Not The Plastic Water Bottles

I've been watching football in South East Asia for a number of years now and crowd misbehaviour, while not as widespread as is made out, does happen on occasion. Not the all out brawls that plagued the game in England for so long but still enough to poison the atmosphere.

Kingdom of Football is reporting that fans of Prek Pra Keila recently turned a bit nasty after some refereeing decisions didn't go their way during their CLeague game with Build Bright University at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh.

It's always the plastic water bottles that get caught in the firing in incidents like this. Never the police, they are usually the first ones on their toes. Unruly fans pick up the placcy bottles and use them as weapons, throwing them on the pitch or in the general direction of whoever is annoying them at the time.

Of course regulations are in place in most countries to stop fans entering stadiums carrying drinks of any kind but placcy bottles do get smuggled in and, apparently, get left full so they can be thrown with the precision of an English World Cup penalty.

But why this victimisation of something we all need. It is hot in this part of the world, we all need drinks once in a while. Some more often.

I've seen them used in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and even Singapore, yep, even Singapore. The plastic water bottle flying pitch ward is as much a part of the football scene in this part of the world as flexible fixture lists, bumpy pictures and overseas study trips for club officials.