Enjoying football peacefully

The World Cup fever sweeps through Bangladesh after every four years as building rooftops show off fans' favourite team's flag and football dominate most of our conversations. The country is home to millions of Brazil and Argentina fans, with only a few European teams. During this time, rival supporters hold massive processions to celebrate the teams, stage prayers for their side's victory, decorate balcony with the colour of their favourite team and also hoist the flags of their teams.

The country gets split in half in terms support for Argentina and Brazil and so are social media platforms. However, sometimes unpleasant and unwanted incidents also take place centring around football. Occasionally the rivalry of fans boils over to violence. Just some months ago, a huge brawl between rival fans of the Argentina and Brazil football teams left at least seven people injured.

Sport is all about enjoyment. The purpose of the World Cup is to enjoy the game together, respecting each other. We, as die-hard fans of Argentina or Brazil, should support our teams. We should not do anything that hurts our rivals.

Sifat Rabbani,

Studentm of Department of

Political Science,

Jagannath University, Dhaka,

[email protected]