Securitizing the Greek football? Communication, hooliganism, and lessons learned from the United Kingdom

This paper draws upon the ongoing hooliganism in Greece as the local context and compares it with its international counterpart in the United Kingdom as a successful attempt at communicating and securitizing hooliganism. By comparing through a qualitative content analysis of media texts (i.e. news reports, interviews, and press releases) of the two case studies, the post-Heysel Disaster in England and the post-Kampanos Death in Greece, the paper reveals that successful securitization does not guarantee success in dealing with hooliganism, but it secures the public’s attention. Furthermore, it shows that despite the effective representation and acceptance of hooliganism as an existential threat, the UK’s success in eradicating hooliganism is debatable, making the implementation of similar measures in the Greek case controversial. As the paper argues that the UK’s hooliganism is still alive, perhaps it is not surprising that Greece is still struggling.