| Events like the World Cup and Olympics are full of | | | | in 1969. It was caused by political conflicts between |
| national and international political implications. Every | | | | Hondurans and Salvadorans and exploded during the |
| four years including 2010 the two biggest sporting | | | | second North American qualifying round for the 1970 |
| championships coincide. This is a very important year | | | | FIFA World Cup. The first game took place in |
| for sports fans around the globe; however, the | | | | Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras; the second |
| World Cup history goes hand in hand with ugly | | | | game took place in San Salvador, both times home |
| incidents between fans and players, to say the least. | | | | teams won. Later on, both nations exploited existing |
| Since the very first Football World Cup championship | | | | tensions, reporting beatings, the burning of cars and |
| in 1930, there were numerous reports of violent | | | | attacks in their countries by the soccer fans of the |
| situations from spontaneous and low level disorders | | | | other team. On July 14, 1969, the Salvadoran army |
| during the match to organized gang fights between | | | | launched an attack against Honduras, which was |
| football clubs, sometimes a long way before a match. | | | | resolved on July 20 after the interference of the |
| In June 1998, during the FIFA World Cup finals, police | | | | Organization of American States. |
| fired tear gas to control fights involving English and | | | | Most of the articles and reports on the upcoming |
| Tunisian fans. There were 49 arrests, including 27 | | | | 2010 soccer worldcup championship are focused on |
| English fans, with 30 people injured. | | | | South Africa's high rate of violent crime. The main |
| In 2005 in Istanbul, the match between Turkey and | | | | argument is a murder of a South African politician |
| Sweden ended with the players clawing and kicking | | | | Jimmy Mohala that seems to be World Cup-related. |
| one another and objects being thrown from the | | | | However, disorders can be reduced by appropriate |
| crowd. The outcome of a supposedly sporting | | | | methods of policing; it is possible to police a crowd of |
| contest was Turkey’s elimination from the | | | | drunken football supporters in a way that prevents |
| 2006 World Cup. | | | | serious situations, as was demonstrated at the 2006 |
| But the most famous incident known as the | | | | World Cup in Germany and will hopefully drum into |
| Football War or Soccer War occurred | | | | this year football World Cup in South Africa. |