Football, beyond technicalities, is a game of great emotional investment, especially amongst the fans. Emotions may be sincere but can be sincerely wrong. Beyond all that, the most telling part of fandoms is the manner of social fabric society wears, where biases are selectively applied for desired tribal cohesion and dismissible adhesion. The hardcore tribes that have been created over time often apply generic standards consistently but only within their own group. Outside it, the same standards become negotiable.

Amongst the fans, football is not a game of principles since they only apply when they produce outcomes fans already prefer.