Thousands of people gathered from Dhaka’s TSC to district and upazila to watch the match of their favorite team. Some are sitting on tree branches, while others are hanging from the balcony railing of a four-story house. Others stood next to electricity poles and waved huge flags. This scenario seems strange at first sight. But from the third time many questions come to mind. Why do people lose their lives 12,000 km away in a country that has never played a football World Cup? Why vandalized university classrooms? Why did the young man die prematurely by hanging on the electric wire?
Football is not just a game for many, it is also a part of self-identity. So they see their favorite team’s win as their win and loss as their loss. If someone makes fun of or insults that group, they take it as a personal insult. In psychology terms this is called identity fusion. Researcher William B. According to Swann Jr., that means perfectly aligning his identity with the team. So to beat Argentina or Brazil is to beat yourself, to insult Messi or Neymar is to insult yourself. Therefore, they get angry easily when someone makes fun of their favorite team. That anger leads to arguments, fights and even loss of life.
Recently, this trend is increasing in Bangladesh. Clashes took place at Tangail’s Maulana Bhasani University of Science and Technology and Jessohar University of Science and Technology over the Egypt-Argentina match. Several students and teachers were injured and university property was destroyed. It didn’t end here, during the Egypt vs Argentina match, an altercation broke out between fans in a tea shop, which later escalated into a violent clash. Shariful Islam was hit on the head by two local men named Babu and Moin Uddin Malu, an Argentina supporter. Locals rescued him and took him to Comilla Medical College Hospital where the doctor on duty declared him dead. Shariful is an autorickshaw driver by profession and a Brazil supporter, but he supported Egypt that day. As Egypt is a predominantly Muslim country, many people in Bangladesh feel a religious and cultural affinity with the country. But the concern is that in some cases football is not seen as just a game. It also involves religion, politics, party identity and pride.
Humans naturally like to be in groups. Psychologists John Tooby and Leda Kosmides have shown that factions have always existed throughout the history of human existence. From this group mentality, people today easily get used to the us and them division. Economist Samuel Bowles and behavioral scientist Herbert Gintis have shown in their research that people show greater loyalty to their own team and see their opponents as rivals. Social psychologist Ari Tajfel also said that people easily value their own group more than other groups. Therefore, there is strong support and passion for foreign teams in Bangladesh during the World Cup. These days there is no battlefield, no spear in hand, instead there are smartphones and Facebook comment houses. But the mentality remains almost the same.
Maybe that’s why happy moments rob a young man’s life. For example, Deepta Chowdhury, a 23-year-old college student. He was a third year student of Bengali Department of Netrakona Government College. Many people marched with Argentine flags and festoons after Argentina’s semi-final win over England around 3pm on Wednesday. Deepta was returning home with a friend after watching the match. He climbed onto the roof of a house next to Shaheed Minar to take pictures and videos of the procession. And then a terrible thing happened. He was accidentally electrocuted and fell down and was declared brought dead at the hospital. Football is the most popular sport in the world, whose main strength is not division, but connection. If a match 12,000 kilometers away turns our neighbors into enemies, the problem is not football, but our society. The World Cup will be over, the flag will come down and the colors will fade. A new debate will start on social media. But who will wipe the tears of the families who lost their children, the teachers who were injured trying to stop the student clashes, the mothers who are still waiting on the roof? Love for football may be the beauty of a nation, but that love can never be bigger than life.