Mayors want to force football clubs to file risk analysis before each match

Mayors who have a professional football club in their municipality want the clubs to apply for a permit ahead of every one of their matches. The permit must describe the risk profile of the match and the security measures taken.

Depending on the risk profile, the clubs must describe how searchers and inspections are arranged in the stadium, how ticket sales are organized, what the enforcement policy looks like, how a possible evacuation of the stadium works, and how supporters are treated.

Clubs with supporters who do not comply with the permit conditions will be punished, ranging from a warning for the first offense to a fine or playing without supporters in the stadium for repeated violations. If away supporters misbehave, their club will have to play with a smaller audience, or no crowd at all, during upcoming matches.

The mayors set these requirements in their national action framework for football municipalities. They created the framework for a more uniform line in the approach to football violence. The mayors note that disturbances around football matches have become increasingly common after the coronavirus crisis, said mayor Paul Depla of Breda, who drew up the framework with mayor Ahmed Marcouch of Arnhem.

In some municipalities there is still an obligation to announce football matches in the general local bylaws. According to Depla, a permit requirement is better because it is "a more robust tool." Mayors should be able to decide for themselves whether they will issue a permit per match, per half-season or for a full season. If the permit applies to more matches, the club must specify the risk profile per match, at which point the mayor determines whether more conditions are required for some matches.

The mayors stress that the KNVB and the clubs are primarily responsible for the safety around the stadium and the matches. “But sometimes safety appears to get the short end of the stick when weighing up interests. As a result, insufficient measures are sometimes taken in practice. That is why the mayors want to tighten up supervision so that football remains hospitable, safe, and accessible,” said Depla and Marcouch. The action framework must make the boundaries set by the mayor more recognizable and predictable for everyone.

At least six weeks before each match, the municipality, police, and football club must share the latest information with each other about the number of visitors and specific measures, among other things. A supporters’ representative can sit in that conversation but not at the part dealing with police information. Derbies like NEC - Vitesse, Willem II - NAC, or Heracles - FC Twente require more intensive preliminary consultation. Around the match, the municipality will check whether the permit conditions are being complied with. If not, it will intervene immediately.

The approach to individual supporters who misbehave remains as it was. But, the mayors note, perpetrators often remain anonymous because they misbehave in a group. That is why the mayors want to tackle such groups faster and more strictly under administrative law. Such penalties can last for two football seasons or more.

Rioters can cause more problems especially at smaller clubs

No one should be ashamed because he or she is a football fan, said Depla. Nor should it be necessary for anyone to defend themselves for enjoying the sport and visiting the matches. Still, the unrest around football matches has increased after the coronavirus crisis, the Breda mayor said. "New supporter groups have emerged, which have lost sight a bit. The hierarchy among supporters has disappeared. In the past, new supporters were more or less 'raised' by the older guard, but that has become less. That has led to rioters who want to take a little more ground," he said.

According to Depla, the second reason for more disturbances lies in the fact that a number of Eredivisie clubs have started playing in the first division. "They now travel to clubs where safety was never so strictly regulated and where there is also less budget for measures. That does not always go well." The result is that ordinary supporters become victims of the behavior of a much smaller group of malicious people and no longer dare to go to matches.

"The aim is for everyone to see as soon as possible that misconduct has consequences that affect everyone. And if things improve afterwards, we will also reward good behavior," said Depla. "In short, we have to go back to normal."

Too soon for a ban on alcohol at the matches

Marcouch said it was too early to consider a total alcohol ban at football matches. There is already such a ban at kickboxing galas organized by Glory in Arnhem, where Marcouch is mayor. This appears to work well, he said, but for football the topic is one for discussion where there has not yet been a consensus between all parties involved.

Marcouch believed alcohol and drugs are "factors in escalating violence." He also noted there are people who "have no problem drinking a beer," and said that mayors want to be "as precise as possible in the measures."

The Arnhem mayor wants football municipalities to apply the proposed measures "very consistently," he said. "That did not happen enough. It is not self-evident that safety is an important theme at football clubs." This should ensure that football "can take place in a hospitable and safe way", with "as few disruptions to public order as possible." At the end of the day, he said it boils down to "good preparation" to make sure an event is held responsibly with "enough stewards at the clubs, good search procedures, clarity about household rules."