Early kick-offs linked to more alcohol abuse and
violence in the home
Study finds that football matches starting at midday
fuel all-day drinking that ends in domestic abuse
Michael
Savage
Sun 4 Jul
2021 09.06 BST
Alcohol
consumption following football matches is fuelling domestic abuse in the hours
after a game, according to new evidence suggesting that changing kick-off times
could help reduce violence.
Instances
of domestic abuse increased in areas where a major match took place at midday
or in the afternoon, where perpetrators had the opportunity for longer drinking
sessions. The findings raise questions about previous police requests to have
some contentious games played earlier in the day. While early kick-offs can be
easier to police, the findings suggest they could exacerbate domestic violence
later on.
Researchers
at the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance examined eight years of call and
crime data from Greater Manchester police, correlating with the timing of
almost 800 games played by Manchester United and Manchester City between April
2012 and June 2019.
Their study
found a 5% fall in domestic abuse incidents during the two-hour duration of a
game. After the game, however abuse started increasing. It peaked about 10
hours after a game started, with about 8.5% more incidents than average at that
point. There is no increase in domestic abuse when games kick-off after 7pm.
The findings led researchers to make the case for more midweek fixtures, which
kick-off in the evening.
Tom
Kirchmaier, director of the policing and crime research group at the centre,
said he believed the findings had “big implications” for policing and the
timing of matches. “Police services were pushing for early kick-offs, because
they’re easier to police,” he said. “People aren’t drunk and then they’re
easier to manage. But what we actually substitute is a kind of visible crime
for invisible crime. You have less crime around the stadium and so on, but you
have issues more than eight hours later at home.
“It is
actually much more problematic to intervene then. It also comes at quite huge
economic, social and personal cost. What we uncover here is that there are huge
problems to these early kick-offs, which nobody has really thought about. The
increase is also only seen between partners living together – there was no
similar rise in ex-partner domestic abuse.”
The researchers
also suggested that alcohol’s role in abuse means professional teams should
rethink their associations with alcohol brands. “One of our findings is the
crucial role of alcohol,” said Neus Torres-Blas, a researcher at the centre.
“Historically, football organisations have a very close connection with many
alcohol sponsors. One of the recommendations… is we should rethink this close
relationship.”
Domestic
abuse charities said the sole responsibility was always with abusers. However,
they are running campaigns with sports bodies to address the issue. “Football
does not cause domestic abuse – abusers do. We do know, however, that football
games and a related increase in alcohol consumption can exacerbate existing
domestic abuse – in both frequency and intensity,” said Farah Nazeer, chief
executive at Women’s Aid. “The idea that fewer earlier games could act as a
solution to abuse is deeply concerning. We need to address the structural
sexism and misogyny that underpin violence against women and girls if we are to
tackle domestic abuse.”
If you are
experiencing domestic abuse you can contact the Refuge freephone 24-hour
national domestic abuse helpline: 0808 2000 247 or visit
nationaldahelpline.org.uk
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