With the worries that an evening kick-off could spark riots after an afternoon of drinking, Ireland’s friendly game against England on June 7th has been moved forward to a lunchtime kickoff.
England’s footballers and their fans return to Dublin for the first time in 20 years, after the 1995 game was called off as hooligans ransacked the then Lansdowne Road Stadium. Now the Aviva, the game will take place at 1pm, to limit the amount of alcohol consumed by fans before the teams battle it out.
Joining George on this evening’s Right Hook will be Emmet Malone, football correspondent for the Irish Times, who’ll comment on the move, and field George’s question as to why this didn’t happen for the recent rugby clash between the two nations.
Tune in live at 4.45pm: http://www.newstalk.com/player/
Hooliganism and violence in football happens seemingly everywhere that the beautiful game is played, but in Brazil, one sporting team is turning to mothers to sort it out.
In Recife, a city which played host to five games during last summer’s FIFA World Cup championships, the mothers of fans of Sport Club do Recife were recruited to act as stewards during the recent derby clash with local rivals Nautico. Some 30 mothers were asked to walk around the pitch during the game, sporting high-vis vests displaying the words Seguranca Mae – meaning 'Security Mums' in Portuguese.
Recife has developed a reputation as an infamous hotspot for fan violence over the past few years, and problems at local football had gotten so bad that a decision to take drastic action was made.
Club officials said that the 30 women who had volunteered to steward the game had been obliged to follow the same training regime as any other security official or volunteer working that evening – the Nautico derby is considered the biggest game on the calendar for Recife.
Aricio Fortes, vice-president of the PR company that cooked up the stunt, told the Sport Club do Recife website: "The idea was to make the most fanatical supporters aware and help in some way to bring peace to stadiums.
"At the end of the day, no one wants to fight in front of a mother, especially his own."
And the move has been deemed a huge success, as along with winning the match 1-0, there were no reports of any unrest and disturbances during the game.
