Stadiums: Italian measures to combat stadium violence & disorder | world sports la...

Pagina 1 di 5

This site would like to set some non-essential temporary cookies. Some cookies we use are essential to make our site Others such as Google Analytics help us to improve the site or provide additional but non-essential features to you. No behavioural or tracking cookies are used. To change your consent settings, read about the cookies we set and your privacy, please see our
Privacy Policy

PUBLICATIONS

CONFERENCES

DATAGUIDANCE

PRIVACY POLICY

HOME

ABOUT

EDITORIAL BOARD

ARCHIVES

Volume: 10 Issue: 6 (June 2012) View Contents

Stadiums: Italian measures to combat stadium violence & disorder

Italy has recently introduced a number of measures designed to reduce violence and disorder and improve spectator safety in football stadiums. Luca Ferrari, a Partner with CBA Studio Legale e Tributario, explains the reasoning behind the measures taken and assesses whether they have been successful. Restrictions and bans on participation to football matches is a response to violence and disorder. Today, Italy can boast a remarkable reduction of violence in and around its football stadiums, as shown by the following: Season 2005/6 to season 2010/11 Incident Fighting/brawls/riots Injuries among supporters Reduction (%) 56 58

Keywords:
stadiums italian measures combat stadium violence disorder italy recently introduced number measures designed reduce violence disorder improve spectator safety

Jurisdictions:
Italy Europe

Options:

Injuries among police officers81 Arrests

0

48 35

Police force deployed

While the battle against hooliganism is far from being won, these impressive results confirm that the right mix of prevention and repression can actually work. But what exactly are the ingredients and how are they mixed? One of the most effective means of combating hooliganism is to ensure that games take place in functional, comfortable and safe stadiums. Unfortunately, Italy is perhaps the country with one of the worst infrastructure situations among the leading football nations. The average age of football stadiums is 68 years, with almost all owned by municipalities. Whilst clubs - as leaseholders - are responsible for the maintenance of stadiums, municipalities are responsible for undertaking renovation, as they own the stadiums. Ownership of existing stadiums is public, with the notable exception of the new Juventus Stadium. As a simple leaseholder, football clubs tend to invoke owner

http://www.e-comlaw.com/world-sports-law-report/article_template.asp?ID=1448

29/06/2012

Stadiums: Italian measures to combat stadium violence & disorder | world sports la...

Pagina 2 di 5

intervention for major structural renovation. Unfortunately, a local administration's allocation of (scarce) public money is driven by more urgent or less politically challenging projects. As a result, stadiums are showing the unappealing result of unopposed ageing; which brings us back to the question: what, in the absence of new or renovated stadiums, determined such notable improvement of the public order situation in and around football matches? Perhaps the most important development was a change in the overall legislative approach following the death of Filippo Raciti in February 2007: a somehow disorderly sequence of emotional, contingent regulation enacted in the aftermath of several prior dramatic episodes was restated and harmonised under the framework of Law no. 41 of 4 April 2007, the so called 'pacchetto sicurezza' (security package). This set of rules rests mainly on three pillars: stadium safety; repression of stadium crimes; stadium bans. Stadium safety (subhead) Law 41/2007 obliged clubs and the municipalities - i.e. the users and owners of stadiums - to upgrade structural configuration, thereby increasing safety of the facilities. Public and private money was spent on improvement of access, creation of fences separating the visiting supporters sector, emergency escapes etc. At the same time, additional admittance restrictions and controls were introduced, centred on the ticket registration requirement: entrance tickets are now issued under the holder's name. This measure, for example, permits the club to refuse sale of tickets to persons that have been banned or have been convicted for crimes involving violence or public danger. As a logical consequence, at the gate each spectator must show an ID. Notably, ticket touting is forbidden. Previously, in 2003, Law 88 stated an event organiser's responsibility for fan safety and its liability for damages resulting from lack of compliance with security requirements (e.g. turnstiles, metal detectors, cameras). Law 41/2007 increased the responsibilities of the hosting club and, more specifically, introduced a mandatory, standing office (Gruppo Operativo Sicurezza -GOS) for each stadium with more than 10,000 seats to decide over all matters concerning spectator security. Gruppo Operativo Sicurezza (GOS) ministerial decree 2005 (Subhead of subhead) All stadiums with more than 10,000 seats capacity must set up a Gruppo Operativo Sicurezza (GOS) including representatives of the local police, state police, sanitary service, fire rescue services, emergency operations director, venue safety director. This group is responsible for the supervision of - and compliance with - organisation and safety measures. The GOS therefore has the final word on safety in the stadium. Osservatorio Nazionale sulle Manifestazioni Sportive (subhead of subhead) Another very important institution concerned with stadium security is the National Centre for the Monitoring of Sports Events (Osservatorio Nazionale sulle Manifestazioni Sportive - ONMS), which includes the Comitato di Analisi sulle Manifestazioni Sportive (CASMS - the Committee for the Analysis of Sports Events). This Committee is well known among football fans: by qualifying a given match as 'dangerous for the public order', it prohibits admission to visiting supporters. The ONMS supervises the CASMS, which controls: - Supervision and coordination of activities concerning prevention of violence at sports events; - Monitoring of fan behaviour; - Assessment of a single event's risk level;

http://www.e-comlaw.com/world-sports-law-report/article_template.asp?ID=1448

29/06/2012

Stadiums: Italian measures to combat stadium violence & disorder | world sports la...

Pagina 3 di 5

- Imposing special measures to be adopted by event organisers (e.g. closing the stadium to opposition fans). Under the 2007 rules, if a stadium lacks safety configurations, the match must be played 'a porte chiuse' (without spectators) - indeed a large scale, reverse stadium ban. 'Striscioni' (banners) inciting violence or including brutal or offensive language are not admitted, and so each banner to be displayed during a football match must obtain police approval. Stadium crimes (subhead of subhead) In order to increase protection of police forces and stewards, higher punishments were introduced for violent crimes committed in or around stadiums or in connection with a sports event. For example, punishment for bodily harm would range between four and 10 years of imprisonment (increasing to eight and 16 in cases of grievous bodily harm) and verbal or physical aggression from a distance towards police forces are now falling within the notion of injury or violence against a public officer. Stadium bans (subhead of subhead) Stadium bans had been introduced (Law 401/1989) long before the 'security package', but several subsequent reforms - including the 2007 regulations - expanded its provisions and overhauled the judicial procedures and rules of execution, thereby favouring timely and effective adoption by the courts. The Italian acronym defining stadium bans is DASPO1, by now a current expression. Stadium ban (DASPO) (subhead) Pursuant to Article 6 of Law 401/89, a DASPO consists of a judicial order directed to an individual, prohibiting him/her from being admitted to areas or locations where specified sports events take place. The prohibition may concern events to be held in Italy or abroad and, in respect to sports events taking place in Italy, it can also derive from an order issued by the competent authority of another European Member State. The DASPO applies to individuals (including minors over 14) having been charged or sentenced during the preceding five years for certain (specified) crimes against public order and public safety, or for having participated in acts of violence or having incited violence during - or in connection with - a sports event. Foreclosed areas are not just match venues, but also specified locations where those attending the sport event station, transit or through which they are transported (e.g. service and parking areas along a motorway). The ban can last no less than one year and for maximum of five years, but is subject to review if the underlying conditions change. Breaching the ban is punished with a minimum of one year's imprisonment and a maximum of three years and a fine between 10,000 and 40,000. Notably, a DASPO can be qualified by an additional security measure, consisting of a summons to appear at the police station of the place of domicile one or more times on the days in which the banned events take place. This additional - and much more invasive - restriction applies necessarily if the subject is in violation of a prior DASPO. Every time a person is sentenced for violation of a prior DASPO or for specific crimes characterised by the use of physical or verbal violence on the occasion of - or in connection to - a sports event, both a (new) ban and summons to appear - as a combined punishment - apply. DASPO procedure (subhead of subhead)

http://www.e-comlaw.com/world-sports-law-report/article_template.asp?ID=1448

29/06/2012

Stadiums: Italian measures to combat stadium violence & disorder | world sports la...

Pagina 4 di 5

The ban is an order issued by the 'questore' (the chief of the police in the relevant province). It is not a judicial decision, but rather an administrative measure, which of course is subject to review. Like most administrative decisions, the person affected by it can either file a complaint to the higher ranking office within the public administration concerned, or simply challenge the legitimacy of the decision before the competent court (Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale). However, if the ban is accompanied by a summons to appear, the decision of the questore is but the start of a process involving a judicial decision: the order is submitted to the Attorney General for preliminary validation and, in cases where such validation is granted, filed to the court for its adoption - while at the same time informing the person about his/her right to submit a statement of defence. If a decision is issued confirming the ban and summons to appear, such decision is immediately effective, notwithstanding the right to appeal to the Corte di Cassazione (the highest court). The statutory provisions concerning summons to appear have raised much debate among scholars and controversy in courts for lack of clarity, omission of important details and doubts of unconstitutionality. The severe limitation of personal freedom involved in an order to appear at the police station on the day of the event is obviously subject to relevant procedural guarantees. It is beyond the scope of this article to report the details of numerous challenges to the rules; however, by way of illustration, the main aspects having come under scrutiny of the Constitutional Court or having caused uncertainty in the application by lower courts and among commentators involve: - the lack of specific (additional) grounds for the issuing of summons to appear (in addition to the DASPO); - whether or not an assessment of public threat and proportionality must be involved in the decision; - adequacy of time-frame (48hs) and information in relation to right of defence; - consequences of invalidation on appeal; - territorial competence of issuing authority. For the most part, constitutional challenges have not resulted in the abrogation of any substantial part of Law 401/89, although the Constitutional Court issued guidance as to the correct interpretation and application of certain provisions thereof. Supporter card (subhead) Under the previous subheading 'Stadium safety', the National Centre for the Monitoring of Sports Events was mentioned. This facility was instituted in 1999 by the office of the Chief of Police. One of its most relevant initiatives, adopted in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, was the introduction of a mandatory registration for supporters willing to buy a season ticket or a ticket to their team's away matches. Under these directives, each club must issue a 'supporter card' ('tessera del tifoso') recently re-named 'fidelity card' - available to individual fans. The card is personal: the applicant is identified by the club, which in turn sends details to the local police office. Once the application is cleared by the police, confirming that the applicant has not been convicted for 'stadium crimes' during the prior five years and is not subject to a DASPO, the club issues the 'tessera del tifoso' card. Possession of the card is required in order to: - buy tickets to the visitors' section of another club's stadium (tickets to all other areas may not be sold to persons residing in the region of the visiting team); and - buy a season ticket.

http://www.e-comlaw.com/world-sports-law-report/article_template.asp?ID=1448

29/06/2012

Stadiums: Italian measures to combat stadium violence & disorder | world sports la...

Pagina 5 di 5

Notably, as was mentioned earlier, all tickets are registered instruments, and spectators are identified at the gates, therefore it is not possible for a fan to buy a ticket using another person's card. Recently, the National Centre for the Monitoring of Sports Events has eased some of the restrictions in order to facilitate ticket purchasing. On a temporary basis it will be possible for card holders to buy a second ticket for an accompanying spectator, just by showing a copy of his/her ID to the ticket office. It will also be possible to transfer entrance credits from the fidelity card owner to a person not in possession of a card, on condition that such credit is transformed by the club in a registered ticket under the name of the transferee. Luca Ferrari Partner CBA Studio Legale e Tributario, Padua, Milan luca.ferrari@cbalex.com 1. Divieto di Accesso a manifestazioni SPOrtive.

Comments
Post a Comment:
b c d e f g Make your comment anonymous?
5

There are currently no comments on this article.

Cecile Park: Publishing Conferences DataGuidance About Us Privacy Policy Feedback Report A Problem

Publications data protection law & policy e-commerce law & policy e-commerce law reports e-finance & payments law & policy world online gambling law report world sports law report Site Map

http://www.e-comlaw.com/world-sports-law-report/article_template.asp?ID=1448

29/06/2012