Blame the real culprits
I got a bit of criticism when I suggested the other day that the Malawi Police Service (MPS) needs to provide security at football matches without necessarily being hired. Some wrongly understood that suggestion as a call to deny the police officers the duty allowances that go with that service. Obviously, that is mixing matters up because the monetary aspect is not only secondary if not incidental but also a bit of a distraction.
Hearing what happened at Balaka Stadium last Saturday during a crunch TNM Super League clash between defending champions and title favourites Silver Strikers and erstwhile challengers Mighty Wanderers where the life of one fan was lost to violence, I feel somewhat vindicated because I strongly believe there is a great chance that the ugly scenes that were witnessed could have been avoided, or at least brought under some control, had we not commercialised security.
It needs to be remembered that the MPS is the only arm of the State that is constitutionally mandated to provide security in this country and it is my belief that security is not a privilege for a few people who can afford it. It is a right which must be enjoyed by every citizen without compromise. The fracas in Balaka reached the tragic levels it did because the MPS compromised on its duties due to fiscal considerations.
It has been reported in the media that as security experts, the MPS told a pre-match meeting that they would require at least 45 officers in the stadium to effectively provide security for the match. The clubs, on the other hand, looked at the financial implications of hiring that huge number of officers and decided to pay for just over half that number. Amazingly, the police accepted such a flawed arrangement and sent the number that was requested.
What you get from this story is that if it were all left to the police, the stadium would have had 45 officers and one would like to believe that the capacity to control the crowd could have been significantly increased, but because we have left the responsibility of providing security to club officials who have no training or knowledge in security, we have allowed other interests to compromise security and the cost has been massive.
My view is that the police must come to places like these because they know of the security threats that are there without being hired. We get significant chunks of our salaries and much more money through other forms of tax deducted because we want the State to provide security among other social obligations. If it is necessary that police officers who go for duty at football grounds should get some allowances, that is where the money should come from.
It is easy to blame the clubs and punish them the way Sulom has done with Silver and Wanderers, but these clubs’ main responsibility is football. They are not security experts and if they make wrong decisions that are upheld by those who are trained in security matters, the blame cannot go to the clubs. That, to me, is one of the reasons I do not support the Sulom judgements. The real culprits have gone scot-free while innocent people have been punished.
Meanwhile, it is FA Cup weekend in England and there are a few all-Premier League clashes with the North London derby between leaders Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, who are buoyed by their triumph at Old Trafford, the pick of the bunch. Are we in for some shock results as tradition demands?
Its great to see the analysis here. However, Gracian, you need to know that the Police Service as sole public-security providers is heavily limited. I dont think that the Police are particularly interested in the money but its like an incentive for them to do the job. If covering footballl is a public service then the police also have a right to cancel matches based on insufficient security personnel. And it will be required that we ask for permission to host matches like what political party functions to. The Police did their best to advise on the minimum number of police officers required but based on monetary grounds the teams declined. To me in this case the teams still have to blame. Ground owners and teams agreed that the security will be provide by the host team. From what I got it was Silver supporters who ignited the whole fiasco as such the teams are responsible. Everywhere in this world Teams are responsible for the behaviour of their supporters and hence the punishment. Teams have been asked to play in empty stadiums or outside their own countries in some international matches. No doubt the technique that the Police used and have been using is under average and the Police have to be called upon to improve. To me the punishment will send a clear message to the teams. Other measures of dealing with the root causes are beyond Malawi’s capability.