The problem of organized football hooliganism has existed for a number of years. Endemic to Europe, during the 1980s and 1990s, football matches on the continent were frequently accompanied by violent clashes between rival groups of supporters. During the 1990s, football hooliganism was so widespread in the United Kingdom that it was often referred to as 'The English Disease'. While hooligan groups exist mainly at club level, at the 1998 Football World Cup in France, rival fans clashed in the town of Marseilles, underscoring the threat posed by hooligans at international football events. Fans who had been drinking all day, fought running battles with the police and each other, throwing tables through shop windows and hurling missiles at the police. Footage of the violence was broadcast across all of the major news networks, focusing attention on the problem.

The United Kingdom and a number of Eastern European countries boast well organized hooligan groups that have demonstrated increasingly sophisticated tactics in recent years, utilizing mobile phones and the Internet to arrange violent confrontations. However since the violence at the World Cup in France in 1998, there has been a concerted effort to tackle the problem of football hooliganism. Various European governments have collaborated by sharing intelligence on repeat offenders and banning offenders from attending sporting events. That during the last World Cup, held in Germany in 2006, there was a marked absence of any trouble amongst fans, is a measure of the progress that has been made. Nevertheless, sporadic incidents of violence over the last few years emphasizes the fact that football hooliganism remains a reality and problem for European governments.

With less than 50 days remaining before the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off, the important question to answer is what threat football hooliganism poses to the tournament in South Africa?

Many South Africans have expressed fears that the World Cup may be marred by acts of violence between rival fans. At first glance South Africa seems to provide the perfect conditions for football hooliganism to flourish. Relatively speaking, South Africa has a fairly laissez faire approach to alcohol which is epitomized by the country's high incidence of drinking and driving. Furthermore, sport and alcohol in South Africa go hand in hand and watching sport in pubs and bars is popular. By European standards, South Africa is relatively cheap and is a financially accessible destination for a wide range of travellers. Certainly, visitors with pounds and euros will find a pint of lager in South Africa much cheaper than in their own countries. Notably however, the global financial and economic crisis, has changed this somewhat. Europe has been badly affected by the downturn and all indications are that many of those who are involved in, or have the potential to be involved in, football hooliganism may no longer be able to afford to visit South Africa.

This being as it may, Pasco believes that the risk of football hooliganism in South Africa during the World Cup is low to moderate. Unlike Europe, there is no culture of football hooliganism in the country and sports events are generally peaceful. There have been a handful of violent incidents at South African football games in recent years, however these are most often caused by spectators without tickets attempting to force their way into stadiums. Many analysts have however argued, quite rightly, that it is foreigners who are most likely to be behind incidents of violence, and that a culture of football hooliganism in South Africa, one way or another, is not important.

Of all the security risks facing the World Cup, all indications are that the threat of football hooliganism has been well addressed by Interpol and the South African authorities. In this regard the South African police have invested in the appropriate, best practice equipment and training to deal with football thugs. Furthermore the South African authorities have collaborated closely with European governments who have vast experience in this area. It must be noted that the South African police have experience of their own in managing public violence and that the lessons they have learnt in policing service delivery protests are likely to be drawn upon. Interpol have and will play a key role in addressing football hooliganism. In particular, Interpol have said that they will be monitoring South Africa's points-of-entry and will be preventing known football hooligans, blacklisted in an international database, from entering the country. This is a sound strategy which will no doubt prevent hooligan groups from effectively organizing.