Sports are an essential aspect of the world and have a significant influence on society and culture. They are mainly done for pleasure through the use of physical efforts and skills while competing against each other in ability and spirit. A sport is essential in inculcating a sense of discipline and courage of team spirit, thus aiming to bring people together ( Yates & Gillespie, 2002) . As such, violence in games sounds like a contradictive statement since the essence of the sport should not have any component of force. However, the element of competition in sport causes an unnatural level of violence. It is normal for sports fans to be excited about an athletic event, especially when their favorite teams are playing. The fanaticism is part of the game that makes it interesting to watch with this passion sometimes accompanied by banter and fights. Permissible heckling and fan behavior is where they refrain from throwing objects into the field of play or any other physical contact that could cause harm.
However, there is a time when these fights cross the line into assault and battery especially when injury and damage are involved. Such aspects can take several forms including throwing objects into the playing field to distract a rival team from playing, attacking opposing teammates on their bench, and sometimes players and coaches feel an urge to retaliate, especially basing on the intensity of the game. They may engage in harassing through surging towards the bench, hurling obscenities at the players and provoking the rival team into retaliation. The heckling that results in an injury creates a legal charge ( Lefteroff, 2005) .
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This case study represents an aspect of player-fan violence pitting players and the coaching staff against rival fans. The assistant coach used physical assault against an opposing fan who threw a bottle of beer towards their bench on the field during an ice hockey game. The assistant coach seemed to be provoked towards acting aggressively towards the spectators leading to injury to both the fan and the coach. This paper discusses legal action related to violence in sports and the stakeholders responsible for containing any form of hooligans
Elements of violence in sports
Violence in sports arises when fans of one team view the rival team as the enemy. It can be defined as the use of excessive physical force with the potential of causing harm. Violence in sports involves execution of behaviors happening outside of the rules and regulations of sports to cause damage. This can be in the form of hooliganism such as physical assault that can cause pain or injury to a player, coach or game official. Such violence may not directly relate to the rules and associated ambitious goals of the sports. Aspects of violence in games have continued to be worldwide concerning phenomenon resulting in injuries and casualties ( Yates & Gillespie, 2002) . While a civilized society does not tolerate the uncivilized behavior, such conducts are consistently tolerated at sporting events seen when fans are rarely arrested despite exhibiting behavior that violates criminal statutes.
People come to stadiums and arenas to watch games being played. However, the little deterrence against obnoxious behavior in stadiums has led to several cases of assault and battery directed towards players, coaching staff and officials. Hooliganism describes disorderly, violent or destructive conduct perpetrated by spectators at sporting events. The violence may involve conflict between fans of different teams who may physically attack supporters of other teams during or after matches ( Yates & Gillespie, 2002) . In extreme cases, hooliganism can lead to fatal injuries to supporters.
Spectators can engage in violence by assaulting fans, players or coaching staff of the rival team. Several factors can contribute to violence inside a sports event. Sometimes players are reinforced to engage in aggression, which may happen for example when other fans provoke them or when they feel their team is facing unfair treatment. The values and skills supported by coaches can also influence the attitude of spectators towards their opponents causing aspects of violence ( Yates & Gillespie, 2002) . This mostly happens based on the intensity of a game and the rivalries between competing teams. For example, violence has been part of ice hockey for a long time due to the aggression of the game and has often resulted in violence involving spectators. It usually involves fans throwing bottles and other objects towards players and the coaching staff
Tort Law applying to violence in sports
Tort refers to a civil wrong that is not entirely a breach of contract or trust. In sports, torts are the conducts or behavior that causes physical harm to other people without any attachment to breaching a contract ( Champion, 2017) . Tort law, therefore, is a mechanism of protecting the individual’s rights from unreasonable interference. The ordinary principles of the law of tort are applicable in the context of sports including aspects of negligence and public insult. This incidence represents a tort as seen with physical assault towards the assistant referee and rival fans.
Torts can be categorized into intentional and negligence torts. An intentional tort is when a person intentionally causes a harmful act or offensive physical contact and can apply to this incidence ( Champion, 2017) . The touch can be slight, but if the intention was to cause harm or any other consequence, then it qualifies to be a tort. Intentional tort in this incidence involves civil assault that consists of the use of force against another person. A fan striking an assistant and an equal reaction to assault the spectator qualifies to be an intentional tort. In sports, any intended assault that involves intending an injury to a player, coach or official can also be categorized into torts
On the other hand, negligence tort refers to the failure to exercise the standard of care in circumstances where a reasonable person should have applied by law. Negligence usually involves a duty of care relationship between two parties, and it falls under the category of unintentional torts. Everyone owes a duty of reasonable care to others and commits a tort when they fail to act as an ordinary ( Champion, 2017) . If they breach the duty of care that results to physical harm of which the duty is owed, a negligence claim of compensation may follow. The event organizer and sport’s governing body owner of the stadium usually has a responsibility to spectators to prevent any foreseeable injuries. Often, sports events involving a mass gathering of people and the organizers have to balance fun, safety, and security. However, the event organizers and the sport’s governing body in this incidence failed to provide maximum protection for the players and spectators.
Analysis of legal actions based on case study
Violence in sports raises the enduring question regarding the legal aspect assaults and injury causing during a sporting event. For example, questions arise on whether sports-related offenses should be left to the sport’s governing bodies to handle or whether it should be subjected to civil or criminal war. For a long time, the law has treated violence in sport differently with legal sanction for the sporting disorder is rare. All legal aspects have been trusted to the sport’s governing that are required to implement the required policies that can contain violence ( Yates & Gillespie, 2002) . However, one question that arises from this incident is whether a person can sue if they are hurt at a sporting event. The best answer to this question is that it depends on the circumstances that led to the injury.
There are two ways of looking into the situation from a legal standpoint. The first way is to consider the tort committed by the assistant referee. From a criminal perspective, the assistant referee was not authorized to attack the fan as a form of retaliation as it is not his job to stop crime, which is the job of the security guards and the police. Therefore, the assistant coach did not have a legally sufficient reason for his action and might not have a legal defense despite the lack of protocol. Despite being provoked by the fans, the fact that he attacked the fans instead of allowing the security personnel makes him subject to legal repercussions. This means if security officers had made the physical assault, they are justified in using force to stop crime and maintain law and order ( Drummer, 2014) . At the same time, the assistant coach in the incidence acted outside the scope of his duties and with a malicious purpose and reckless manner. He was not acting within his duties as an assistant coach and therefore has little defense on his side. In this regard, the associate coach committed an intentional tort, and the attack did not happen during the usual cause of the event.
The incidence can also be considered from a tort law perspective on whether the injured fan could sue the assistant coach for physically assaulting him. This question can be answered by examining whether the associate coach’s action was reasonable in the circumstance and could be determined by a jury. The jury will have to consider whether the fans would have stopped heckling and throwing beer bottles into the stadium had the assistant coach not retaliated, an action that seems unlikely ( Drummer, 2014) . In this case, the assistant coach could use the defense of provocation.
In the sports law of tort, the defense of provocation applies when the defendant is provoked into retaliation ( Drummer, 2014) . Courts may be inclined to consider provocation in determining a just punishment for individuals convicted of battery. The assistant coach could argue stating that he was coming to the defense of the bench, though the case will have to be straightened out. The injured fan who seems to catalyze the whole violence is also liable to stand legal action for battery. The assistant coach can use this defense of provocation to describe their intention of assaulting the fan. However, one drawback of this defense is the policy that peace and order can be affected when individuals take. The jury can also discuss how much force was applied during the assault based on the extent of the injury suffered by the fan. In this case, the attack looks pretty hard hit to the size of sending the fan to the hospital while the assistant nurse sustained a broken nose. However, the only person who can tell the intention and purpose of the assault will be the assistant coach.
Another way is to consider the tort of negligence by the event organizing team to provide enough security for the sport. In this case, there was no security personnel around that could have contained the fans in the stadium with improper protection providing a ground for the rival fans to engage each other. High profile sports venues and events are characterized by mass gathering and are at risk of aspects such as hooliganism and mass disorder from the diversity of fans. In this regard, event managers are responsible for managing any activities in the sports venue including the safety of fans and players. They have to adopt an all-hazardous approach to managing event risk and protect the physical, human and financial assets ( Drummer, 2014) . Additionally, the fans who reacted in assaulting the coach might also force a tort of negligence, which entails throwing beer bottles toward the bench of the rival team that may cause harm or injury.
Based on this analysis, the assistant coach stands to face apart from getting the suspension. The associate coach could face legal action including criminal charges for assault, which involves intentional threat to cause bodily harm to someone. The battery is another possible charge that consists in touching another person with force and without permission using an object. Therefore, fans who threw beer bottles at the opposition bench are convicted of battery because they intentionally threw the bottles even though the players were not injured. They can be charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct within the stadium that would have caused harm to the players ( Drummer, 2014) .
Possible Solutions to violence in sports
Proactive measures are needed to contain any form of hooliganism in sports events that could cause harm and damage. The proactive measures can entail increasing the number of security and police personnel, curb alcohol consumption inside the stadium as well as threaten severe punishment for any person caught causing trouble such as revoking season tickets ( Swenson, 2012) . For example, hooliganism is a form of organized social terror or crowd disorder caused by alcohol consumption that influences aggression. Fans who attend a sporting event while drunk have high levels of inebriation and aggressiveness. In this regard, the sport’s governing board can enact a policy that prohibits the drinking of alcohol inside the stadium of the stadium or getting to a sporting event while drunk.
The sports organizing body such as the National Hockey League is also responsible in preventing fan violence and any injury from a sporting event. The organizing body needs to provide a safe environment for everyone coming to experience the game and should take the first action ( Ward, 2002) . Events managers are always required to deploy enough security to contain any unruly fans and protect players. The security plan should focus on controlling entry to the facility and screen individuals inside the arena for indicia of trouble. Another solution can entail the use of fan penalties to reduce violence in sports by keeping spectators’ behavior in check ( Lefteroff, 2005) . Such sanctions may involve banning fans from a stadium for a certain period when finding guilty of starting the violence or any other unruly behavior. In case the assistant coach is found guilty of physical assault, he may be subjected to a penalty or fine based on the extent of their violence. The coach can be suspended from attending subsequent games until the ban is lifted.
Banning identified hooligans from stadiums formally through judicial orders or informally by denying them entry is another way of dealing with violence in a stadium. The National Hockey League needs to strengthen the security of the stadium by employing more security personnel and event staff who can prevent such harm by restricting entry of any harmful material that could cause physical injury to players and spectators. The organizers have to employ sufficient personnel to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition such as containing the conduct of spectators ( Swenson, 2012) . Failure to ensure maximum safety and security may result in the tort of negligence. This tort occurs when there is a duty of care owed to keep the stadium safe.
Internal league controls
With violence in sports becoming prevalent, professional sports leagues and other governing bodies should take the mantle in ensuring the safety of all stakeholders. The safety measures may include policies and rules that penalize fans, players, and coaches with fines and suspensions after they violate any of the regulations ( Lefteroff, 2005) . These bodies are supposed to provide punishment and other penalties to any culprit that is different from the legal charges. At the same time, fans and spectators have to be controlled when watching a sports contest since it is normal to become violent against each other and the officials. Sports governing bodies are usually trusted through their rules to contain any invasive physical conduct to an acceptable level. However, some people argue that these penalties do not do enough in controlling violent behaviors. For example, fines and suspensions have been handed down for long, but they have little impact on fans and players who continue to perpetuate violence during sports events. For example, the NHS has been doling out suspensions over intentional displays of aggression and has penalized players for fighting, but its impact is minimal.
Event risk management
It is crucial for sports organizations to implement a risk-management approach and prevent against the threat of sport-related terrorism. However, the biggest challenge for event managers is to determine the risks and the safety measures that would reduce the risks to the spectators and staff. The sports organizations and event managers need to establish a continuous improvement process that entails risk assessment, training of personnel and auditing of the system ( Swenson, 2012) . Adequate training of security personnel centering on incident management strategies, risk management practices and safety measures is a critical component in curbing violence in stadiums is
The high incidences of player-fan violence are propagated by the stadium configuration that allows fans easy access to players. Players and officials lack formal procedures to guide their behavior if fans attack them ( Ward, 2002) . In this regard, the event organizers can develop a spectator behavior policy that defines reasonable and enforceable limitations when a fan is at the event. Such systems should entail prohibiting items such as alcohol weapons and any other thing that can be thrown. The policies should also set clear guidelines for sportsmanship standards and behavioral standards for issues such as courtesy to other spectators.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this situation shows how sports fan violence is a common phenomenon in sporting events showing the growth of unruly fan behavior. The violence is perpetrated through a depicting aggressive behavior that goes against the rules and regulations of a particular competition. This violence is common in competitive sports including ice hockey that is propagated in the form of physical assault executed by spectators causing injury ( Ward, 2002) . There is a law that applies to hooliganism in sports known as the law tort. However, violent acts in games such as hitting and fighting should be eliminated to promote fair play associated with games. This can be achieved through use of proactive rather than reactive in dealing with violence in sports.
References
Champion Jr, W. (2017). Sports law in a nutshell . West Academic.
Drummer, A. (2014). Ohio State coach who tackled fan might not have legal defense, despite lack of protocol. Retrieved from https://www.thelantern.com/2014/10/ohio-state-coach-who-tackled-fan-might-not-have-legal-defense-despite-lack-of-protocol/
Lefteroff, L. M. K. (2005). Excessive heckling and violent behavior at sporting events: A legal solution. U. Miami Bus. L. Rev. , 14 , 119.
Swenson, S. J. (2012). Unsportsmanlike conduct: The duty placed on stadium owners to protect against fan violence. Marq. Sports L. Rev. , 23 , 135.
Ward Jr, R. E. (2002). Fan violence: Social problem or moral panic?. Aggression and Violent Behavior , 7 (5), 453-475.
Yates, J., & Gillespie, W. (2002). The problem of sports violence and the criminal prosecution solution. Cornell JL & Pub. Pol'y , 12 , 145.
