Paragraph/Headings Questions: Practice 2

Soccer Violence

1. Fiorentina's exclusion from the UEFA Cup after a match official was injured by a firecracker thrown during their second-round match with Grasshopper Zurich in Salerno brought hooliganism back in the media.

2. The Florence club are appealing against the decision, arguing that the object was thrown by rival Salernitana fans and the ban would set a dangerous precedent. But UEFA will have borne in mind that Fiorentina were playing so far away from home only because they had been banned from their own ground for crowd trouble in Europe last season.

3. Whether Fiorentina have been hard done by or not, fan violence is a problem in the Italian game. Fighting before Sunday's 1-1 draw between Bologna and Roma left eight people in hospital, two with stab wounds. After the game a Roma supporters' bus was stoned and set on fire.

4. But Italy is not the only country suffering from what used to be called "the English disease". At the weekend police in Bucharest fired tear-gas and made 20 arrests after a pitch invasion at the Steaua-Dinamo derby, reflecting a marked growth in hooliganism in Romania. The Greek first division match between PAOK Thessaloniki and Olympiakos Piraeus last week was abandoned after one of the linesmen was left concussed by home fans furious at a disallowed goal, a decision which brought 10,000 people on to the streets of Salonika in protest. In neighbouring Albania, Skenderbeu Korce were fined and docked three points last month after a brawl involving players, fans and the referee.

5. Hooliganism is taking its toll on the South American game too. An Argentinian judge suspended all second division matches this month in an effort to combat rising violence. The same judge halted the first division for two weeks in May for the same reason.

6. Football violence has claimed 37 lives in Argentina in the Nineties and leading clubs routinely have to dole out free tickets and cash to their gangsterish fans, known as barras bravas, whose activities include extortion. This is leading to a frightening atmosphere. A recent survey in Brazil found that 61 per cent of fans said they stayed away from matches because they were too scared to attend..

7. FIFA is considering the postponement of the Confederations Cup, scheduled for January, which may persuade the world champions France to take part, a FIFA spokesman said yesterday.

 Please match the Headings with the paragraphs:

 List of Headings

i.        A climate of fear

ii.       Fan violence returns

iii.      FIFA's response

iv.      Cancelling the cup

v.       Legal action is taken

vi.      Not just the fans

vii.     Italy has a serious problem

viii.    Not to blame

ix.      Violence in the news again

x.       A widespread problem

1.       Paragraph 1

2.       Paragraph 2

3.       Paragraph 3

4.       Paragraph 4

5.       Paragraph 5

6.       Paragraph 6

7.       Paragraph 7