Players stress importance of unity and describe how war affects their preparations for the tournament
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Why authoritarians and hooligans attack through football
Football fans knock over bins and throw bottles ahead of the England vs Russia France Euro 2016 match, in Marseille, France
FOOTBALL has been played by the state for more than half a century. With the sport firmly cemented into the cultural lives of billions around the world, its power to influence doesn’t go unnoticed by authoritarians.
Sports have become a tool to be used by governments to forge the more conservative aspects of the game: discipline, competitiveness, unbending devotion, an us versus them mentality. Parts of the human psyche that are embedded in football and have been exploited by a range of ideologies.
Italy
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