Belgian football steps up fight against problematic fans with stricter identity checks in stadiums
With higher fines and stricter identity checks, Belgian football is trying to effectively keep supporters with a stadium ban out of the stadiums. Clubs that are unable to control their hooligans will be obliged to install a biometric system at the entrance gates. That reported De Standaard after the Pro League, the Belgian football association and the football unit of the interior ministry presented the main points of the revised football law on Friday.
There has been a Belgian football law on security at matches in place since 1998, but this law was in need of updating. In practice, supporters banned from stadiums are still able to gain access to matches too easily. The Pro League had long been calling for a legislative framework to keep the “3 per cent of troublemakers” out of the stadiums.
For clubs where there are few problems, the revised football law will not change much in practice. Supporters with a ticket in their own name can easily pass through security checks. Private security guards will have the same powers as stewards: a superficial search and an identity check. For the first time, there will be a central database of stadium bans that is connected to the access gates in real time. Wearing a hoodie that hides the face in stadiums and the security perimeter around the stadium will be prohibited.
However, if, after checks or incidents, it appears that some clubs are unable to control the problematic behaviour of their hardcore supporters, the interior ministry can tighten the security net. A biometric identification system may be made mandatory. This means that fans will only be able to access the stadium with a fingerprint or facial recognition. Privacy legislation provides that biometric recognition may be used in certain circumstances. It has already been used in the port of Antwerp in the fight against drug trafficking.
Those who do not comply with the football law risk more severe penalties. The general threshold for administrative fines will be doubled, from 250 to 500 euros. Fines for offences involving assault and battery (from 1,000 to 2,000 euros) and for racism and discrimination (from 1,500 to 2,000 euros and a stadium ban of up to three years) will also be increased. Anyone who uses fireworks or other pyrotechnic objects or smuggles them into the stadium can be banned from the stadium for up to three years and fined 2,000 euros.
The philosophy behind the new football law is that clubs should take more responsibility for their problematic fans. Not only within the stadium walls, but also outside in the so-called “security perimeter”. Clubs will also be responsible for their supporters in the event of incidents away from home. A final important change is that an appeal against a stadium ban will no longer have a suspensive effect.
Fans of Sporting Charleroi © BELGA PHOTO VIRGINIE LEFOUR
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