Aside from a great number of positive things which sports, and football in particular brings to everyday lives, there are some serious side effects, and unfortunately, domestic violence is one of them. The latest reports show that the recently finished EURO 2020 was the ’trigger’ for increased domestic abuse. The football tournament ran from June 11 to July 11 and police received a surprising 6,157 reports of domestic abuse only in the West Midlands county, the second most populated in Britain after Greater London. Reports of domestic violence has risen rapidly over the past two-and-a-half years. In January 2019 the number stood at 2,965 and had increased to 3,974 in January 2020, before topping the 5,000-mark in December 2020 when it hit 5,615. Research from the London School of Economics’ Centre for Economic Performance are suggesting that although domestic abuse decreases during the two-hour period when the game is played, abuse starts to increase in its aftermath and this effect peaks between 10 and 12 hours following the game.Potential trouble in the Premier League over players vaccinationTo put the record straight, football is certainly not the main reason for domestic violence, but rather one of the side effects of the abusers, who have various ’triggers’ for violence. “We agree there is an increase in referrals into service and calls to the helpline, but it’s not necessarily the actual football or the results. It’s the long days, sunny weather and longer drinking times that can affect the figures. Abusers do not need an excuse to abuse their partners, they do it anyway, these factors are triggers for the escalation. Our own data evidences an increase in contacts made to the helpline significantly increased in June buy 23 per cent over May 2021” said Jaime Richards from Coventry Haven Women’s Aid. It has to be public – details of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play investigation on Man City will be availableA study in 2014 by academics at Lancaster University looked at the number of reports of abuse to a police force in the north-west of England during three football World Cups. They found that such reports increased by 26% when the national team won or drew, and by 38% when the team lost (other studies suggest abuse is worse when England wins). Alcohol only adds to the tricky situation. Ahead of the semi-final between England and Denmark on July 7th, the British Beer and Pub Association estimated that 10 million glasses of beer would be sold on match day. During the game itself, they reckoned around 50,000 drinks would be purchased every minute. And you can only imagine what happened in various households when England lost the highly anticipated EURO final….
