The The Impact of Fan Aggression on Fair Play in the Context of the Law on Violence in Sports

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of measures implemented to prevent violence and disorder in sporting events on the levels of aggression and fair play behaviours exhibited by sports fans. The study was conducted on a sample of 243 university students (118 male, 125 female) enrolled at Kütahya Dumlupınar University. A non-experimental causal-comparative model was employed in the quantitative research methods. The data were collected using the Sport Aggression and Anger Scale and the Multidimensional Sportmanship Orientation Scale, and the analyses were performed using SPSS 22.0. Following an examination of the skewness and kurtosis values of the data, parametric tests were applied to the normally distributed data. The findings revealed statistically significant differences based on the participants' gender, experiences of violence in sports, and their status as sports spectators. Furthermore, correlation analysis indicated that the aggression subscale had a moderate negative relationship with all subdimensions of fair play behaviours. The anger subscale demonstrated a low negative relationship with commitment to responsibilities in sports, while also exhibiting a moderate negative correlation with other subdimensions. These findings emphasise the necessity for awareness programmes and the reinforcement of fair play consciousness to enhance the efficacy of policies aimed at preventing violence in sports, thereby contributing to the reduction of violent behaviours.