What do those Ukranian fans think they were trying to achieve?

I have always struggled to understand crowd violence at football matches and I have never managed to get into the warped mind of those who think it is an enjoyable and acceptable part of the game and of life.

Idiots

I struggle even more to understand the absolute idiots in the crowd at the Ukraine against England World Cup qualifier on Saturday who threw a barrage of lit flares onto the pitch into the England penalty area.

Ukraine needed to win the game to have a chance of making the play-offs for the World Cup finals. It was a crucial game for them. Ukraine are also pencilled in to be the joint hosts of Euro 2012 although UEFA are looking into the suitability of the country to do so.

Mindless

It is against this background that the actions of the mindless idiots in the crowd become even more ridiculous. The English Football Association will make a formal complaint to FIFA after flares were thrown on to the pitch on two occasions.

Just after the match at the Dnipro Stadium had kicked off, fans behind Robert Green’s goal threw several lit flares into the penalty area. Many more were thrown on after Andriy Shevchenko missed a penalty following Green’s sending off.

A spokesman for the FA described the events as “unacceptable”.

“We have spoken with the Fifa delegate and we will be submitting a report with regard to the missiles. We will be following that up with a formal complaint. It is not acceptable for any player to come under attack from sustained missile-throwing and we will be forwarding that to Fifa in the next week.”

The match had to be stopped for quite lengthy delays both times whilst the flares were cleared from the pitch. The referee threatened to abandon the game at half-time and an announcement was made to the crowd to say that a repeat of those incidents would lead to the game coming to a premature end.

Stupid

In the game itself Ukraine managed a 1-0 win to end England’s 100% qualifying record and what should have been a celebratory occasion for Ukraine was totally and utterly ruined by a few stupid people. The long term cost of their actions may well be that they lose the 2012 European Championships which would be a massive financial blow. In the shorter term they could well be fined and if FIFA want to make a strong statement, it could even cost them a place at the World Cup.

Can anyone explain to me what these morons think they are achieving by doing something so dangerous, reckless and utterly pointless?

Hopes

The players worked hard and got a famous victory. Their efforts are not appreciated by those few fans that behaved so badly and the hopes of the players and the genuine Ukraine football fans have potentially been seriously dented.

Ukraine deserved their win but those fans do not deserve anything other than total condemnation.