By: Iris Mbok, Year 12
During the 2022 Qatar FIFA world cup, 5 billion of the world’s population tuned in to watch. Football is a sport we all love and adore, but there is a controversial side to it crucial to address . Passion, competitiveness and admiration are all feelings we endure while watching this game, however at times, our emotions can get the best of us. Domestic violence rates are at all time highs during football seasons. Studies have shown the high levels of emotional arousement and testosterone levels this sport triggers, large increases in alcohol consumption, directly linked to the time of games and that a present culture of misogyny towards women’s sports is connoted to football.
To begin with, there’s always been rivalries between fans who become so tied to their team that they experience hormonal and physical surges while watching the games. According to the New York Times, men’s testosterone levels rise after a victory and drop after a defeat which leads to mood swings. This increase in irritability led to domestic abuse incidents increasing by 32% when England played in the last World Cup. Another example of this was during the Superbowl of 2022, the USA’s most watched sport event, a streaming service called tubi played a prank on viewers by playing a 15 second commercial closing out the game; many viewers panicked, thinking they had accidentally changed the program. While the prank led to some hilarious responses, victims came out with frightening stories about their partners aggressive reactions.
When Qatar hosted the FIFA 2022 world cup, they banned alcohol consumption as they are a Muslim country. Although many fans questioned the fun in a sober world cup, the director of FIFA stated that alcohol increases violence; which goes against what Qatar stands for. Domestic violence victims are the main targets of alcohol provoked attacks. Due to this imposed regulation in Qatar, in the previous world cup, there were reduced risks of crowd-related, major incidents in the stadiums. Regardless of this rule, victims who were watching the games at home experienced a surge in violence as their partners were drinking copious amounts of “justified” alcohol, as it is viewed as a tool to enhance the camaraderie between viewers while watching the games; after all, besides a sport, football is also a social event. Drinking alcohol is a key part of football culture as people use the excuse of watching the game as an occasion to get intoxicated.
Lastly, how many times have you heard a woman being discredited for her athletic capabilities? A study led by Durham University claims that more than two thirds of male football fans harbour sexist attitudes towards women’s sports. In the context of increased visibility of women’s sport in recent years, 68% of those polled suggested women shouldn’t be allowed to participate in male-dominated sports. If football starts leaning further into this dark, incel culture, eventually women will suffer the consequences. Although this survey isn’t directly correlated to violence against women, a culture which enables discrimination is. Sport comes from a male-dominant origin, so this way of thinking becomes a natural and assumed part of it.
Whether it’s a 15 second prank, a simple drink, or a harmful culture; victims are suffering the effects of football related domestic violence and accountability needs to be taken for this tormentation; let’s keep these stats in mind as we near the sunny Mexico City for the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
