The Use of Biometric Technologies to Increase Security at Sporting Events

The topic of the article is consideration of the possibility of using biometric technologies to increase security during sports events. Security will always be among the most discussed topics, and biometric technologies are one of its modern elements. Currently, sporting events and spectator violence occurring at them are a much-discussed topics. Moreover, as a motive, violence between individual population groups is growing throughout Europe. The number of academic publications dealing with spectator violence is high, but most research in this area is dedicated to describing individual aspects of hooliganism and its causes. Unfortunately, less attention is paid to security measures that could be applied in the specific environment of sports venues. In addition, some sports clubs themselves are resisting the introduction of tougher security measures. They are looking for a possible outflow of participants. However, the experience of organizations that have not been afraid of this confirms that the opposite is true. After the outflow of dangerous fans, there was an increase in the participation of whole families, who no longer had such concerns for their safety. Therefore, the article will first provide an overview of the types of spectator violence and its history to orientate in the issue, and will further focus on the description of individual suitable biometric technologies and their use. It includes an overview of the technologies and experiences of sports clubs that have already included these elements in their preventive activities. In the end, a comparison of the success of selected technologies and recommendations for criteria for their selection and subsequent implementation will be presented.

I. Introduction

On 29 May 1985, a brawl between football fans at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels and the subsequent collapse of part of the stands left 39 dead and more than 600 injured. The final match of the UEFA Champions League between Liverpool and Juventus Turin was played at the stadium. An hour before the start of the match, British hooligans attacked Italian fans. Everything was watched not only by shocked fans in the stadium but also by millions of viewers on TV screens. The drama took place in Stand Z. This was adjacent to the English rowdies sector and was intended for neutral fans. Tickets for it were therefore only sold in Belgium but were unfortunately bought on the black market by Italian travel agencies for Juventus fans. The two camps were only separated by a mesh barrier. First, they started provoking each other by throwing stones, then the Liverpool hooligans climbed over the barrier and attacked the Juventus supporters with sticks and other weapons. The attacked fans of the Italian club had no other option of escape than to climb over the concrete wall to the next sector. However, this collapsed under their enormous onslaught. Most of the 39 victims perished in the wreckage, including 32 Italians, four Belgians, two French, and one fan from Northern Ireland. The youngest victim was 11 years old. The match took place despite this, as the organizers feared another wave of violence caused by its cancellation. British hooligans were identified as the main culprits of the tragedy, several hundred were accused, but only 14 ended up behind bars. The then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher started the fight against football violence in direct connection with this event. Fig. 1

Apocalypse in the stadium in Brussels before the final of the football PMEZ in 1985 [1]