Terrorism and Sport: A Global Perspective

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Three suicide bombers struck near the Stade de France, France's national ... where France's soccer team was playing a friendly international match ... of Northern Ireland's Political Prisoners,” examines terrorism and sport from a unique.
Introduction



Terrorism and Sport: A Global Perspective

American Behavioral Scientist 1–3 © 2016 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0002764216632839 abs.sagepub.com

Yair Galily1, Moran Yarchi1, Ilan Tamir1, and Tal Samuel-Azran1 Over the years, terrorists have shot at the Sri Lankan cricket team, bombed the Boston Marathon, machine-gunned the Togo football team bus and taken hostages at the Olympics. Now, even more so, sport must be careful, for the filled stadium is the perfect target. Here, routinely, is found the largest collection of humankind at its happiest. To scare us from sport would be the ugliest of victories. [ . . . ] Terrorists seek to divide, to create suspicion, to spark bigotry, to foster fear. Sport, at its best, evokes pleasure, it binds, it connects, it can make borders vanish and nationality somewhat irrelevant. During a football World Cup, Singaporeans might wear Brazilian yellow. At a bar of Liverpool supporters, the only colour that matters is red. (Brijnath, 2015)

At least 130 people were killed and almost 400 injured in suicide bombings and shootings at several venues, including a football stadium, in Paris on November 13, 2015. Three suicide bombers struck near the Stade de France, France’s national stadium in Saint-Denis. Their attack was followed by a series of suicide bombings and mass shootings at cafés, restaurants, and a concert hall. The terrorists targeted the stadium, where France’s soccer team was playing a friendly international match against Germany, and where France’s President, François Hollande, was among the spectators. Explosions were heard just outside the stadium as players stood in shock and fans flooded the pitch, only to be directed to specific exits. Fear seized Paris and its surroundings. On the following day, a game between Germany and Holland in Hannover was called off, while Belgium’s friendly match against Spain in Brussels was cancelled 4 days later because of security fears following the deadly attacks in Paris. Undeniably, over the past five decades, sporting events around the world have become a target of choice for extremists. For terrorists, the ultimate goal is to carry out their schemes in crowded areas, so as to maximize the number of victims. Sport facilities, considered by many as safe havens and symbols of national identity, are an understandably preferred target for radicals. In addition, carrying out a global televised attack, such as the 1972 Olympic attack, is very tempting method of gaining far-reaching publicity at no cost. 1

Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel

Corresponding Author: Yair Galily, Sport, Media and Society (SMS) Research Lab, Sammy Ofer School of Communications, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, PO Box 167, Herzliya 46150, Israel. Email: [email protected]

Sporting events are also appealing targets from an emotional point of view, as they are places where people frequently go to relax, enjoy themselves, and feel safe, surrounded by thousands of people enjoying a similar experience. By threatening such festive events, terrorists seek to upend this notion, putting fear in the hearts of ordinary people that prevents them from going to these happenings or attending any large public assemblies. The outcome is some degree of societal paralysis. Indeed, as we have argued elsewhere (Galily, Yarchi, & Tamir, 2015), terrorism has far-reaching implications on social, psychological, and political levels. Sporting attacks on athletic personalities or events may also seriously affect the reputation of the political leadership, ultimately undermining the state’s authority. This is the very reason that international terrorism groups will continue to target major athletic celebrations for their attacks. Damaging the public image of the host country (such as the forthcoming Summer Olympic Games in Rio or European soccer finals in Paris, both in 2016) has extensive negative effects that might even lead to political destabilization.

Context The articles in this volume offer insights on the intersection of terrorism and sports, by presenting a wide, diverse picture of this phenomenon. The six articles that follow explore this topic from a variety of perspectives, including security, sociology, media and public relations, and the political, ideological, and psychological aspects of sport and terror. The first article, Hassan’s “Surveillance by Proxy: Sport and Security in a Modern Age,” focuses on security, while emphasizing its cost in terms of civil liberties. Looking historically at a series of attacks, beginning with the 1972 Munich Olympics attack and up to more recent attacks such as the Boston Marathon bombing, Hassan examines the impact of counterterrorism measures on our society. He further reflects on the full impact of such measures on the activities of wider society, including the creation of an abnormal host setting prior to and during the sporting event in question, and the event’s legacy long after it has ended and public focus has moved to a new event. To understand the importance of media coverage and exposure on terrorist strategies, the next article, “The Boston Game and the ISIS Match: Terrorism, Media, and Sport,” examines the topic of sport and terror from a media perspective. While focusing on the Boston Marathon bombing and the actions of the Islamic State terror organization, the article offers insights on how technological developments in communication (especially the Internet and social media) work to terrorists’ benefit by aiding the dissemination of their messages, and why sport events are a preferable target of their attacks. The article “Soccer Versus Jihad: A Draw,” by Dorsey, focuses on soccer— currently the most popular form of sport and the preferred target for terror organizations (as illustrated in the recent Paris attacks and their aftermath). Dorsey presents the complex Jihadist attitudes toward soccer, which many of them view as an infidel creation designed to distract the faithful from fulfilling their religious obligations. Others are soccer fans or former players who consider the sport an effective instrument of recruitment and bonding. Bairner’s article, “‘My First Victim Was a Hurling Player . . . ’: Sport in the Lives of Northern Ireland’s Political Prisoners,” examines terrorism and sport from a unique political perspective, by exploring the interaction between sports and politics in the

lives of Northern Ireland’s political prisoners in the 1990s. Bairner found that for those imprisoned terrorists, politics was often presented as being intimately bound up with and embodied in their sport cultures. The state of Qatar is an interesting case study for both terrorism and sport. The country is investing efforts to repair its image as a terror-sponsoring state and to respond directly to various accusations, although it is also trying to improve its international image by hosting international sport events (such as the 2022 Soccer World Cup). The article “Promoting Terror or Sport? The Case of Qatar’s International Image” addresses these issues in the context of Qatar’s international media’s coverage with regard to terrorism and sports. The findings are surprising, as the study illustrates the limits of using sport as a soft power strategy, and underscores the superiority of on-the-ground efforts to deflect terror allegations as a strategy for improving a country’s image. The concluding article, “A Commentary on Sport and Terrorism From the Vantage of Sport Psychology,” by Schinke and colleagues looks at the interaction between sport and terrorism from a psychological perspective. Four themes identified as relevant from the sport psychology vantage are discussed: (a) sport events and terrorism as mainstream, (b) terrorism and the media as conduit, (c) sport as a recruitment tool toward and away from terrorism, and (d) sport as an antidote to terrorism. The six articles in this issue offer stimulating insights on the intersection of sport and terrorism and analytical reflections on the current and future status of this emerging field. Our hope is that both scholars and practitioners will continue to contribute to the ever-growing body of research in order to keep sport safe and humankind at its happiest. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References Brijnath, R. (2015, November 24). In a time of terror, sport plays a unifying role. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/sport/football/in-a-time-of-terror-sport-plays-a-unifying-role Galily, Y., Yarchi, M., & Tamir, I. (2015). From Munich to Boston, and from theater to social media: The evolutionary landscape of world sporting terror. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism , 38, 998-1007.