Winning triggers violence in sport

Research reported in Injury Prevention on rugby in the Welsh capital city Cardiff, have found that it is winning, not losing, that triggers violence at sports events. Their findings are based on the numbers of people requiring emergency medical treatment for assault at the time of international rugby and football matches in one capital city.

The rugby mad Welsh, in the largest city in Wales, Cardiff which has a population of 300,000, are huge supporters of rugby and football and matches often attract in excess of 70,000 fans. The research team monitored the number of assault cases presenting to the only hospital emergency department in Cardiff between May 1995 and April 2002. The emergency medicine facility is about a mile from the national stadium.

106 home and away matches took place during this time, 74 rugby matches and 32 football matches, and almost 27,000 assault cases required emergency treatment.

30 cases of assault on average,required medical attention on the day of the match and on the following day with attendance peaking just before midnight on the day of the match. On days when no match had been played, the average number of assault cases dropped down to 21.

Whether the match was home or away, or was won or lost, had a significant impact on the figures.

When Wales won the average number of assault injuries seen was 33; when Wales lost, the average dropped to 25.

The number of assault injuries was also around a third higher at weekends,when matches were played, than when there were no matches, and whether matches were played at home or away had little impact on the rates. It was the score and match attendance that mattered.

The findings suggest that assault may not be because a national team loses, but the result of a win which could boost levels of self confidence, assertiveness or patriotism, all of which might lead to violence, say the researchers. Winning of course is also likely to be associated with the celebratory downing of alcohol, a factor that is well known to increase the risk of violence.

Interestingly, other research also shows that domestic violence is more likely when the male assailant's local team wins.

Contact:
Dr Vaseekaran Sjvarajasingam, Violence Research Group, Cardiff University,
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Tel: +44 (0)2920 742 442
Email: [email protected]