Saudi Gazette For many football is more than just a game, it is sheer obsession. They do not care about anything or anyone when a match is being aired on TV. Those 90 minutes of the game is a matter of life and death for football aficionados. The atmosphere at home, workplace or cafes is extremely intense as football maniacs glued to TV screens sit on the edge of their seats, biting nails as cold sweat breaks on their foreheads. Although, at times football fans happily get together with friends or families to watch a match, but unfortunately the “get-together” doesn't last long when in one room a bunch of people are supporting and cheering for two different teams. The ambience gets ugly when fans gradually lose control of their tongue and temper, and when this happens no one is spared — wives, sisters, brothers, cousins or friends. Among all this frenzy, even martial bliss finds itself in severe trouble. Couples opt for divorce when things get out of hand during the match. And, it's not only marriage which gets affected by it; other relations become strained and distant too. Some fans admitted that they could even destroy their valuables like mobile phones, laptops, furniture, etc. when in fury. Some also need immediate medical attention when their blood pressure rises considerably during the dying moments of a match. To avoid such dire consequences, some families have stopped watching football matches all together. In fact they have even stopped subscribing to sports channels. Lubna Mahomoud and her husband are football fanatics. However, they support different teams. Her husband constantly teases her during the match. She has repeatedly asked him to change his attitude, but it seems her pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Mahomoud has asked for divorce from her husband many a time. “We were about to get divorced because we are both crazy about our teams. We constantly fight during the match. Sometimes when his favorite team is not playing and mine is, he watches the match with me just to support and cheer for the opponent. He continuously shouts and jumps during the 90-minute game,” she said. “Once the situation went out of control and everyone in our home became tensed. My husband can't control his anger and when his team missed a goal, he broke cups, shouted at me, our children and the maid,” Mahmoud said. She has also left her husband's house once because of a football match, and had asked him for divorce too. However, her husband promised her parents that he will not tease her anymore while she cheers for her team. She recalls another past incident when during the match her neighbors were going to call the police as they thought they were fighting with each other, but her maid had stopped them from doing so when she told them that they were fighting because of the match. “The building owner warned us to leave the building as neighbors always complained of too much noise that my husband and I make while watching football matches,” she said. Waleed, 21, is a Saudi student, and he admits that football fanaticism is a very bad trait. It has made him lose three of his best friends, although now he doesn't want to lose any more of his friends. Two of his brothers are also football fanatics, but they too like everyone else support different teams. “There is always trouble in the family when there is a match between my favorite team which is Real Madrid CF and my brother's favorite team which is FC Barcelona,” Waleed said. Therefore, due to their constant fights their father has forbidden them to watch any match at home, so they now go to cafes to watch their favorite players kick the ball. He further said, “When my brother's team loses the match against my team, all I do is celebrate in front of him. We quarrel and then we don't speak to each other for days. Once I even destroyed his phone when he was teasing me about his team winning the match.” __
