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Crowd trouble: prevention and cure

Vikas Trivedi

Crowd trouble...

A problem without a solution... maybe not!

Over the past little while we have seen numerous games disrupted due to unruly behavior from the crowds. Most often this would happen when the home team is performing miserably on the field. While this sort of behavior cannot be condoned, it can at least be understood. Patriotism comes out most strongly in sports arenas the world over. And we Indians are no exceptions. And when there's a crowd, things do tend to get out of hand. That's what mob mentality is all about. A few words here or there, a little nudge at the wrong time and passions and blood pressures rise. Top that with a bad performance by the home team and people are frustrated.

But why do crowds make a mess of games when the home team is doing well? If the team is doing well patriotism is covered and so is entertainment. So why destroy a good thing? I guess we need to look at some of the other factors at play here.

What are the possible issues a cricket fan would face on match day? The day probably starts early, as one has to line-up for hours to get inside the stadium. With bigger stadiums come bigger crowds. And bigger crowds mean longer queues. So, after "snailing" his way through the queues, the fan finally gets to his/her seat. Now not everyone can manage to get into the seat at the exact match-start time. So some will, for sure, have to wait a little while in their seats. An idle mind is a devil's workshop. A simple proverb I read in school. And how true! Add heat, humidity and maybe two hours of standing in the queue and the best-behaved person is likely to be on a short fuse. And the match hasn't even started yet.

Now I haven't seen too many of the stadia in person but from what is see on TV - they're pretty cramped. To maximize number of seats (and hence gate revenue) seats are stacked a bit too close together. Legroom is bare minimum and you're also pretty much shoulder-to-shoulder. An average fan is going to spend a good eight hours in that location. And cramped conditions are the not the best way to keep one comfortable and happy.

Now, to the people managing the show. The police presence actually makes it worse, I believe. The greater their numbers the bigger is the problem, as they basically add to the spectator count rather then use their numbers to do their job. It's a fact that we need a more professional behaviour from the police personnel. Rather than turn around and watch the game they should be monitoring the crowds and nipping problems in the bud before they "bloom" into match disruptions.

I'm sure there are a million other issues, but I believe if we can fix the ones mentioned above we probably won't have to look at the others. And how do we fix the above problems? Here are a few suggestions that come to mind:

1. Make the stadia smaller. These days most of the revenue comes from media rights and advertising. So there probably is no need to have 100,000 spectators on the field. Plus as reports already indicate most of these seats are not even sold at the ticket counter. They end up being given away free to "important" persons. So reducing the number of seats in stadia will fix two problems - shorter queues for spectators and a more comfortable experience where a slight change in position will not cause the persons around them to be kicked, nudged etc. With more space between seats the possibility of friction between spectators is definitely reduced. And it also makes the cricket watching experience more enjoyable and comfortable.

2. Provide some form of pre-game and break time entertainment for the spectators. It could be as simple as having giant screens show great catches of the previous matches or some cricket / ground / player trivia. For greater entertainment we could borrow from other sports with some famous entertainment personality performing. This helps everyone - the crowds are happy, the personality gets a guaranteed full house crowd to perform to and the organizers could potentially make more money.

3. Explore the possibility of not having the police provide in-stadia security. Rather than have the police turn into fans and watch the match, hand over the job to a private security agency. That'll increase professionalism and accountability and as a result security. Also the police force then no longer needs to be deployed in such large numbers on match days and can then concentrate their efforts on their jobs across the city. Trouble-making spectators could be handled by the in-stadia security personnel and if need be handed over to the police for further action.

4. With water bottles being an issue it would probably be a good idea to use Styrofoam or other recyclable cups for water supply. I can't really see someone use a McDonalds soft drink cup as a missile that would cause any harm to players. Also have better canteen facilities all around the stadia so spectators do not need to worry about food / drinks. A cricket match could then become a proper picnic for a family with the chef of the home also taking a break.

If we make the cricket fan more comfortable and provide better entertainment I'm sure he/she would be less inclined to disrupt proceedings. I mean, who would like to spend money to go see a match being abandoned.

Hopefully, we shall see more cricket and less unruly behaviour.

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