Russian politician wants to make soccer hooliganism a spectator sport

Soccer violence is real, it can be terrifying, and most government officials want to see an end to it. One Russian politician is taking a decidedly different approach: He wants to turn fights between fans into its own sport.

Igor Lebedev, chairman of the LDPR parliamentary group, has drawn up rules for “Draka,” a new sport taken from the Russian world for “fight.” In Draka 20 unarmed soccer fans would be sanctioned to brawl ahead of games outside soccer stadiums. Lebedev detailed his plans on his party’s website.

“Our fans are fundamentally different from most foreign supporters: They are not hooligans, first of all, they suffer for their clubs with all their heart to organize the support and promotion of their clubs. They are expert supporters! Football fans in the truest sense of the word Yes, they sometimes fight -- but only with other supporters. They don’t touch civilians and this compares favorably to the football hooligans from England.”

It’s the politician’s belief that violence between soccer fans is fine. Not only is it fine, but he likes it. During violent clashes that plagued France during Euro 2016 and saw dozens of Russian fans fighting British fans he tweeted the following:

“Don’t see anything wrong with fans fighting. On the contrary, well done our boys. Carry on!”

He believes that by turning these fights into a sport it will somehow be more “peaceful” than trying to simply stop violence in soccer all together.

“Fans eager to fight can and should be given work, and we can turn the fans’ battle into a sport! Combat sports took a fight, one on one, and turned it into a sport, so why not do the same with popular Russian football fights? Create rules to carry out the competition. Then the die-hard fans’ aggression can be used peacefully and set an example for all other countries. Say England visits, for example, the British fans start to bully our fans and we answer them -- the call is accepted. Fans meet at the stadium, each side has 20 unarmed people and we’ll have rules on our website.”

Lebedev goes on to say that the concept of sanctioned fan fighting could put the word “Draka” into the world lexicon the same way “Sputnik” is synonymous with Russia.

Time will tell if this venture comes to pass. There is absolutely no way any country will sanction organized brawls outside their stadium, but in Russia anything is possible. So, if you attend the 2018 World Cup in Russia and see three people stomping someone on the ground just remember: It could be a peaceful example to the world, at least according to Igor Lebedev.