Page 25 - issue-25 - en

ELITE Vol.1 No.25, Nov. 2020

Reem Omran

As per recent news, a famous wedding was on the verge of team, especially after a victory. The obsessive fandom tends to
being ruined as result of the scene caused by 2 celebrities say “we won ” instead of “the team won ”, whilst surely having
fighting over football clubs and that ’s not the first time we have their whole mood shift to the better as a result of that victory.
witnessed sports sparking up fights, ones that may reach the On the contrary, obsessive fans who are only in it
extent of being deadly. From permanently tattooing themselves
with their favorite ’s club logo, to actually smashing the TV for the wins apply the “Cut off reflected failure ” after each loss;
when their team is defeated, sports superfans have displayed they avoid identifying with the team, and even try to avoid
bizarre forms of obsession over the decades , and when this anything that ’s team-related,as it boils up their anger. Needless
obsession takes violent forms , we are witnessing what is called to say, it is only fickle fans who display the COFR
HOOLIGANISM. Reaching the stage of being a superfan is phenomenon. Moving on, to the social phenomena, “Ingroup-
surprisingly common these days, as a result of the exposure of outgroup bias ” is the phenomenon that creates rivalry between
more and more sports and clubs around us. teams ’ fans; it is when a fandom, the ingroup, deprecates
A sports fan is someone who roots for their favorite team, another team ’s fan, the outgroup. The deprecation may reach the
whilst enjoying the skills in the game. On the other hand, there extent of strong insult and violent behavior, all in the aim of
are people whom their lives revolve around this team; superfans proving whose team is best. Superfans also exhibit another
allow a team performance to take full control over their mood social phenomenon that ’s known as “Disinhibition ”, where they
and actions. Conducted studies showed that kids who grow up publicly act differently when it comes to supporting their team.
in jousehold where sports are watched regularly have a higher Whether in sports bar or in a stadium, they react to wins and
tendency of becoming crazy superfans later on. defeats in ways that contradicts their personal nature; a shy quite
person, for instance, would scream and jump around, highfiving
They connect with the sport the club from such a young age, till complete srangers.
it ends up being part of their identity. They include their Having a passion for sports is something magnificent, as well as
beloved team in every single aspect of their everyday life, for appreciating the beauty of the game. Displaying phenomena that
instance, clothes, social media posts, day-to-day conversations indicate hooliganism is where a line should be drawn.
and even their houses ’ interior designs. Hooliganism and obsessive fandoms have already cost us lives
Of the many psychological phenomena of innocents, Thus, awareness over this matter needs to be
displayed by superfans, “Basking in reflected glory ” is seen raised, in order to protect younger generations from going
almost every day; it is the act of identifying yourself with the obsessively crazy over goals and scores.

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