- Research highlights a significant increase in alcohol-related issues during major football tournaments, including public disorder and domestic violence.
- Surely, it’s high time to wage a war on alcohol.
“It’s coming home, it’s coming, Football’s coming home!” The familiar chant reverberates through the streets. England has just beaten Switzerland in a penalty shootout and advanced to the semifinals. However, when England is losing or has lost a match, these jubilant cheers quickly fade into frustration and disappointment.
After a game, many Brits stumble home from their local pub, having downed four pints of lager. Drunk and disoriented, they unjustly take out their frustration over the Three Lions’ loss on their wives and partners. This behaviour leads to incidents of domestic violence.
In the UK, the consumption of alcohol has long been intertwined with the tradition of watching football matches. This creates a cultural bond where many England fans (excluding British Muslims) gather in pubs and homes to enthusiastically watch matches with drinks in hand. Therefore, when proposals to restrict alcohol at the Qatar 2022 World Cup surfaced, England fans and stakeholders responded as if someone had suggested playing football without the ball.
Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine highlights that alcohol consumption increases significantly during major football tournaments, correlating with spikes in public disorder and domestic violence incidents. The study calls for targeted interventions to mitigate alcohol-related harm during these events.
Similarly, a 2014 study conducted by the University of Lancaster analysed hospital admissions during the 2002, 2006, and 2010 World Cup tournaments. The study revealed a correlation between England’s match outcomes and increased admissions for alcohol-related domestic abuse incidents. In Lancashire, incidents of domestic abuse surged by 38% following England’s losses and by 26% after victories or draws. Thus, the apprehension of wives and girlfriends awaiting their inebriated men at home persists irrespective of England’s outcome. However, this exacerbates notably following an England loss.
The impact of alcohol during major football tournaments was starkly illustrated during the 2016 Euros in Marseille, where clashes between British and Russian football fans prompted the French government to swiftly impose a ban on alcohol in and around football stadiums.
In a study conducted at the University of Oxford, titled ‘The Drunken Bum Theory of Domestic Violence,’ data was collated from 6,002 households.
The study posits that alcohol consumption contributes substantially to wife beating
It concludes that male perpetrators of domestic violence often blame their actions on being intoxicated, framing it as a situational rather than a habitual issue.
Despite these findings, there remains a surprising lack of feminists sounding the alarm on such issues. Surely, it’s time to wage a war against alcohol?
Between 2015 and 2019, excessive alcohol use resulted in roughly 140,000 deaths per year in the United States. Approximately 40 percent of these deaths were due to homicides.
It is therefore no surprise that many female football enthusiasts who visited Doha for the 2022 World Cup expressed how safe they felt with the absence of alcohol at the games.
“I was expecting a very dangerous place for women. I didn’t think I was going to be safe here … from coming here that’s not been the case, as a travelling female fan I can say that I have felt very safe,” England fan Ellie Molloson told Reuters.
“I think it actually is due to a more socially conservative society. I think alcohol contributes a bit more to hostility, rather than things like catcalling, wolf whistling and sexual harassment,” the 19 year old explained.
If you’re a non-Muslim reading this, some of you might be thinking, “I can handle my booze just fine, thank you very much. No need to go to the extreme lengths you Muzzies do by avoiding it altogether.”
Wrong.
As a fully paid member of the “I Told You So” club, it’s my duty to inform you that science is only now catching up with the timeless and superior teachings of Islam.
After decades of convoluted and contradictory research (from claims that moderate alcohol consumption might be beneficial to suggestions that all types of alcohol carry health risks), the consensus in Science is emerging: Even modest alcohol intake can impact health outcomes.
