It's Coming Home: No British Fans Were Arrested At The World Cup This Year For The First Time Ever
Xinhua News Agency. Getty Images.USA Today -- There were no arrests among fans of England or Wales at the World Cup in Qatar, according to the UK's football policing lead.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts of Cheshire Police has said it's the first time that no fans from the UK were arrested at a World Cup.
"The behavior of England and Wales out in Qatar was absolutely exemplary," Roberts said. "Throughout the home nations' involvement in the tournament there were no arrests or incidents to report, which is a credit to all those who travelled.
I'll tell ya what--you really have to give it to the Brits here. I mean if there were any year for World Cup arrest numbers to be up, it would have been this year. Heck, you can get arrested in Qatar for just accidentally wearing a shirt that has too many colors on it. So the fact that they went over there and had ZERO arrests throughout the tournament? Zero. The same amount of goals as they scored against the US. That's gotta feel just as good as winning the whole thing. It's gotta feel like '66 all over again.
What would you prefer? World dominance in a sport that you invented, or knowing that your fans went over to the biggest sports tournament in the world and had exemplary behavior? You think anybody will remember Messi winning a World Cup 60 years from now if anyone from Argentina ends up in the clink on Sunday? You think anybody will give a shit about France going back-to-back in 50 years if a bunch of bozos wearing Mbappe jerseys end up behind bars? Not a chance.
But English fans went over to Qatar and they kept a clean sheet throughout the entire tournament. Hats off to ya, lads. Full marks. Brilliant behavior on the world's biggest stage. That's the beautiful game. That's what football is all about.
Now the only thing I'm worried about moving forward is what this means for the future of Hooliganism. Is hooliganism dead? Because I was always under the assumption that a massive fight resulting in about 30 arrests was just as crucial to the start of a footy match as the national anthem. The game can't start without a giant brawl beforehand. But if the Brits are going over to the World Cup and not even racking up one single arrest? Well then I guess we've been ushered into a new era here.