vinh Stadium on the opening day of the V.League 2019.
