Soccer and Disaster : International Perspectives

A sending off; the conceding of a vital goal; an untimely defeat - disaster is as much used term in sport.

Yet soccer has also been the victim of real disasters: events where people lost their lives.

But when compared to tragedies such as the Munich air disaster and the Heysel stadium disaster, of course the results of games become insignificant.

Football is not more important than life or death. This book looks at soccer disasters from across the globe.

From the loss of talented young players in air crashes in Munich and Zambia to fatal overcrowding in Moscow, Lima and Hillsborough, to the fans and players who have been the victims of negligence, complacency and misfortune.

The causes, consequences and legacies of these and other disasters are explored here in a book that reveals frightening parallels and important lessons.

This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal Sport in the Global Society.