No football match has ever caused such shame in Burma as the 2014 World Cup Qualifying Match on July 29 in Rangoon’s Thuwunna Stadium, which turned to violence when Burmese fans pelted the pitch with bottles and stones after Oman was awarded a penalty in the 39th minute.

Burmese fans were infuriated when the Japanese FIFA referee awarded a spot kick to Oman, which striker Ismail al Ajmi converted, doubling the Middle Eastern side's lead to 2-0.

When some angry young men went on a rampage and began throwing water bottles and stones onto the pitch, reportedly injuring a member of Oman's coaching staff, the visiting team’s players and officials were ushered into a makeshift tunnel while being shielded by police officers.

Yeni is news editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at [email protected].

The thuggish behavior must be condemned. It not only disgraced our country, it also cast doubt on the future ability of the Burmese national team to compete in and host international games.

 “The country could be harmed if FIFA decides not to hold any international games in Myanmar [Burma] because of the violent actions of audience members,” said Soe Moe, a media director at the MFF. “The country’s dignity is hurt because of them.”

But the MFF itself must accept partial responsibility for the incident, because the organization allowed conditions to exist that were conducive to an outbreak of violence that could not be controlled by stadium security.

With the exception of the grandstands—where those entering were required to purchase a ticket—MFF officials allowed fans to freely enter the stadium. Many of the estimated 30,000 in attendance were drunk, some even brought liquor and beer into the stadium, and there were very few security guards to carry out checks at the gates.

The state-owned MRTV, which was broadcasting the match live, cut to music when the violent eruption occurred, and afterwards state and local media either chose or were forced to remain silent about the ugly event. So exile media and social networking sites became the venue for voicing public displeasure and examining the causes of the incident.

In particular, the social networking site Facebook played a significant role in informing the Burmese public about what happened and allowing people to express their feelings about the disgraceful occurrence.

 “I think they [the Burmese fans] might not understand or be civilized enough to accept failure. It reflects the manner of the country’s leaders, who have practiced violence for decades,” one person posted online.

This remark shines a spotlight on the ignorance, impoliteness and aggressiveness that have been a fixture of Burmese life for decades, with the example being set by the ruthless military leaders who have controlled society through intimidation and terror, and their business cronies who have run corrupt operations without ethical principles.

In fact, the release of anger and aggression by fans may have been just what former junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe intended when he decided to pump up the sport of football in Burma. According to leaked US diplomatic notes from June 2009, Than Shwe ordered a group of cronies and businessmen to found—and fund— professional football teams, possibly to distract attention from the country’s political and economic problems.

The cable revealed that in January 2009, selected Burmese business persons were told that Than Shwe had chosen them to be the owners of the new professional football teams. The informant, a top executive at one of the sponsor companies, said the owners were responsible for paying all costs, including team salaries, housing and transportation, uniform costs and advertising for the new league. In addition, the owners were required to build new stadiums in their respective regions by 2011, at an estimated cost of US $1 million per stadium.

However, the arrangement was not entirely one-sided. Businessmen were reportedly given incentives that included construction contracts, new gem and jade mines and the opportunity to use club sponsorship as a platform to advertise their companies. The initial club owners included MFF chairman Zaw Zaw, who oversees the Burmese men's national team, the women's national team and the youth national teams—and whose public address system plea on Thursday for fans to stop throwing objects on the pitch was completely ignored.

As a result of Than Shwe’s decree and his business cronies’ complicity, the “Myanmar Premier League” was launched on May 16, 2009, and the Burmese people suddenly had an outlet to shout and swear and vent their feelings and anger in a country where there is little room to do so because the military government rules with an iron fist and discourages almost all public expressions of dissatisfaction.

Predictably, tempers sometimes exploded in the stands—a precursor to what happened at the World Cup Qualifying Match that was not paid enough heed. This kind of anti-social behavior can be seen almost everywhere the sport is played, and you don't have to be sociologist to understand that football hooliganism is a reflection of the violence and divisions prevalent in any society.

It is therefore needless to say that sporting authorities and governments in every country must implement necessary safety and security standards and legislation to combat hooligan activities—and even terrorist threats. So post-event declarations by MFF officials that 300-400 fans will be charged using police photographs taken at the scene is way too little, way too late.

The only way for Burma to salvage its sporting image and put this incident behind is for Zaw Zaw and his MFF, along with the government’s Ministry of Sports, to accept responsibility for what happened at Thursday’s match and take all proper precautions to convince the world it will not happen again.

These corrective and preventative measures must be taken well ahead of the 2013 South East Asian Games, commonly known as the SEA Games, which Burma will host.

Burma is certainly not the first country to be embarrassed by its sports fans. Just like in other football-crazy countries, in Burma there is a very thin line between arousal of nationalistic passions and violence, and after Thursday’s debacle, we know for certain that football hooliganism is not an exclusively “English Disease.”

After almost half a century of military rule, Burma is 167th—three places below Afghanistan—in the FIFA world football rankings. If we want to improve both our rankings and our tarnished image, everyone will have to participate—from the top down.