Football-Euro Style

Last night, after a game in Istanbul, Switzerland advanced to the 2006 World Cup over Turkey. People were honking their horns in celebration thoughout the streets in Zurich.

This morning, I came to work and heard from my co-worker that there had been violence aimed towards the Swiss soccer team and fans in Istanbul. Multiple Swiss players had been beaten up by the other team and ended up in the hospital. Swiss fans, were made to stay at the stadium after the match was over because there was concern for their safety. It was further told to me that despite the Swiss fans being kept in the stadium, some were beaten up by the security guards!

My co-worker and I were shocked by this news and could not believe that this would happen. But both of us thought "Oh, it's Turkey. And they want to be part of the EU?!" How uncivilized the Turks are. Hopefully, something will be done against the Turkish football team to punish them and their fans!

But wait, there is more.

So, I decided to read about it for myself on line and further build a case against the people of Turkey. Well, reading the news I found quite a different story.

Apparently, one Swiss play did go to the hospital after being kicked in the groin but this happened after he kicked a coach from the other team (or something like that). The situation was tense after the game ended but BOTH teams acted aggressively towards each other. There were not reports in the media that I found, of security guards beating Swiss fans or players out of anger. The violence which erupted after the match was minimal and existed between a few players. It was not wide spread and was provoked. Even the site swissinfo.com has no mention of security guards attacking fans. Only an interview with an official or coach about the game and how it ended.

Basically, the lesson is that we are racist. We let rumors of other societies acting like animals become a reason to further marginallized them or harbor prejudices. I am not innocent either. I was a believer in the rumors of violence against the Swiss and I am embarrassed to admit that I felt vindicated with the news. This goes to show that we need to be careful of what we believe. I think a similar lesson was learned out of the Hurricane Katriena disaster.