By Andrew Warshaw
September 7 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), the not-for-profit organisation based in Qatar, highlighted a number of pressing needs to make sport events safer when its officials attended this week’s Sponsors Sports Venue Summit in Munich.
ICSS President Mohammed Hanzab (pictured top) emphasised the importance of developing a tailored, international approach to help tackle emerging threats to the integrity of sport.
“International sport now faces dangers not only from global social, economic and political developments but from those who want to disrupt it or take criminal advantage of its global popularity and international success,” he said.
“As a result, there is now a critical need for international sports bodies and organisations to collaborate and develop tailored, international solutions to help tackle these threats and ultimately protect the integrity of sport.”
Speaking on a panel entitled “Violence in Stadiums: Draconian punishments vs. an integrative approach”, ICSS executive director Helmut Spahn told delegates: “Recent events in the world of football continue to highlight the importance of embedding fans into the heart of a well-prepared and holistic security programme and, in order to understand the motivation behind why some football fans exhibit extreme behaviour, it is important that major event organisers and governing bodies consider the wider social, economic and political atmosphere and provide flexible and appropriate security measures to account for any potential threat.”
Later, in a workshop entitled “A dangerous game: Crisis management is indispensable, but how can it be made efficient?” Spahn stressed the need for early planning when preparing to host a major event.
“It is important that major event organisers implement extensive security concepts that are not only thorough, but flexible to the needs of the event and the operating environment,” he said.
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