Strict liability should hit fans where it hurts
Football teams should always take ownership of liability for all that goes wrong during a match to hit the yob players where it hurts.
Humza Yousaf, the justice secretary, has announced that government action will be explored if football clubs, such as Celtic and Rangers, don’t take “meaningful action” themselves.
Pitch conduct is a huge issue and while a Grand National style approach could be taken for players who dive, the bigger issue is the fans themselves.
With a cigarette lighter, a coconut, and smoke bombs being deployed as weapons in the stadiums, things must change.
For people arguing that Strict Liability is punishing the wrong people for misconduct, they are viewing it from the wrong lens.
Where all other attempts fail, this might be the one solution that works.
Through mutually assured destruction, we can sleep knowing that only the biggest fool would turn to nuclear war – risking the might of a nation’s nuclear arsenal retaliating back at them.
Likewise, where it may be difficult to find a needle in a haystack, the threat of burning the whole haystack down would make the most obnoxious needle adopt a low profile.
Not only does Strict Liability hit the miscreants where it hurts – their prized football team, it also acts as punishments for the many fans around them who turn a blind eye.
In defence of anyone caught up in crowd-fever, it is a strong feeling of dissociation and shared responsibility.
The only way to provide an incentive to behave is to outline the crowd consequences and bypass the feeling of anonymity amongst a thousand peers.
The argument for it is simple: football is just a game, albeit a billion-dollar industry one, and so people should be willing to treat it as such.
I’m sure everyone has had to call a brutal family attempt at Monopoly short of finishing, lest a coconut or sibling’s head gets thrown at the board.
One must also concede that it is a career for the players and auxiliary staff, and on that front, there must be a responsibility.
Just like a shop owner must clean the mess of a disrespectful customer, and restaurant staff must deal with rude clientele, professional footballers must take ownership of their “customers”.
There is no other sport which sees such disgusting behaviour, and while statistically, there should be a proportional imbalance, the scales are exaggerated beyond that.
Is it because no other sports fans have such devout fan loyalty to their team or fellow supporters?
And this is where the line must be drawn.
The limit to this must remain on the pitch and in the stands.
