Soccer fans and politics

It is pleasant to learn that a fellow Princetonian is doing well as the coach of the Egyptian national soccer team (PAW Online, Oct. 10). However, Jeffrey Plunkett ’97 should be careful not to idolize soccer fans’ political involvement indiscriminately. The reason supporters’ organizations play a role in street politics in many parts of the world is their weekly training in collective violence – mostly verbal, but sometimes physical. Manchester United’s fans may never have helped overthrow a regime, but given, say, the case of Arkan’s Tigers (the Belgrade fans-turned-paramilitaries during the Bosnian War), such separation from politics might not be something of which to be ashamed.