Why do competitive sports and games elicit so much violence from their fans?

174 people dead and 180 people injured in a stampede in Indonesia over a football match.
I think some weeks ago Hindus in UK were being attacked following a cricket match.

Why are people so identified with a team that they resort to such violence against other humans?

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bookerdana · M

Fan,of course is short for fanatic and in the stadium its the truest of the true believers.Many sports have an inherent violent component ....add alcohol and you have a riot

SW-User

@bookerdana I did not know fan was derived from fanatic. But yeah it makes sense.