Safety & Security: Raschi, Simoncini and Gatti in Budapest for the UEFA Conference

The annual UEFA September conference on Safety & Security – focused in particular on organising and preparing the League Phase of the three continental club competitions – opened with a video greeting from UEFA President Aleksandr Čeferin and a welcome address from Giorgio Marchetti delivered from the stage to all participants. The San Marino Football Federation was represented by Michele Raschi and Giulio Simoncini (Competitions and Organisation Department) and Captain Gabriele Gatti for the Gendarmerie Corps.

During the afternoon session on 2 September, several topics were discussed, among which a key theme emerged: the integration of Service with the already established concepts of Safety and Security. Service is understood as the way in which both home and away supporters are welcomed, and the ability to manage and coordinate an entire community that directly experiences the positives and negatives of a football match played in a stadium often nestled within neighbourhoods and residential areas across Europe. Fan villages, transport, and mapping the supporter’s journey from the moment they leave home or arrive at the airport until they return are all part of this. The involvement of multiple stakeholders is crucial: support therefore also comes from residents, shopkeepers and volunteers, who can in various ways contribute to the vital team effort aimed at ensuring as few incidents and disruptions as possible.

A number of speakers took to the stage to offer their professional input in developing the themes addressed. Among them, particular mention goes to the contributions of researcher Fergus Neville (University of St Andrews Business School) and the Mayor of Alkmaar, Anja Schouten (Netherlands). The former shared an overview of the risks and of methods to counter and prevent violent behaviour by individuals when they become part of a group of troublemakers – a specific context in which even law enforcement, for example, can become a target. The latter presented the example of her city, known for the club AZ Alkmaar which, besides achieving notable sporting results, is also known for incidents and serious disruptions caused by its supporters at home and away matches. The Alkmaar case study sets out a model for welcoming supporters that involves the entire community, with a detailed plan of how, where and when to guide supporters from their homes or from their point of arrival – airport or train station – to the stadium and back again in the safest and most orderly way possible for everyone.

In the closing section, the focus turned to the issue of excluding supporters from stadiums, with a contribution from William Mcauliffe of UEFA’s Disciplinary unit, who outlined the instruments used to gradually discourage or sanction improper or illegal conduct by supporters inside stadiums across Europe. It was reiterated that preventing a supporter from entering the stadium where their favourite team is playing remains the last resort, as does the occasional travel ban imposed by authorities to prevent attendance at away games. Work on this topic is ongoing and each country has its own procedures and regulations; the shared goal remains to harmonise processes in order to develop a system that allows international football events to take place in safe, protected and calm environments.