Playing a political game

ICSS Journal – Vol 1 | No 1

ICSS

I N T E R N AT I O N A L C E N T R E FOR SPORT SECURIT Y

Vol 1 | No 1

Playing a political game Tensions in sport, society and the state Securing sport

Securing sport

Common sense is not always common practice! Over the past 100 years, more than 135 major sporting events have taken place without a standard evolutionary security model against which to assess security plans. Even in this day and age, with all of the expertise and technology available, we still see that major sporting events experience unnecessary – and avoidable – challenges and costs. In order to address this vacuum, the ICSS has developed a dynamic Security, Safety & Integrity (SSI) Model based upon lessons learnt from, and current research on, major sporting events.

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Due Diligence; Stakeholder Analysis; Risk Management; SSI Strategy; SSI Concept; SSI Organisational Structure; Facilitation of Event-related Legislation; OC SSI Policies, Procedures, Services & Systems; SSI Venue & Precinct Design; SSI Staffing; SSI Logistics; SSI Procurement; SSI IT Systems; SSI Training; SSI Communication Plan; SSI Legacy Plan; SSI Functional Concept & Operational Plans; SSI Budget

Government SSI Ops; SSI Inter-agency Cooperation; Venue Safety & Security; Fan Zone Safety & Security; Security Technology; Sport Integrity; Accreditation; Hotel Security; Cyber Security; Close Protection; Transit Security; Ticketing Security; Logistics Security; Crisis Management; SSI Testing

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For anyone interested in minimising risk and optimising success, the SSI Model offers a holistic, integrated and dynamic approach to major sporting event security planning, especially when informed by the experienced ICSS team. Whether you are planning to bid for a major sporting event or have already been awarded the hosting rights, ensure that you have a common sense security plan that is correctly scoped and costed.

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For more information visit www.theicss.org I [email protected]

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Vol 1 | No 1 icss-journal.newsdeskmedia.com

Editor Consulting editor ICSS editorial director Editor-in-chief Managing Editor Assistant Editor

Chris Aaron Simon Michell Dr Shaun P McCarthy ICSS Director Research & Knowledge Gathering

Art director Art editor

Barry Davies Jane Douglas Emily Eastman Jean-Philippe Stanway Herita MacDonald, James White

Production and distribution manager Managing director Chief executive Chairman President

Elizabeth Heuchan Andrew Howard Alan Spence Lord David Evans Paul Duffen

Cover image: epa/Corbis Members of the Al Ahly football team leave the pitch as violence erupts following a match with Al Masry in February 2012

ISBN: 978-1-906940-68-3 Printed by Buxton Press Published on behalf of Published by

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© 2013. The entire contents of this publication are protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed by independent authors and contributors in this publication are provided in the writers’ personal capacities and are their sole responsibility. Their publication does not imply that they represent the views or opinions of Newsdesk Media or the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) and must neither be regarded as constituting advice on any matter whatsoever, nor be interpreted as such.


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Contents

Contents Vol 1 | No 1 March 2013

Press Association

Foreword 7

Wilfried Lemke Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace to the Secretary-General of the United Nations

News and comment 8

A review of events and developments Analysing doping scandals, match-fixing, Sochi 2014, Brazil’s World Cup progress, arson at Beitar Jerusalem and Qatar’s deal with Interpol

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Can sport and politics be separated? ICSS Editorial Director Shaun McCarthy reflects on the intertwined nature of sport and politics, asking how sports bodies may need to adapt as major events travel to countries that are in political transition

Thought leadership 14

Sport and the jigsaw puzzle of peacebuilding in divided societies

Professor John Sugden sets out the theory behind sport as a tool in conflict resolution and outlines a pragmatic framework for the running of such initiatives

Political radicalisation in sport 22

The risks and rewards of hosting sports mega-events Successfully hosting an international sporting event can bring elevated political status, but it can also be a double-edged sword, explains Dr Jonathan Grix

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Contents

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The politicisation of sport in the Arab world Sport has been mobilised in nation-state formation, image-making and political legitimisation in the Arab world, as Mahfoud Amara reports

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Egyptian football becomes a test of political fortune James M Dorsey argues that without reforms to state institutions, football ultras in Egypt will remain an organised source of resistance and political instability

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Playing for equality: football in Palestine Former captain of the Palestine women’s football team, Honey Thaljieh, discusses the challenges to sport and its political role in divided societies

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Mirror to the state: politicisation of football clubs in the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina Club sport has been used as a channel for divisive politics in BosniaHerzegovina, but it can also heal wounds, explain Gary Armstrong and Emily Vest

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Argentina’s barras: a volatile blend of crime, politics and football Samuel Logan investigates the reach of Argentia’s violent ‘ultras’ in club, as well as national, politics and their origins in disadvantaged communities

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Challenging racism in European football ICSS Director Helmut Spahn talks to David Winner about effective tactics for confronting racism among fan groups

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Sport and employment: future hopes for South African youth

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Reuters/Corbis

With youth unemployment in the Cape Flats fuelling an aggressive gang culture, Norman Brook assess how far organised sport can alleviate the problem

The powerful platform of sport Keir Radnedge examines the dynamic between sport and politics, and the role of sports bodies in managing events that can also be stages for political expression

Technology 76

Crowd-sourcing security: the role of smartphones in securing major events Chris Aaron investigates how smartphones can improve security at sports events

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Mitigating the impact of infectious diseases at sporting events

Dr Petra Dickmann explains how risk-communication strategies could be better implemented in order to protect spectators from infectious disease outbreaks

Alamy

Security and safety

Integrity 88

Sport Integrity Units lead fightback against corruption in sport

An analysis by Fred Lord of SIUs at all levels, and the structures that have evolved in Australia to combat the infiltration of organised crime

Legacy 94

Six security legacies of major sporting events

Richard Giulianotti details the key lasting effects of hosting an international event

Interview 102

HE Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani

The Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee on Save the Dream


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Foreword

Wilfried Lemke Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace to the Secretary-General of the United Nations

United Nations

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port has proven to be successful in serving as a powerful vehicle to promote peace and development in various ways, from grassroots community projects to elite sports. The achievements and possibilities are widely recognised among Governments, UN organisations, sport federations, civil society, private organisations, and the public. This past year, the UN Resolution calling for the Olympic Truce for the 2012 London Games was unanimously adopted and co-sponsored by all of the 193 UN Member States, indicating the importance that the international community places on the value of sport for peace. While universal adherence to the Resolution in armed conflict zones during the Games remains a challenge, the Olympic Truce is an important goal and a powerful reminder of the spirit, ideals and historic potential of the Games and sport. The Truce also reaffirms the actions of many sport for peace programmes and organisations working towards unity and reconciliation in communities around the world. However, the positive aspects of sport and its potential as a force for good are being undermined by a number of negative aspects that we are experiencing in and around sport. One of the most serious issues in this respect concerns the various incidents of racism mainly experienced in soccer. In 2010 in conjunction with the World Cup in South Africa, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 13/27 to address the problem of racism in the world of sport. Irrespective of this and the efforts made by some of the football bodies, such as FIFA and, in particular UEFA, racism is still a problem. This has led to players now taking their own action by walking off the field when being subjected to racism. Violence is an equally serious threat to the integrity of sport. Violence on field between athletes and against referees, as well as the violence between spectators is becoming a common occurrence. Some sports organisations have successfully been able to counter the spiral of violence through active intervention and programmes, such as the English Premier League, where violence amongst spectators has been radically reduced compared to some years ago. For both of the above mentioned issues, while a multitude of initiatives and programmes are underway to tackle these issues, much more needs to be done to prevent racism and violence in sport. In this respect, it is important to note that racism and violence do not occur because of sports games or competitions but these issues are a reflection of society at large and therefore can be present in a sport environment, sometimes accentuated as sport feeds emotions and highly visible because of public and media attention. I am strongly convinced that these negative aspects of sport are heavily outweighed by sport’s positive benefits. Values and norms of sport, such as fair-play, equality and tolerance, are the same values that we seek to build peaceful and democratic societies on. Sport can also foster role models, both at the elite and community level that can contribute to the positive development of our communities. We should continue to foster sport’s positive potential while simultaneously raising awareness and addressing the challenges within sport and the threats sport is exposed to. This must be fulfilled with a multi-stakeholder approach, between international organisations, authorities, sports organisations, clubs and fans. This will be the key to success. My Office, the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, sets up partnerships to develop projects and activities related to peace-building. Doing so, we strengthen dialogue between countries and communities in conflict through sports diplomacy. We support projects using sport to help rapprochement and break down prejudices. We promote equal access to sport for men and women. We foster inclusion of minorities and persons with disabilities. The United Nations is ready, able and willing to help governments, sports organisations and communities to harness the positive aspects of sport in the pursuit of peace, social cohesion and development. I would like to thank the ICSS Journal for dedicating this issue to Sport for Development and Peace, thus helping to raise awareness, trigger new ideas and, most importantly, concrete action.


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News digest

Sport integrity issues hit the headlines in a big way in the early months of 2013. As Lance Armstrong admitted to the doping offences he had denied for years, the Australian Crime Commission published a report on extensive doping and match-fixing in Australian sport, and Europol announced an investigation into match-fixing in European football. Lance Armstrong’s televised admissions in an interview with Oprah Winfrey followed in the wake of a US Anti-Doping Agency investigation that detailed systematic doping by the American cyclist. In addition to being stripped of his Tour De France titles, and a potential lifetime ban from all competitive sport, Armstrong is now being sued in the US by SCA Promotions, which is demanding the return of $12 million in prize money it paid him after winning the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Tour de France races. Further damage to the reputation of professional cycling is likely to result from the Operation Puerto case that is finally coming to trial in Spain,

Press Association

Doping scandals take centre stage around the world

American cyclist Lance Armstrong has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs

after a seven-year delay. Witness testimony in that trial may bring further revelations about doping in cycling. The World Anti-Doping Agency has pushed for the case to be brought to trial, and regards it as a positive step forward in trying to eliminate doping from sport, although it is disappointed that the case only relates to cycling, as it believes other sports were involved. Australian sport was also rocked by doping accusations following the publication of an investigation by the

Australian Crime Commission. This revealed widespread and systematic use of banned Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs in several Australian sports codes. The systematic nature of the doping was highlighted by findings that some sports scientists, high-performance coaches and sports staff had been involved in facilitating doping, and that the activities had brought sports personnel into contact with organised crime groups involved in the provision of banned substances. The vulnerability of Australian sport to manipulation by organised crime was highlighted by the cabinet secretary and justice minister, Jason Clare, amid concerns that contacts with criminal elements for doping purposes could lead to the facilitation of match-fixing. The minister for sport, Senator Kate Lundy, said that in response to the report, she had doubled the investigative resources at the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and would take measures to further strengthen the National Integrity of Sport Unit, which has recently been established.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the results of an international police investigation into football match-fixing were announced at a Europol press conference. The organised crime group behind most of the fraud operated out of Singapore, and profited from bets placed primarily on the Asian gambling market. The Asian ringleaders worked closely with European facilitators, as well as Russian-speaking and other criminal syndicates, to fix more than 380 professional football matches in Europe. Europol estimates the operation netted more than eight million euros in betting profits, and involved more than two million euros in corrupt payments to some match officials, club officials and players. The two-year Joint Investigation

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Team (JIT), Operation VETO, led by Europol, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Austria and Slovenia, was supported by Eurojust, Interpol and investigators from eight other European countries. As much as 100,000 euros were paid to fix some matches, and JIT VETO revealed that up to 50 individuals across 10 countries could be involved in the fixing of just one match. Michèle Coninsx, president of Eurojust, said international cooperation was crucial to the success of the investigation. “Coordination meetings at Eurojust, including video conferences with Asian counterparts, facilitated the opening of new investigations and the resolution of complex judicial issues. Eurojust provided access to funding for JIT Veto, one of the largest JITs in history.” A further 300 suspicious

Press Association

Europol uncovers widespread match-fixing in European football

Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, is investigating match-fixing in football

matches were identified outside of Europe – mainly in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America – during the investigation.

News digest

Russian President Vladimir Putin sacked the vice president of the country’s Olympic Committee in February, amid delays and cost overruns in the construction of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics venue. Putin criticised Akhmed Bilalov during a tour of the venues, after being informed that facilities, including the ski-jumping venue, were behind schedule. “People who do not fulfil their obligations on such a scale cannot lead the Olympic movement,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters. Putin has also warned

against corruption in the construction sector leading to cost increases. The potential for organised crime to exploit the massive infrastructural investment associated with the Sochi Winter Olympics was highlighted in January by the assassination of a long-standing Russian mafia figure, Aslan Usoyan, in Moscow. Several of Usoyan’s henchmen had been based in Sochi, and are among a string of criminals who have been murdered in the past few years in what several commentators describe as a turf war between mafia groups.

Good progress at World Cup sites Among more positive developments, FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke toured Brazilian World Cup sites in February and reported favourably on progress. “We have seen a stadium that is ready (the Castelão), we have seen a venue where there is still work to be done but where a commitment has been made to deliver by 21 April, which is Brasília, and we have met mayors and state governors in three cities (Brasília, Fortaleza Alamy

Keeping Sochi 2014 on schedule

Arson at Beitar Jerusalem FC The premises of Beitar Jerusalem football club in Israel were destroyed by arson in February, in what appears to have been a racially motivated attack. In December, it signed two Muslim Chechen players, Gabriel Kadiev and Zaur Sadayev, who since joining the club have been verbally and physically abused, and travel to training under security protection. Beitar’s owner, Arcadi Gaydamak, decried racism: “As far as I’m concerned, there is no difference

between a Jewish player and a Muslim player.” The club’s manager, Itzik Kornfein, said: “This has gone beyond sports and has ramifications for Israeli society and for how we look to the world.” Former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, a Beitar supporter, said: “This is a matter that concerns all of us. Either we remove this group of racists from our field and cut it off from the team, or we are all like them. Until that happens, I will not go to games.”

Qatar and Interpol strike a deal Interpol has forged an accord with the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee worth $10 million, to support safety and security at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and other major sporting events over the next 10 years. Interpol will create a Group of Major Event Security Experts (IGMESE), chaired by former deputy assistant commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police Service, Janet Williams QPM. The IGMESE will bring together specialised law-enforcement professionals and security experts from all regions of the world. “Interpol’s group of experts and its general secretariat will work closely with the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, the Ministry of the Interior and our National

Central Bureau in Doha as part of a fully collaborative approach to prepare and implement the necessary security framework and practices,” said Interpol’s Secretary General Ronald K Noble. “The creation of this group of experts will see Interpol become the reference point for all security elements linked to hosting a major event.” In addition to implementing a security strategy for stadiums, persons and locations throughout Qatar for the World Cup, identifying the training needs for law-enforcement personnel in Qatar and other countries hosting major sporting events, the group will also develop best practices and international standards relating to security for all types of major events.

The Castelão stadium in Brazil is set to host three Confederations Cup and six World Cup matches

and Salvador). We have also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Brazilian Ministry of Communications, guaranteeing that telecommunications across the country, including a 4G system, will be of a high standard during the FIFA Confederations Cup and FIFA World Cup. We are moving further into the implementation and handover phase and we are at the stage where we are overcoming a few challenges. One of them concerns temporary infrastructures, a topic we have discussed at all the venues. Temporary infrastructures are crucial to the FIFA World Cup. We are certain that all the stadiums will be ready for the FIFA Confederations Cup and the FIFA World Cup. We even received an update from our technical team in Manaus confirming that significant progress has been made at the stadium and that they are talking about handing it over in around December this year.”


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Comment

Football hooliganism emerged in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, projecting a sense of tribal identity that was fostered by club sport Demotix

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Comment

Can sport and politics be separated? Shaun McCarthy, ICSS Director Research & Knowledge Gathering, comments on issues of politics and sport raised in this edition, and asks how sporting bodies and sponsors may need to adapt as major sports events spread to a greater variety of host countries – among them, countries that are in the throes of political transition

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port and sportsmanship are normally promoted for their values of individual and team effort, fairness, inclusivity and honourable conduct – and yet, we very often associate an athlete or sports teams strongly with their nationality. The structure of competitions such as the FIFA World Cup are obviously nation based, but even events like the Wimbledon tennis championships, which are structured around individual players, see devoted fan groups develop around ‘national’ representatives. One example is Tim Henman, who represented Britain’s Wimbledon aspirations. Sport does seem to be a two-sided coin in this regard. On the one side, particularly among football fans, sport fosters a tribal identity that denigrates the ‘other’, and in the extreme can lead to incidents of violence or racism in stands and in fan zones. On the flip side, sport is able to act as a bridge between divided communities, giving people a reason to visit and better understand “the people over the hill”, as Gary Armstrong puts it in his paper within this journal on the history of politics and football in Bosnia (see page 44). John Sugden argues here (see page 14) that “understanding the role that sport can play in the relationship between political and civil society is key to understanding any role it can have in promoting progressive social change”. Therefore, one has to ask whether it is realistic, or indeed desirable, to proclaim that sport should be divorced from politics. A more reasonable expectation may be to consider how sport can be protected from political violence and extremism, and its political aspects directed towards progressive ends. A recurring point raised in this issue is that sport reflects the society and the politics of the state in which it plays out. Fortunately, society in general appears to have progressed from the gladiatorial ‘sports’ of the Roman emperors. However, the experiences of athletes and sportspeople in the Soviet Union under Stalin and Beria; in Iraq under Saddam Hussein; or

the murder of Colombian defender, Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga, by a member of a drug cartel; remind us that even in more recent times, violence and oppression are by no means strangers to the world of sport. In this issue, Jonathan Grix sets out how states have used sport as an extension of politics by other means. During the Cold War era, the West – most notably the United States, United Kingdom, France and the former Soviet Union – used the Olympics and the Gold-medal tallies to compete on an international political level (see page 22). Security was not that strong a requirement or an issue, although the KGB and other soviet-bloc security agencies usually kept a close watch on their athletes during Olympic events to prevent defections to the West. The Munich Olympics was the watershed event that lead to a sharper focus and emphasis on security, following the Black September hostage-taking and killing of Israeli athletes in 1972. At that time, spectators were regarded as potentially part of the problem, as threats against athletes could emanate from this area. With the growth of football hooliganism in the UK and Europe in the 1970s and 80s, the emphasis was placed on keeping fans tightly controlled and segregated. This unfortunately played a role in the Hillsborough and Heysel stadium disasters, and forced a reconsideration of how safety and security should be approached at major sporting events.

Sports and human rights Fortunately, terrorism incidents like the Munich atrocity have been rare, as Keir Radnedge notes in his paper (see page 68), but sporting events, particularly massspectator events, provide a locus for political protest. As James Dorsey and Mahfoud Amara note (pages 32 and 28) – when that protest becomes violent, as in Egypt in the past two years, the arguments over keeping politics, and even political violence, out of sport become more complex. Major sporting events have long been high-profile platforms for human-rights activists and political protesters. In June 1913, Emily Davison became a martyr


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Comment

Alamy

Supporters of Egypt’s Al Ahly football club celebrate after a court verdict sentences 21 Al Masry fans to death for their role in the violence that erupted between the two fan groups following a match at Port Said stadium in February 2012

for women’s rights when she died, trampled by the King’s horse, Anmer, at the Epsom Derby in the UK. During the apartheid era in South Africa, a sports boycott was used as a political lever to draw international attention to an unjust political regime and system. Countries that aim to host major international sporting events, which thrust the country into the international spotlight, must consider the potential negative publicity that can derive from public protest and unrest – even during the preparation stages, let alone during Games time. This is of particular relevance to countries that have to deal with large socio-economic discrepancies between rich elite minorities and large economically and socially marginalised communities, but

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it is an issue for all states. During London 2012, protest groups of various kinds organised rallies daily in London: the police made it clear that demonstrations would be allowed as normal, but that none would be permitted to disrupt the smooth functioning of the Games. When it comes to hosting major international sporting events that entail large public expenditure to install and/ or upgrade stadia, facilities and infrastructure, the issue of public spending versus economic and social benefit introduces event-specific issues into the mix of political discourse attendant on a Games. Consoling disadvantaged masses with messages of how an event will deliver increased national prestige and national ‘togetherness’ will, in this author’s opinion, no longer be enough.

Comment

the economic fabric of the host country, whereas rights holders will move on to the next host country, so it could be that corporate sponsors have more to gain, and are in a more entrenched position to influence host governments and rights holders to up their game in the area of legacy. Rights holders require a secure and acceptable venue in which to hold games, an enthusiastic host government that will support the games, and corporate sponsors to help pay the costs and return profits. Commercial sponsors should be more creative in exploring incentives and levers to encourage rights holders and host governments to better plan for sustained economic and social legacies. In this regard, commercial sponsors who pay significant royalties to rights holders for exclusive retail and advertising space within the event zone are also a part of the political nexus that coalesces around major sports events.

A sporting convention

Governments, rights holders and corporate sponsors are going to have to reconsider the existing model, or face a risk that major events will become an ever greater focus for politcial and human-rights protest. For rights holders such as the IOC and FIFA, the implication is that they may need to consider more extensively the political and socio-economic realities of host countries. Should rights holders do much more to assist host countries to plan and implement more sustainable socio-economic benefits from major events? Or would that bring sport far too close to state politics? For corporate sponsors, exposure at events will shine a spotlight on their corporate social-responsibility records. Corporate sponsors often have a permanent presence in

The Geneva Convention, established in 1949, was set up to try and protect prisoners of war and the wounded during acts of war. Subsequent protocols to the Geneva Convention of 1949 regulate the nature of war and delineate specific boundaries – especially those that transgress human rights. Any act that crosses those boundaries is thus no longer considered as an act of war, but as a criminal act, and the perpetrator(s) can be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. If we adopt a pragmatic view in relation to politics and sport, then recognising that sport and politics are relatively intertwined would be a first step towards forging some conventions that protect sport from corrosive aspects of politicisation. Is it possible to agree on some unacceptable political behaviours in sport? For example: ■■ all acts of political violence; ■■ activities with the intention to incite public unrest or violence; ■■ promotion of any political organisation or party manifesto or agenda; ■■ exclusion of any ethnic group, race, religion or creed; ■■ racism and homophobia; and ■■ any reference, subtle or stronger, to historical acts of war or aggression, or to demonstrate, relate to or associate a particular team, club or association with a political movement or military victory. Of course, one could argue that most of the above acts are already illegal in most countries. However, having some kind of convention for all sport would highlight the issues and lend greater visibility to what is acceptable and unacceptable as political activity in any sporting context. The events in Bosnia and Egypt, described in this issue, demonstrate how political violence leaves a protracted legacy of distrust and instability. If sport could be kept out of such conflict and could always and everywhere be seen as a respected venue for peaceful interaction, then it would gain strength as the vehicle for reconciliation and social regeneration that it can be.


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Thought leadership

Sport and the jigsaw puzzle of peacebuilding in divided societies A proliferation of sports initiatives in conflict resolution, peacebuilding and development, and the involvement of emergent states and individual benefactors, demands a pragmatic framework to design, implement and assess programmes. Professor John Sugden outlines the theoretical basis for such a framework

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everal key ingredients of a model for peacebuilding through sport have emerged from my involvement in sport and peace work, mainly in Northern Ireland and Israel, as well as from extensive conversations with a wide range of practitioners involved in similar interventions in South Africa. These ingredients form the basis of a transferable model and practical toolkit that, hopefully, will be helpful in developing future Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) programmes. My endeavours to develop a transferable theoretical model with a practical basis were accelerated when I discovered John Brewer’s monograph, entitled C Wright Mills and the Ending of Violence. In his book, Brewer uses the framework underpinning Wright Mills’s concept of the sociological imagination as a means through which to make sense of the extremely complex web of circumstances that have led two very different societies in serious conflict – namely South Africa and Northern Ireland – down corresponding roads towards peace and reconciliation.

Sociological imagination and thinking about sport and peace processes Brewer begins by observing that peace processes are exceedingly complex and

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unpredictable entities, making sense of which involves high levels of informed retrospection. “Between God and chance you find sociology,”1 says Brewer, arguing that Wright Mills’s work shows us that sociologists are among the best qualified to engage with and make sense of a world in flux and turmoil. The task for the sociology of conflict resolution and peacebuilding is not to discover or construct a universal theory that explains all peace processes in all theatres of conflict, but it is restricted in its applicability to understanding specified intersections of events that exist in real time and space. In this regard, context is everything, and history is a crucial feature of this context. Based upon my own reading of Wright Mills, I see it as our task to develop appropriate theoretical explanations and models for action by conducting a dialogue between empirical observations, lived experiences and relevant pre-existing bodies of knowledge. In terms of his own ontological/epistemological positioning, Wright Mills was highly influenced by the subject of his doctoral studies – pragmatism. Prominent in the works of the American philosophers and educationalists William James and John Dewey, pragmatism advocates the science of the possible, whereby action and

Thought leadership

Football 4 Peace brings communities together through football initiatives, emphasising social justice and human rights to achieve and maintain peace jenswenzel-photography.com


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Thought leadership

intervention are linked to outcomes that are themselves based upon a critical assessment of what can be achieved within a given set of situational circumstances2. Critical pragmatism places emphasis on theoretical development and refinement through critical, practical, empirical engagement, rather than fixating upon abstract debate and unmoveable theoretical principles. This view recognises that the construction of society is not passively structural, but is an embodied process of individual and collective actions. The emergence of Left Realism in critical criminology can in some ways be viewed as a version of critical pragmatism. Disillusioned with conventional theories of crime and deviance emanating from the political right, empiricist and measurement-orientated models in mainstream sociology, and the failure of class struggle/ revolution-fixated Marxist sociologists to provide the foundation for the development of an agenda for investigation and intervention, scholars developed an innovative, praxis-orientated approach. The left realist paradigm allowed for the mobilisation of a radical and

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critical sociological imagination in determining strategies for progressive and pragmatic engagement with social problems, with a view to influencing local policies and interventions that could improve the conditions of society’s most vulnerable groups3. While Left Realism developed with particular foci on deviance and crime, a similar form of praxis has been advocated in the context of sports activism by Marxist scholar, Ian McDonald, who argues that rather than being satisfied with armchair critique, “a radical sociology of sport should be seeking to assist the reconfiguration of the culture of sport by intervening against dominant relations of power”4. This kind of radical thinking and intervention has also been advocated by scholars of international development, including those who focus on fractured community relations and social conflict in divided societies. Gathered loosely under the banner of Critical Development Theory (CDT), academics and practitioners from a variety of disciplines and platforms have expressed concern about the way development studies in recent decades has moved away from its radical, anti-capitalistic

Thought leadership

roots to adopt a more mainstream position within a neo-liberal globalisation agenda. In this regard, the proponents of CDT argue that under cover of the rhetoric of development, best exemplified by the United Nations’ (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), international development organisations and related NGOs are peddling new forms of imperialism. CDT involves breaking from this neo-liberal agenda and restoring critical theory as the central component of development studies, which in turn can inform a ‘strategic praxeology’ or ‘pragmatic toolkit’, enabling practitioners to ask pertinent, challenging questions and grow strategies for intervention that are appropriate for the local contexts within which they find themselves working5.

Sport and peacebuilding as a dialogue between political and civil society Understanding the role that sport can play in the relationship between political and civil society is key to understanding any role it can have in promoting progressive social change. Antonio Gramsci’s work has

been hugely influential in helping us to understand the articulation of power between the institutions of state and civil society actors and organisations, and within and between those cultural formations themselves. Gramsci’s ideas, with their focus on the significance of culture in power relations, represented a break away from more orthodox, econometric Marxist approaches to political struggle and revolution. In this regard, a generation of critical sport sociologists have argued that sport is a fiercely contested element of civil society – that area of civic culture and popular participation that stands outside the formal institutions of state, but is nonetheless vital in securing consensus and control for those occupying the commanding heights of political society. While Gramsci’s analysis was concerned with understanding the dynamics of revolutionary social and political change in the context of capitalism in general, it is nonetheless also useful in helping us to understand the underlying dynamics of peace processes that, in their own way, require a revolution in established

jenswenzel-photography.com

Understanding the role that sport can play in the relationship between political and civil society is key to unlocking any role it can have in promoting progressive social change


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Thought leadership

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social and political relations. While there can be below’ – a strategy whereby external forms of intervention little doubt that the final deals and treaties that are and mediation concentrate on facilitating the organic characteristic of the formal phase of a peace process empowerment and active participation of local actors are crafted and agreed in political society, this level of and agencies in conflict resolution and reconciliation7. John Galtung identifies the relationship between political concord cannot be achieved and successfully visible and less visible violence8. To begin conflict implemented without significant support in civil society. transformation and achieve sustainable peace it is Cultural movements are not passive partners in this necessary to address less visible violence. Building relationship. As evidenced in the turmoil and revolution upon this, Marie Dugan developed a ‘nested paradigm’ that spread across the near East and North Africa in the model, which is a subsystem approach linking the early part of the 21st century, at times it is possible that challenges of conflict resolution to the broader necessity events and movements shaped in civil society outpace of peacebuilding. At a subsystem level, a peacebuilding and lead to radical change in the circumstances of strategy could be designed to address political society. Significantly, sport both the systemic concerns and organisations and fan groups were at problematic issues and the vanguard of this movement es c relationships existing at a for change as it swept across en flu local level. The subsystem North Africa. n li a approach allows one to s e s m i d i natio n nd n ch a r a se Re

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shape both grassroots relationships, as well as contribute to wider If what has been said so far systematic change. The ripple effect constitutes the deep structure of In concert with the thinking the theory and method outlined herein, of Dugan, John Paul Lederach has also it is now time to turn to the ‘surface structure’ theorised a web approach to peacebuilding. – that is, the most relevant theories and models of practice He encourages interventions that explicitly focus on that have already been developed by other researchers strategic networking, or ‘web-making’ – a term used and scholars working in the field of conflict resolution and to describe the building of a network of relationships peace studies. Many of these are based on the pioneering and partnerships with significant local entities and work in Brazil and Chile of Paulo Freire, who in his classic actors, and what he refers to as the “cultural modalities statement on the subject, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and resources” within the setting of conflict. The model was one of the first to point out that development he uses to help us envisage holistic and sustainable programmes that are outside-to-inside and top-down peacebuilding is a triangle or pyramid – the apex or in nature tend to augment rather than ameliorate the Level One – which represents international and national circumstances of exploitation and oppression felt by political actors. At the middle level are found regional impoverished communities6. Similarly, Adam Curle drew political leaders and constituency representatives, on fieldwork experiences in the war-torn Balkans in the including religious, business and trades-union leaders 1980s and 90s to advocate the idea of ‘peacebuilding from and so forth, who have connections with and access

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Thought leadership

to Level-One actors. Finally, at Level Three, the grassroots level, there are the vast majority who are most affected by the conflict on a day-to-day basis. Lederach argues that for a peace process to be successful and sustainable, it must operate across and include all levels of the pyramid, especially Level Three, where conflicts are played out on a day-to-day basis9. Critical for the success of models like Lederach’s is the facilitation and management of the flow of communication between the three levels. Gavriel Salomon refers to this as the ripple effect, through which the impact of peace-education programmes spreads to wider social circles of society and eventually permeates overarching institutional and political frameworks. The key valves in this process are represented by those middle-level actors who have one foot in community cultures and the other in higher level policymaking circles. It is through their input and output that lessons taken from work happening at the grassroots level can be translated and transferred into constituencies that make use of it in the framing of broader public policies and political agendas10. The ripple effect is most effectively created by identifying and building active partnerships with individuals representing organisations that have the proven capacities to operate between levels one, two, and three. As middle-level actors, they are ideally located to bring people together and weave dialogue, ideas and programmes across boundaries. By capitalising on key social spaces, they are able to spin a web of sustainable relationships. Critical to all of these approaches is the praxis element, and through it the empowerment of subordinate actors and groups through their active participation in peacebuilding programmes and processes. In other words, creating structures through which those experiencing the personal troubles that attend those living in conflict zones can turn these into public issues, and be part of creative programmes that allow them to contribute to progressive activities that can make a difference to their everyday lives.

To avoid such eventualities, we need unambiguous ethical reference points, but such reference points are very hard to divine. In this regard, Peter Donnelly and Bruce Kidd have argued that “those of us committed to opportunities for humane sport and physical activity ought to resort more systematically to the strategy of establishing, publicising and drawing upon the charters, declarations and covenants that enshrine codes of entitlement and conduct”11. This begs the question: which ‘codes of entitlement’, and who gives them authority? Article 26 of the UN 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.” As Donnelly and Kidd go on to argue, the UN Charter for Human rights is one of the few touchstones for governing activism that has

In and of itself, sport has no magical intrinsic qualities, but is a very flexible crucible into which we can pour ideas and ideals

Sport for the moral compass of peace What, then, are the ethical principles that guide our ‘strategic praxeology’? Of course, even with strategies based on Left Realism and CDT, engagement in social activism of any kind requires those involved to have an agreed starting position and defined goals to work towards. This can be a minefield, particularly when working in contexts of deep division and conflict, when the antagonistic groups and social factions that are brought together espouse antithetical ideologies and mutually exclusive goals. When this is the case, it is vitally important for practitioners to maintain a neutral stance with regard to those conflicting goals, while at the same time articulating a rationale for social and political intervention that does not expose those engaged in this work to charges of cultural imperialism.

near-universal approval – although account should be taken of arguments claiming that human rights is a conceptual construction rooted in western liberal thought and appeals to such higher-order charters, and moral principles can be criticised for being at best idealistic, and at worst a form of neo-liberal Kant12. Yet, the question remains: how and where to intervene? To begin with, the idea of peace is itself an elusive and problematic concept embracing a variety of meanings, from the absence of war to a state of equilibrium and tranquillity, and many things in-between. As Coalter and others have argued, paper declarations and accompanying rhetoric are well-meaning but useless without intervention13. Despite the abundance of rhetoric eulogising the innate capacity of sport to do good throughout the world, in and of itself, sport has no magical intrinsic qualities, but is a very flexible crucible into which we can pour ideas and ideals based on concepts of human rights and social justice. There is a strand within neo-Marxist thought, best represented by the Frankfurt School, that acknowledges the dialectical potential of sport and related play forms within culture. Traces of this can be found in the works of Lukacs, Marcuse and Adorno, but the pre-eminent


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Thought leadership

voice in this tradition is that of Ernst Bloch. In his magnum opus, The Principle of Hope, Bloch revives the utopianism present in many of the writings of the younger Marx, and grounds it in a critique of the material conditions of everyday life. For Bloch, for progressive social change to occur, human actors must be able to construct a vision of a better future. In other words, they must have hope. However, that vision or hope exists in a dialectical relationship to what already is, rather than in an imagined utopia that floats entirely free from its material reality14. Carefully constructed and executed SDP programmes can provide windows of opportunity, through which visions of better futures can be imagined and appetites for progressive movement toward such futures can be cultivated. Using Bloch’s framework to analyse sport-based intervention in Israel, John Doyle argues that “utopia’s great gift is to allow us the critical toolkit to imagine how the future might evolve. Sport as utopia therefore also provides us an opportunity to continue the journey, to glimpse into the future. It gives us a critical framework to assess the development and metamorphosis of sport institutions… It provides a lens that refracts the future possibilities being created in the present.”15 Even in the most dire of circumstances when, in terms of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, the political momentum is driving in the opposite direction, it is important to continue to provide structures and opportunities in civil society for those who feel impelled to counter political inertia and alleviate feelings of powerlessness through activism in their own communities. In other words, providing ongoing linkages between personal troubles and public issues.

Putting the pieces together Peace processes are messy affairs; hugely complex enterprises that move forwards or backwards according to conditions prevalent in the transcending social and political order. Usually, they are driven by activities and actors in political society. However, if there are major social and cultural impediments, then ‘road maps to peace’ that take account of the political sphere alone are doomed to failure. Changes of heart and mind do not ordinarily take place because of political initiatives. Peace is only possible when significant proportions of ordinary people are ready for and open to conflict resolution. This comes gradually through social and cultural engagement in everyday life. The challenge for peace activists is to discover ways to join up specific grassroots, civil society, interventions with more broadly influential policy communities and those elements of political society that hold the keys to peace. Sport offers one cultural forum among many, wherein the ideas for change can be formulated. In this regard, I find it useful to think of peace processes in general as massive, multi-dimensional

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jigsaw puzzles that have to be solved without the benefit of having a picture on the box. There are political pieces, economic pieces, military pieces and cultural pieces, including sport. Some are violent, while others are passive. For the picture to be imagined and completed, all of these pieces will have a part to play, and while some – for instance the political and economic corner pieces and straight edges – may have more significance than others, all the pieces will be necessary for the picture of peace to fully emerge. Those of us who choose to try to use sport as a creative forum through which to influence broader political agendas, do so in the belief that when peace does come to societies currently in conflict, and we look back at the events that contributed to that peace, we will be able to identify the positive role played by the piece that is sport. Professor John Sugden is a Professor of Sociology of Sport at the University of Brighton and the Director of Football 4 Peace International. He is the author of Sport, Conflict Resolution and Peace Building in Divided Societies: Playing with the Enemy, to be published by Routledge in the second half of 2013

Thought leadership

jenswenzel-photography.com

Peace processes can be messy affairs, but Football 4 Peace promotes interaction that encourages long-term relationships, where cross-community understanding can flourish

References 1 2

3

8

Development and Civilization, Sage, London, 1996.

London, 2003, p151

For very useful readers on conflict resolution and peace

For a comprehensive collection of Dewey’s and James’s work and

building, see Dennis, J. Sandole, D. Byrne, S. Sandole-Staroste,

that of other American Pragmatists see: Thayer, H S. Pragmatism,

I. and Senhi, J. Handbook of Conflict Analysis and Resolution,

the Classic Writings, Hackett Publishing, New York, 1970

Routledge, London, 2009, and Ramsbotton, O. Woodhouse, T.

For a definitive statement on Left Realism in criminology see:

and Miall, H. Contemporary Conflict Resolution, Third Edition,

Young, J. Left Realism and the Priorities of Crime Control, in

Polity, Oxford, 2011

Stenson, K. and Cowell, M. (eds), The Politics of Crime Control,

9

Lederach, J P. Preparing for Peace. Conflict Transformation Across

10

Salomon, G. and Nevo, B. Peace Education. The Concept,

Cultures, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, 1996

Sage, London, 1991, pp147-159 4

McDonald, I. Critical Social Research and Political Intervention:

Moralistic versus Radical Approaches, in Sugen, J. and Tomlinson,

Principles and Practices around the World,

A. (eds.), Power Games. A Critical Sociology of Sport, Routledge,

Lawrence Earlbaum New York

London, 2002, pp100-116 5

Galtung, J. Peace by Peaceful Means. Peace and Conflict,

Brewer, J. C Wright Mills and the Ending of Violence, Macmillan,

11

Donnelly, P. and Kidd, B. Human Rights in Sports, in International

For further reading on critical development theory and political

Review for the Sociology of Sport, pp131-148.

activism, see Boham, J. How to Make a Social Science Practical;

For fuller consideration of this area see McArdle and Giulionotti,

Pragmatism, Critical Social Science and Multiperspectival Theory

R. (eds) Sport, Civil Liberties and Human Rights, Routledge,

in Millennium Journal of International Studies, 2002, volume 31,

London, 2003

pp449-524; and Schuurman, F. Critical Development Theory:

12

Out of the Twilight Zone in Third World Quarterly, volume 30,

Tomuschat, C. Human Rights: Between Idealism and Realism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008

no. 5, pp831-848

13

Coalter, 2006; 2009; Fraser, 2008

6

Freire, P. The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Continuum,

14

Bloch, E. The Principle of Hope, MIT Press, Boston, 1995

New York, 1970

15

7

Curle, A. Making Peace, Tavistock, London, 1971

Doyle, J. Sport as a Mediated Utopia in Peace Building in Israel, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Brighton, 2012


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Political radicalisation in sport

The risks and rewards of hosting sports mega-events Dr Jonathan Grix looks at changing political strategies regarding the hosting of sports mega-events, and examines the risks and rewards that states face when they seize this potentially double-edged sword

F

ormer President of the International Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage, famously stated more than 50 years ago that sport has little to do with politics, and the former has no place in the dealings of the latter. He went on to suggest that “sport… like music and the other fine arts, transcends politics... We are concerned with sports, not politics and business”. Unfortunately, this view does not hold up in the light of a history of boycotts (the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics), murder (the 1972 Munich Olympics), and sports events mirroring political struggles (Hungary v the USSR in water polo, 1956). Rather, sports, and international sports events in particular, have always been bound up with politics. This political aspect of sports mega-events (‘megas’) means that hosting them may bring valuable diplomatic and social rewards, but it also carries risks, particularly as the host will be under intense international media scrutiny. Sports megas obviously include the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, but of increasing importance are the so-called ‘second order’ events – for example the Commonwealth or Pan American Games – which are secured by states to signal that they are ready to host an Olympics. Today, competition to host one of these events is often as fierce as that in the arena. It was not always thus, however, as until the 1980s, few states were willing to stage an expensive sports event. The change in attitudes reflects, to some extent, shifts in international relations and approaches to politics.

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Recent years have seen a clear shift in those states bidding for and winning the right to host: from predominantly Western, advanced capitalist states to developing, small or emerging states – in particular Qatar and the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) (see Table 1, below).

The eyes of the world The recent trend of awarding major tournaments to countries other than advanced capitalist states throws up a number of interesting questions: FIFA, the world governing body of football, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would insist that such ‘new lands’ (as they have been described by Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA) as Russia (World Cup, 2018), the first in Eastern Europe; Qatar (World Cup, 2022), the first in the Middle East; and Brazil (World Cup, 2014; Olympics, 2016), will be boosted in their efforts to become fully fledged ‘developed’ countries, and in doing so will gain significantly from hosting the events1.

Table 1: Recent and upcoming sports mega-events in emerging states 2008: 2010: 2014: 2014: 2016: 2018: 2022:

Olympics, China (Beijing) Commonwealth Games, India (Delhi) Winter Olympics, Russia (Sochi) FIFA World Cup, Brazil Olympics, Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) FIFA World Cup, Russia FIFA World Cup, Qatar


A member of Palestinian extremist group Black September (above), which seized members of the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, while West German police (below) take up position nearby the hostage situation. These Games are most often remembered for the terrorist incident

Press Association


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Press Association

The Fonte Nova stadium will host football matches during the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, providing Brazil with an opportunity to gain national prestige

In contrast, advanced capitalist states, such as the United Kingdom, have spent considerable time and effort communicating justifications for spending around £10 billion ($15.5 billion) on a four-week sporting event in an era of austerity and sharp cuts to the public sector. The new lands appear to have narrowed their focus onto one key benefit of hosting a global event: international prestige. Indeed, five of the seven events above are arguably not first and foremost about the performance of the host nation’s team (apart from China 2008 and the FIFA World Cup in Brazil). Previously, the rationale for hosting such events by advanced capitalist states generally consisted of one or more of the following: urban regeneration; the feelgood factor that large-scale events can engender; the economic benefits of hosting – especially the increase in tourism; the participation legacy among the masses that elite sport is supposed to bring with it; and international prestige. Advanced capitalist states often wished to finish high on the Olympic medal table or be among the finalists in the World Cup. Nowadays, the primary aim for emerging states is to be successful hosts – to demonstrate competence and credibility on the international stage.

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Potential hosts clearly weigh up the perceived benefits against the substantial costs of putting on such occasions, but there is another aspect to consider: risk versus reward. There is no guarantee that simply hosting a major sporting event will bring with it the reward of increased international prestige. Prestige – or national reputation – has long been recognised as a useful tool for states on the international stage. Increasingly, sports megas are becoming part of a state’s ‘soft power’ package – just one of a number of diplomatic measures to improve a country’s standing in the international order.

The ‘soft power’ factor ‘Soft power’ – a term coined by Joseph Nye in 1990 – is the opposite to military might and coercion: its essence is the ability to shape the preferences of others, and align those preferences to your own. For Nye, the changing nature of international relations after the end of the Cold War, and the risk attached to deploying traditional military forms of power, has led to such complex power resources as culture – of which sport is clearly a part – ideology and institutions becoming more important in inter-state


relations. States are increasingly reluctant to become embroiled in long, drawn-out conflicts that are no longer against a traditional enemy. While this type of ‘politics of attraction’ is becoming popular, inviting the global media to scrutinise in detail your state, government, politics and policies during a sports mega can lead to unintended consequences. Some recent examples of where the sport mega turned out to be a double-edged sword are as follows: 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India: This event was supposed to be a pre-cursor to an Indian Olympic bid, but instead turned into a disaster for India and its global reputation. The intense focus of the world’s media was in part to blame for quashing India’s ambitions of hosting an Olympics after the debacle surrounding the preparations for the Commonwealth Games. Images and reports of crumbling building work, wild monkeys, child labour, Dengue fever and corruption were beamed around the world. Just two years later, in December 2012, the Indian Olympic Committee was banned by the IOC for corruption, leaving potential Indian Olympic athletes to compete under the IOC flag if this fiasco is not resolved by the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. UEFA European Football Championship in 2012 (Euro 2012): Ukraine – as co-host with Poland – was similarly faced with an unprecedented level of media scrutiny. A British BBC Panorama exposé programme on racism among Ukrainian football fans started a fierce debate about whether England’s multi-ethnic supporters should heed former England player Sol Campbell’s warning to stay at home, just prior to the start of the event. Further media scrutiny focused on the treatment of the former Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, who is currently languishing in jail on charges many believe are trumped-up. Overall, Ukraine attracted the kind of attention that can lead to a deterioration of their image abroad, rather than the positive boost they were hoping for. The constant stream of bad press, the threats of boycotts (the UK government suggested that they would boycott the final, should England get through) and the media gaze gave rise to questions about the democratic legitimacy of the Ukrainian regime, and concerns about racism among a population who have previously lived under dictatorial conditions and, like many former communist states, have experienced little multi-culturalism in their society. On the other hand, there have been sports megaevents that can be considered an unmitigated success. In fact, most events are, by general consensus, considered successful once the sport takes place. Providing any scandals uncovered by the media are not far reaching, the media coverage and scrutiny of sports megas follows a startlingly similar pattern: in the years leading up to

the event, reports are few and far between; as the event approaches, attention is drawn to any possible cause of a scandal, usually around facilities not being finished in time (for example, Athens, 2004), the politics of the host nation (Euro 2012), any potential protests or uprising around the event (2012 Bahrain Grand Prix), or deteriorating roads and outfaced private-security firms. In general, however, once a sports mega-event starts, the sport takes centre stage and the mistakes made in the run-up are quickly forgotten in a manufactured consent that surrounds such big events. A recent and important example of a successful sports mega-event was Germany’s hosting of the FIFA 2006 World Cup. It is instructive to analyse what went right, so as to avoid a similar fate as the examples above. The 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Germany, revealed what long-term planning and a focused approach to sports mega-event hosting could achieve. It is fair to say that this sports mega was a great success. As a country that had suffered from a poor image abroad for more than 60 years, Germany set out to use the World Cup to improve it on a global scale. Three essential parts of the Germany strategy were employed to achieve this end: long-term campaigns; a fan-centred approach to staging the tournament; and the creation of a feelgood factor around the four weeks of the event. Germany is known for its meticulous planning, and the 2006 event took this to a new level. Even prior to winning the right to host the event, Germany had launched a global campaign to attract tourists to its country. As soon as they won the bid, Franz Beckenbauer, a European football legend widely respected in Germany, toured every single one of the 31 nations that had qualified for the World Cup in order to welcome them to Germany, receiving high-level receptions wherever he went. This had the early effect of generating a great deal of positive media attention around the event.

Potential hosts clearly weigh up the perceived benefits against the substantial costs

Successful strategies for managing fans Other campaigns included hospitality training for thousands of staff who welcomed visitors to Germany, and a very successful ‘Land of Ideas’ campaign, which managed to bring diverse stakeholders from business, science, government and civil society together to work to promote the nation and the tournament. A second part of the successful strategy was to ensure the whole event was fan-centred. This led to the creation of unique fan zones and fan miles, where those people without tickets could watch the games live on very large screens. More than 20 million people joined in the party-like celebrations around the large viewing screens that were set up in the 12 host cities in Germany, with no major public disorder reported. The fan fests served a number of purposes: first and foremost, they offered a street-party atmosphere to


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fans and bystanders who did not have tickets or who did not want to watch the football in the stadium(s). These innovative spaces also provided an arena within which fans and the general public could enjoy a good party atmosphere. Women made up just 22 per cent of all attendees at the World Cup matches (the overall average age was 34), but some 44 per cent of those present at the fan parties (the average age of all present was younger, at 31). An initial driver behind the idea of fan zones and public viewing was, interestingly, safety: the British ambassador in Germany had informed the organising committee to expect some 100,000 travelling English fans. The organising committee knew that there was a maximum of only 20,000 tickets available, raising the possibility of 80,000 disgruntled fans from England alone. However, the creation of a feelgood factor – a by-product of the well-functioning fan zones – meant that despite the numbers, there was no serious trouble. Post-event, it is clear that Germany’s attempt to alter its negative national image was successful. Although international attitudes towards Germany had begun to improve in the years prior to the 2006 World Cup, including among the notoriously difficult British media, there has been a marked improvement in the manner in which Germany is now perceived by foreign publics. Some

The securitisation of sports megas has given rise to a new academic sub-discipline two million visitors came to Germany for the FIFA World Cup in 2006, and inbound tourism rose before, during and after the event, and has continued to rise. In fact, one of the most important factors in improving a state’s image – apart from a trouble-free event – is to have people visit your country, return home happy and spread the word. Since 2006, Germany is rarely outside the top five globally in international polls on nation branding and how states are viewed by others. The secret ingredients, then, would appear to be: a) long-term planning; b) resources – Germany is fortunate to already have the excellent infrastructure necessary to put on sports megas; c) a clear strategy; and d) an image that needs to be changed. This last point is important: a state such as the UK, which already enjoys a very high international reputation, actually had everything to lose from London 2012. The fact that it went off successfully, was well-organised and generally received praise from all corners (as most sports megas do if nothing untoward happens) will simply help maintain the UK’s strong international image, but will not change it. States with unsavoury pasts or images they wish to see corrected have far more to gain from a successful, global sports mega-event. Germany’s success has clearly influenced other states, as previously most

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countries would not consider undertaking the mammoth task of hosting a sports mega-event just for reputational gain. In fact, the history of sports megas is littered with events that are remembered for negative reasons, or that at least raised negative as well as positive issues. A few examples in history will suffice to underline the point: 1972: the Munich Olympics is best remembered for terrorists, murder and mayhem. The tragic killing of 11 Israeli Olympic team members and one WestGerman policeman by the Palestinian group Black September (five of their members were also killed) is the abiding memory of this event. 1976: the Montreal Games are often used as the prime example of a debt-ridden Olympics. It took tax payers 30 years to pay off the costs, and the Montreal Olympic Stadium is a classic example of a ‘white elephant’ – a burdensome possession. 2004: much more recently, the Athens Olympics very likely contributed considerably to Greece’s current financial problems, and many of the purpose-built facilities became white elephants not long after the Olympic circus rolled on. 2008: the Beijing Games were the most expensive Olympic bonanza yet. The opening ceremony alone cost an estimated £64 million ($99 million) (compared with Danny Boyle’s well-received £27 million [$42 million] effort). Moreover, the Games clearly highlighted the issue of human rights and the much-guarded Chinese treatment of Tibetan Monks. 2012: London 2012 has been described as the apex of the neo-liberalisation of the Olympics. It was by far the most commercialised (and securitised – see next section) Games to date, boasting the largest McDonald’s outlet in the world.

Securing the event Another risk to staging sports mega-events is the threat of a terrorist attack or similar. The securitisation of sports megas has even given rise to a new academic subdiscipline. The logistics involved in securing an Olympic Games, for example, has been described as the biggest military and security operation in British peacetime history. The controversy concerning the performance of the private-security firm, G4S, raises central questions for those interested in politics. There is irony in the strategy of outsourcing security to a private firm that then had to be brought back on track by public services (police and army) that, at the same time, are undergoing major cuts in their budgets, in order to reduce public spending to allow the employment of ‘more efficient’ private-sector providers. It is quite clear that security issues could damage a sports mega-event, but it is also true that the security measures can damage the image of a country – or indeed

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Women made up just

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of those were present at the fan parties (the average age of all present was younger, at 31).

The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany was a series of marketing and planning successes, with the party-like fan fests especially popular for those without tickets

that of a corporation. In London, for example, measures taken to prevent a security risk included surrounding the Olympic park with an 11 mile, £80 million ($124 million), 5,000-volt electric fence and providing more army, navy and Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel than those employed at war in Afghanistan at the time, which was approximately 13,500. The UK even stationed anti-aircraft missiles on residential roofs close to the Olympic Park. The politics of security aside, this is the one of the most serious risks of staging a sports event. The new lands/emerging states hosting events in the foreseeable future need to be in a position to ensure that no disasters happen during their moment on the world stage. However, they also need to avoid creating the image of a security state. Perhaps states considering bidding for a sports mega-event ought to consider hosting as a double-edged sword – one that has as many risks as it does rewards.

Hosting a sports mega is no guarantee to a return on investment, but neither is it a guaranteed shortcut to being perceived as a modern, developed state. If you invite the global media home for tea, you had better ensure that your house is in order, otherwise the sport could become secondary to the critical gaze of an insatiable global press. Dr Jonathan Grix is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Politics and Policy at the University of Birmingham in the UK. His most recent monograph (with M Dennis) is entitled Sport Under Communism: Behind the East German ‘Miracle’, which was published in 2012 Reference 1

International Olympic Committee, Factsheet: Legacies of the Games, updated 2012


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The politicisation of sport in the Arab world Mahfoud Amara examines how sport has been deployed in the process of nation-state formation, sometimes for political legitimisation and imagemaking in the Arab world, as well as how the current political transitions in the region may affect sport in the future

I

n many post-colonial Arab states, sport has been an integral part of the process of nation-state formation and the mobilisation of popular support for the Zaim – the national leader, or ‘father of the nation’ – which has sometimes been to the detriment of other ethnic identities. Sport has been enlisted in the cause of building national prestige through the organisation of international and regional events. Examples of this include the African Games (Algeria 1978 and 2007), the Mediterranean Games (Tunisia 1967 and 2001) and the pan-Arab Games (Lebanon 1957 and 1997), as well as in the process of building international relations through integration into international sport organisations. For the Palestinian Authority, membership of international sport organisations such as the IOC (in 1993) and FIFA (in 1998), and the raising of the Palestinian flag at international sport competitions (which occurred for the first time at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games), are considered to be an important step toward the internationalisation of the Palestinian question, and in the international recognition of Palestine as an independent political entity1.

A transformation of sport values Sport mirrors the political-ideological agenda of past and current political systems in Arab countries. It was mobilised in the past around post-independence ideologies, such as third-worldism, pan-Africanism, ba’athism and anti-imperialism, and it is today increasingly defined around economic liberalism. In Algeria, for instance, the shift from socialism to post-socialism has resulted in a transformation of sport values, particularly in relation to the adoption of professional sport. It was rejected in the 1960s and 1970s because of its assumed association with

colonial exploitation and capitalism, but as Algeria has adopted the values of market economics, professional sport is now accepted as the norm2. In the Gulf region, there is a developing pattern of integrating sport with the economic agenda of political and business elites, in order to negotiate the region’s transition toward a post-oil era, which is tailored around urban regeneration and the exploration of new venues for investment in banking, tourism, retail and hospitality. The aim is to establish a global reputation as a leading centre for international sports events through the hosting and sponsoring of mega sports events, and through direct investment in European football clubs and sport products. This policy of marketing for better international visibility was clearly evident in the official discourses around the staging of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, the first major competition organised by Qatar. In analysing the statements of the organising committee, political leaders and the local press – the emerging dominant narratives, which were reproduced during Qatar’s bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup – emphasise the following aspects: ■■ Qatar’s response to globalisation trends, which mixes traditional culture with modernity; ■■ Qatar’s adhesion to the universal values of democracy, solidarity and human rights; ■■ Qatar’s respect for cultural differences; and ■■ Qatar as a meeting point between East and West. At a regional level, sport has been used to strengthen Arab solidarities through the staging of the pan-Arab Games, initiated by the Arab League in the 1950s. It has been implemented for strengthening regional political and economic cooperation – in the Gulf region through the organisation of the Gulf Games, and in North Africa through the different attempts to Press Association

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Members of the Kuwaiti team take part in the opening ceremony of the pan-Arab Games at Sheikh Khalifa stadium in the Qatari capital of Doha. The pan-Arab Games strengthen solidarities regionally


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At a regional level, sport has been used to strengthen Arab solidarities through the staging of the pan-Arab Games, initiated by the Arab League in the 1950s organise the Maghreb Union Games. Another example is the Islamic Solidarity Games, which were initiated in order to strengthen Islamic solidarity and to change the negative image held about Islam and Muslim culture, particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.

A source of friction

Press Association

Having cited examples of cooperation at a regional level, one must mention that sport in general, and football in particular, can also be a source of friction, fuelled by political, ethnic and religious tensions between Arab countries, as evidenced in the historic rivalries between Egyptian and other North African clubs and national teams. This confrontation reached an unprecedented level with the Egypt-Algeria crisis over qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Among the general public, sport – particularly football – has been a locus for social and political contestations and ethno-linguistic identity claims. It is one of the few spaces where the Arab population, and particularly youth, can mock the ruling class and the privileged minority; defying the political establishment and their discourses of political and historical religious legitimacies and expressing frustration over their poor social, economic and political conditions. This explains in a way the reasons behind the active (militant) involvement of hard-line football supporters (Ultras), from Al-Ahly and Zamalek in anti-Mubarak demonstrations and clashes with the Egyptian security forces, as clearly highlighted in James Dorsey’s article in this issue.

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, speaks at the opening ceremony of the 2011 pan-Arab Games

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Sport is also a source of conflict and violence between members of the national community. This is exemplified in the rivalry between the two dominant football clubs within Jordan: Al-Faysali being seen to represent native Jordanians, and Al-Wihdat representing Palestinian refugees (ie non-Jordanians), which is a product of the contemporary political discourse in Jordan about national identity and citizenship, and of the ongoing question of Palestinian refugees and their right of return. In Lebanon, the tensions between religious/ confessional communities and political groups are reproduced in sport, as explained by Danyel Reiche in his paper on the politics of sport in Lebanon: “Confessionalism, the political system of this ‘mosaic state’ with 18 state-registered sects… the sport sector, especially the professional men’s teams in football and basketball, serves as a tool for competition within and between sects. In a middle-income country with only four million inhabitants, club revenues from ticketing and broadcasting are almost non-existent. Therefore, professional sport teams are completely dependent on sponsors. Within a patron-client relationships system, political leasers finance the clubs but expect complete loyalty from the teams.”3

Sport and the body Another location for the politicisation of sport in the Arab world is the body. Sport and the body have been at the centre of debates over authenticity and modernity in Arab society. This is particularly true in relation to the question of sport practice among Arab women. The visibility of women’s bodies in sport competitions is celebrated by secular movements as progressive, while to cover women’s bodies in sport is, for Islamist movements, a means of denouncing the westernisation of Arab societies. Moreover, the adoption of the veil by Muslim athletes is an opportunity for them to reclaim their rights over their own body and to define their body religiously, independently of male religious or feminist secular interpretations, but not necessarily in opposition to modern sport and the norms of sport performance. As previously highlighted in this paper, sport in the Arab World, as elsewhere, has been employed for nation-state formation, for international relations, as well as for social and political claims. Given the history of sport reflecting the dominant political system in the Arab world, it will be interesting to see how sport evolves as a result of the current political transitions in the region. Sport emerged at the centre of public

Press Association


Sarah Attar of Saudi Arabia competes in a women’s 800-metre heat during the London 2012 Olympics – a significant moment for Muslim women in sport

debates in post-Ben Ali Tunisia, post-Mubarak Egypt and post-Gaddafi Libya. For some, the time had come to judge those (sport officials, coaches, referees and even players) who benefited from the former regimes’ favours, and to evaluate the level of intervention from former political-business lobbies, in the corruption of the national sport system.

Regional politics Last and not least, considering the re-emergence of Islamist parties as a new political force in a number of Arab countries (such as Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Libya and Iraq), Islamism (or political Islam) will certainly play a role in defining state sport policy in these countries. This need not lead to confrontations with international sport organisations, considering the lifting of the ban over the veil by FIFA, and the participation of women from all Muslim countries in the London 2012 Olympic Games, including for the first time

women athletes from Qatar and Saudi-Arabia. But it does lead to uncertainty as to how sport will develop in these polities, taking into account the different challenges that the newly elected Islamist-led governments are facing today, including economic hardship, social unrest and disputes over constitutional reforms. Dr Mahfoud Amara is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Olympic Studies and Research at Loughborough University References 1

Sorek, T. Arab Soccer in a Jewish State: The Integrative

2

Amara, M. Sport, Politics and Society in the Arab World,

Enclave, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007 Palgrave & Macmillan, London, 2012 3

Reiche, D. War Minus the Shooting? The Politics of Sport

in Lebanon as a Unique Case in Comparative Politics in Third World Quarterly, 2011, volume 32, no. 2, pp261–277


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Protesters took to the streets of Cairo following the deaths of 74 football fans who had attended a match between Al Masry and Al Ahly in Port Said Demotix

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Egyptian football becomes a test of political fortune James M Dorsey reviews the background to the sentencing of football fans in Egypt, and the subsequent riots, arguing that without institutional reforms, ultras will continue to be a focus for resistance and political instability in the country

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he controversial verdict in the trial of those accused of being responsible for the worst incident in Egyptian sports history has both hardened fault lines in Egyptian football and society at large, and paved the way for the resumption of the country’s Premier League – exactly a year after it was suspended in the wake of the death of 74 fans in the Suez Canal city of Port Said. The court verdict enraged some. Others rejoiced initially, only to realise a few hours later that their fundamental demands had yet to be met. A third group argued that insufficient security in stadiums made a lifting of the ban on football premature. Whatever the court decided was destined to produce a no-win situation for the government of President Mohamed Morsi, hamstrung by a failure to tackle key issues that would help return a sense of normality to the country: reform of the judiciary, police and security forces. The Port Said case goes to the core of the need for reform of state institutions still rooted in the era of toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Most people in Egypt believe that the lethal fight between fans of home side, Al Masry SC, and Cairo club, Al Ahly SC, and between fans and the police, was planned rather than spontaneous.

The police and the ‘ultras’ The incident is widely seen as having been precipitated by the police and security forces, who are despised by many fans who regard them as the enforcers of the Mubarak regime’s repression, as well as of the military rulers who succeeded Mubarak. The militant fans, or ‘ultras’, are highly politicised, well-organised and street-battle-hardened groups with a long-standing animosity towards law enforcement. They have earned the ire of the military through their key role in 18 days of mass protests in 2011, which toppled Mubarak,

and their part in opposition to subsequent military rule. Taken together, the ultras constitute one of the largest civic groups in Egypt after Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. The culpability of the police is the one thing that the supporters of Al Ahly and Al Masry agree on. It is supported by a summary of the prosecutor’s case in the court proceedings (obtained and reported by McClatchy Newspapers) that, together with a recently published human rights report by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), that highlights the urgent need for reform of the police and security forces. The prosecutor asserted that police were as responsible as Al Masry fans for the deaths in Port Said. Based on the prosecution’s case, the court in late January 2013 sentenced 21 Al Masry fans to death. It scheduled sentencing of the 52 other defendants in the case, including nine police and security officials and Al Masry executives, for 9 March. The ruling sparked mass protests in Port Said, a city that for many years has felt neglected by the central government in Cairo. The protests left 32 people in Port Said dead and 300 others wounded, and prompted Morsi to declare emergency rule in Port Said and two other cities that adjoin the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Initial euphoria among Al Ahly fans quickly gave way to a perception that the court was following a pattern of wilful blindness to security-force abuses: not a single police officer or security official has been held accountable for the more than 800 protesters killed since the mass demonstrations on Cairo’s Tahrir Square two years ago. The role of the police and the security forces has been at the heart of the tug of war in the past six months over resumption of the football league. The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced the restart of the league three times, only to repeatedly delay the date. The interior ministry, which controls the police and security forces,


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Players leave the pitch as violence erupts after a football match between Al Masry and Al Ahly in February 2012

insisted that sweeping improvements to stadium security be implemented before games could be played. Al Ahly ultras vowed to prevent the playing of matches as long as justice had not been served in the Port Said case, and the police and security forces were either reformed or exempted from their responsibility for stadium security. The sentencing of the 21 Al Masry fans, coupled with a decision to initially exclude spectators from the Premier League matches, which would be played in military stadiums where the armed forces are in charge of security, proved to be the key to the resumption of football without incident. The question is, however: how long can calm be maintained? The resumption of football in Egypt took place in a politically highly volatile environment. Beyond the fault lines in football that have been sharpened by the court verdict, Egyptians in large numbers have recently taken to the streets in what are, at times, violent protests that have been sparked by numerous contributing factors, including the introduction of a controversial constitution and the decline of the economy. Ultras have played an important role in those protests, which provide a platform from which to press their demands. As well as judicial and law-enforcement

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reforms, these include an end to corruption in Egyptian football. They also provide an opportunity for the tens of thousands of young, under-educated and unemployed men who populate the rank and file of the ultras to take on their arch enemy: the dahliya or interior ministry and its law-enforcement forces.

Defeating the culture of fear Many ultras have their dignity vested in successfully confronting police and security forces with whom they have been locked in regular battle since their inception, four years before the fall of Mubarak. To the protesters and the militant football fans, defeating the police and security forces amounts to defeating what London School of Oriental and African Studies (LSE) professor Salwa Ismail has described as “fear and the culture of fear that continuous monitoring, surveillance, humiliation and abuse have created”. To ordinary Egyptians, the state represented by the security forces is, in the words of Ismail’s LSE colleague John Calcraft, “in the detention cells, in the corrupt police stations, in the beatings, in the blood of the people, in the popular quarters”. That perception is reinforced by


the fact that, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), “the Egyptian police continue to systematically deploy violence and torture, and at times even kill. Although the January [2011] revolution was sparked in large part by police practices and vocally demanded an end to these practices, accountability for all offenders and the establishment of permanent instruments to prevent their recurrence, two years after the revolution the situation remains unchanged.”

Changing society To be fair, the culture of violence endemic to law enforcement is one that has pervaded Egyptian society. Changing that, however, will have to start with the police and security forces rather than the ultras and protesters. Commenting on contradictory statements made by Hamada Saber regarding who was responsible for stripping him naked and beating him in early February – an incident that went viral after it was captured on video – Egyptian medical doctor and blogger Nervana Mahmoud noted: “Hamada’s case is another ugly reminder that no one has changed; the police haven’t changed, the leadership hasn’t changed, and many ordinary Egyptians haven’t changed. We will never know what really happened to Hamada, even if he later appeared on television to tell a different story. Egypt is now a country in which truth is as elusive as its newly born democracy. Hamada is a symbol of what went wrong; in other words, we as a society haven’t changed. I don’t blame him as some do – he is not a celebrity that citizens and foreign embassies will rush to save. He is just a human being who thinks humiliation is his only method of survival.” As a result, perceptions that police and security forces continue to be a force unto themselves have reinforced a sense among ultras that they are unable to stand by idly in the face of abuse by law enforcement. That deeply felt sentiment was evident on Tahrir Square two years ago, where ultras constituted the defenders’ front line. It was again apparent when, in November 2011, ultras responded to calls for help from protesters on the square that they were about to be attacked by law enforcement. The ultras’ intervention led to the Battle of Mohammed Mahmoud Street near the interior ministry in late November and early December of that year, in which some 40 people died and another 1,000 were injured. More recently, it has sparked the emergence of the Black Bloc – a group of protesters reminiscent of football hooligans and anarchists in Europe and Latin America, believed to largely consist of ultras who dress in black and whose faces are concealed by black masks, a tactic used by the fans during the revolt against Mubarak. The group vowed through a Facebook page to protect demonstrators against the security forces and what they termed ‘ruling Muslim Brotherhood thugs’, a reference

to Brotherhood supporters who attacked demonstrators in December 2012 in front of the presidential palace. The emergence of the Black Bloc alongside continued protests against the Morsi government, the fact that the prosecutor’s assertions in the Port Said case have yet to sink in, and the looming emotions that will unleash when the court again pronounces verdict on 9 March 2013, hardly bode well for a peaceful football season. The 200-page prosecutor’s report concluded that police had failed to check fans entering the Port Said stadium for weapons on the day of the fatal match. It said that several Al Masry fans told investigators they had noticed that one of the gates had been welded shut when they entered the stadium. They also thought it strange that no one was searching people for weapons. More ominously, in the case of Port Said, the prosecutor’s report said that the stadium’s gates had been locked during the brawl. Trapped fans died as they were crushed in the stampede or thrown to their deaths from their upper-deck seats. The report said that the stadium’s lights had been turned off when the fighting began. The report contrasted lax security at the match with the fact that the animosity between Al Masry and Al Ahly had prompted police in Mubarak’s days to escort fans from Cairo on their way in and out of Port Said, and to search spectators before they entered the stadium. The report – based on interviews with fans of both teams, journalists who reported the match, stadium

The resumption of football in Egypt took place in a politically highly volatile environment lighting experts and police, as well as autopsy reports and videos – suggested that the Port Said brawl was planned two days before the match at a meeting of a support group, Super Green. The meeting was attended by some of the 21 fans sentenced to death, the report said. Police and security are aware that ultras frequently meet in advance of a match to plan their support for their team.

The role of social media The report noted that militant supporters of both Al Masry and Al Ahly had issued threats on social media in advance of the fatal match. “Port Said is waiting for you with knives and pistols,” one of the messages read, according to the report. “If you are coming to Port Said, write your mother a will because you will die for sure,” read another. The report said that the Super Green meeting was designed to plan an attack on Al Ahly fans. It said the meeting was headed by Mohammed Adel Mohammed, a 21-year-old ultra known by his nickname, Hummus. Hummus is among those now on death row and has become the symbol of the Port Said protests, with calls for his release plastered on walls across the city.


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“Defendants premeditated the killing of some of the Ahly club fans (ultras) to retaliate for previous disputes between them and to show off their strength. For this purpose, they used weapons (knives and sticks) and explosive materials, such as flames, and rocks and other items to assault people,” McClatchy Newspapers quoted from the report. It said Al Masry ultras began ambushing the Al Ahly team at its hotel even before the match with rocks and insults. The taunting continued at the stadium, with several Al Masry fans changing their clothes and weapons throughout the day to make it harder to identify them in security videos. Throughout the events, Port Said police “didn’t interfere in any way, which was seen on the videos”, the report said.

Contradictory explanations As the match ended with a 3-1 Al Masry victory, Al Masry ultras attacked Al Ahly fans in the seating section area reserved for them, the report said. They threw Molotov cocktails, bricks and chairs at the visitors from Cairo.

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“Al Mando was seen taking a blade from his mouth on video,” the report alleged, referring to an Al Masry ultra by his nickname. Hummus admitted to investigators that he had thrown rocks at Al Ahly fans, the prosecution said. Others told the prosecution that they saw him also carrying Molotov cocktails, knives and sticks. A police officer, identified only as Defendant 70, testified that he couldn’t find the keys to the gates when the stampede began, the report said. Defendant 70 offered contradictory explanations for his inability to find the keys and his disappearance during the incident. At one point, he said he did not unlock the gate at the request of Defendant 64, another officer. He told someone else the crowds were too big for him to confront. Defendant 64 said he never gave such orders, and could not find his fellow officer when the attack began, according to the report. “The prosecution found the keys with [Defendant 70] during the investigation. He said that he is the one who locked the doors, and he kept the keys with him until he handed them in to the prosecution. The prosecution made


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Al Ahly football club ultras receive the news that 21 Al Masry fans have been sentenced to death for their part in the Port Said violence

sure of that by trying the keys on the locks on gates two and three, and they opened the locks,” the report said. Reports of the clashes in recent weeks and the emergence of the Black Bloc highlight the fact that the ultras’ dignity is unlikely to be restored until the police and security forces have been reformed. While reforming law enforcement is no mean feat, EIPR in its report has proposed a series of measures that the government could implement and that are likely to go a long way towards breaking the cycle of violence.

Potential steps towards reform The measures include legislation that would guarantee the independence of public prosecutors and separate them from investigative authorities; establish an independent commission that would investigate cases of death and serious injury caused by police personnel; create an independent commission to monitor detention facilities; grant civil rights groups access to detention facilities; and amend laws that regulate the use of force and firearms by police and security forces.

The court verdict in January 2013 and the escalating violence puts the ball in Morsi’s court. A first attempt at reforming law enforcement alongside greater transparency and moves to reach out to the government’s critics would open the road to reducing political volatility and creating conditions for economic recovery. The question is whether Morsi has the political experience and ability to bridge widening fault lines across Egypt’s political spectrum, and to push through securitysector reforms. Democratically elected, but from a group that was clandestine for much of its 80-year history, he faces a daunting task. Not just a sport, Egypt’s football Premier League will serve as a barometer of President Morsi’s political performance in the months ahead. James M Dorsey is a Senior Fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture and visiting scholar at its Institute of Sport Science. Dorsey is also the author of the blog ‘The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer’


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Throughout the history and development of Palestinian sports organisations, sports have always been influenced by political factors Reuters

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Playing for equality: football in Palestine Honey Thaljieh, former captain of the Palestine women’s football team, discusses the problems faced by sports organisations and athletes in deeply divided societies, and the use of sport as a political instrument in the region

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he international women’s football match between Palestine and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was scheduled to kick off in Bethlehem at 19:00 hours on 27 October 2012. Hours before kick off in the city’s Al-Khader stadium, an excited crowd was already beginning to gather. It was a historic event – a bridge between two states and a celebration of women’s football in the Arab world, where Palestine, in a rare case, was hosting another Arab team. The event was also a celebration of the first three women members of the Palestinian Football Federation – for the first time in history, delegations from important international football associations were invited. In addition, the occasion marked the opening of the Palestinian women’s football league, for which even a FIFA delegation was present. The event was more than just a friendly football match; it was an important, historic event on many levels.

A difficult environment However, the players from the UAE did not make it to the game in time for kick off. They spent the day at a border crossing, held up by the Israeli border control. For unknown reasons, they were not allowed to enter the country, and when they finally arrived, exhausted and disappointed, the FIFA delegation had left and the excitement and curiosity of the public had dampened. This was not a one-off incident, but just one example of the challenges sports face in a conflict zone like Palestine. In this context of heightened political instability, even the simplest plans and activities quickly become complicated and, in some cases, impossible.

Throughout the history and development of Palestinian sports organisations, sports have always been influenced by political factors. Taking football as an example provides an insight into the development stages of Palestinian sports associations as well as the challenges that they face.

FIFA recognition Although Palestinian football had existed and become popular long before, the first official football association in Palestine was actually established by the Zionist movement in 1928, claiming it was inclusive of both Arabs and Jews. However, as no Arab club was part of the association, the international football federation FIFA refused affiliation, and only granted admission one year later after one Arab club became included in the association. It is even argued that the Zionist movement first used the association as a political tool in order to achieve statehood and, once Israel was created in 1948, Israel used it as an instrument for nation building. As a result of the systematic exclusion of Palestinian Arabs and after the establishment of the state of Israel, a separate Palestinian football federation was formed in 1952. This federation became the Palestine Football Association in 1962, yet it was only in 1998 (after the Oslo Accords) that it was recognised by FIFA. While the exact narrative of the creation of the Palestinian Football Association might be disputed, the role of sports in advancing political goals is evident. However, in the absence of statehood, Palestinian football associations have played a significant role in preserving and celebrating the Palestinian national identity.


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Although, in essence, sports should not be political, they were used as political tools in the formation of national statehood Although, in essence, sports should not be political, they were used as political tools in the formation of national statehood and the creation of national identity. For example, in the situation of the Palestinian-Israeli context it seems that from the beginning, football – itself non-political – was seen as a platform through which to pursue political interests and, in turn, became greatly influenced by the political climate. Throughout its establishment and development, Palestinian football and sports in general have been closely intertwined with the larger political context.

Daily challenges

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Palestine, which was recently recognised as a nonmember observer state by the United Nations, is still a state under occupation. In this context of heightened political instability, military occupation, segregation and

economic hardships, Palestinian sports organisations and teams face numerous challenges on a daily basis. One of the most prominent difficulties arises from restrictions on the freedom of movement. Israel’s control over its air space, sea and border crossings and the hundreds of checkpoints inside the West Bank affects the ability of Palestinians to move freely from one place to the other. For example, Palestinian passport holders are not allowed to travel through Israel or Jerusalem, and there is no physical link between the West Bank and Gaza. Such segregation between Palestinians and restrictions on movement has a significant impact at both local and international levels. Most notably, it is almost impossible for any Palestinian national team to gather in one place and train together as a team. In the case of the Palestinian national football team, this meant that in the years leading up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the players from Gaza and the West Bank could hardly train together. Ultimately, this challenge prevented them from adequately preparing for the qualification round, which they didn’t pass. The restriction of movement also influences other basic elements of the work of sports organisations. Actions such as hiring qualified trainers or coaches, obtaining sports equipment or competing internationally bring difficulties and additional costs, as everything has to be carried out via Jordan, the neighbouring Arab country. Further challenges arise as a result of the difficult economic and financial conditions that stem from the ongoing political unrest. Infrastructures such as stadiums and training facilities are hard to construct due to a lack of water resources in the Palestinian areas and continuous demolitions, as well as an environment of uncertainty. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, for example, many infrastructures in the West Bank were damaged, and most recently in Gaza in 2008 and 2012, sports structures were destroyed.

Impeding development

Due to restrictions imposed on the freedom of movement, it is almost impossible for any Palestinian national team to meet in one place to play and train

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The lack of infrastructure, facilities, equipment and qualified trainers are not just problems for Palestinian sports organisations at an institutional level – they also impede the development and ambitions of individual Palestinian athletes. As sports resources (including facilities, uniforms, equipment, qualified coaches, professional training and so on) are scarce, many talented and capable individuals do not have the opportunities to excel in their sports and reach new international heights. Palestinian athletes trying to take part in sports activities at times of conflict also face threats to their lives, systematic exclusion, separation from other team members and places of practice, as well as


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A Palestinian man inspects the wreckage of a football stadium in Rafah, destroyed after an Israeli airstrike


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Reuters

Teams from Syria and Palestine play during the West Asian Soccer Federation Women’s Championship in 2005. Difficult political situations can mean that sport is not a priority in society

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restrictions on travel to participate in international games and events. Moreover, the difficult political conditions dictate cultural norms and expectations that do not give sports a great priority in the society, where basic needs like food and shelter are vital and legitimate concerns. As a result, athletes may not always find the required support and encouragement from their family members and communities. Despite the ongoing difficulties faced by Palestinian sports organisations and individual athletes, sports in Palestine are alive and well. Palestinian sports organisations exist and function, and they do so in numbers. Palestine has an Olympic Committee that was founded as early as 1934, and several sports federations, such as those for track and field, tennis, swimming and others. In football, there are 16 women’s football teams in the Palestinian women’s football league, and three national teams for seniors, under 19s and under 16s.

Sport and politics – a complex relationship Through these sports organisations and teams, the Palestinian people have seen the significance of sports as a platform to speak up, and as a voice that can communicate a different story from that which is most commonly reported by mainstream media; a story not about death and misery, but stories of endurance, courage, strength, heroism, team work, enjoyment of sports as well as a celebration of life. The relationship between sports and politics is complex. The question of how far sports can be non-political in highly politicised environments is common. While sports cannot solve political conflicts per se, as political change is crucial for conflict resolution in divided communities, sports can play an important role in creating bridges, fostering understanding and advancing the process of reconciliation. However, the negative effects of politics on sports are evidenced at times by racism, exclusion of players based on ethno-religious backgrounds, aggressive competitions and fights during games. Much more can and should be discussed in relation to the positive role of sports as an inclusive tool to bring people together. Several events around the world demonstrate the power of sports in promoting justice and contributing to conflict resolution. Taking South Africa as an example, a number of international sports federations, including FIFA, made a decision to isolate the country during the apartheid era. This stand is considered one of the important steps contributing to the end of that discriminatory political structure. In this case, sport eventually became a political tool, which was carefully used by the federations and contributed to a monumental change in modern history for the advancement of justice. In the case of Palestine, FIFA’s recognition of Palestine as a member association in 1998 was a huge landmark

for Palestinians. Not being granted statehood or even recognised as a member state of the United Nations, the admittance by FIFA provided at least some international recognition of Palestine, and to some extent the rights of the Palestinian people. This recognition raised the morale of national aspirations in Palestine in general, and fostered the growth of Palestinian sports organisations at large.

Milestones Another milestone was achieved in 2008. On the day of the 10th anniversary of the Palestinian Football Association’s (PFA) FIFA membership, the first football stadium built to international standards opened its gates in Palestine. The first official international friendly game took place between Jordan and Palestine. It was also the day of the initial match of the first ever Palestinian women’s league, which was kicked off by FIFA President Sepp Blatter. FIFA’s continued support and funding has played an instrumental role in the development of Palestinian football, where the Palestinian national football team made it to the international qualifications for the World Cup and the Asian Cup, and under the influence of the international umbrella federation the PFA survived political upheavals, revised its statutes and held the first elections in its history, when Jibril Rajoub became president in 2008. In recent years, Palestinian football has been able to host a number of important international games. The men’s football team played a home game against Thailand for the Olympic Games qualification, and the women’s team hosted the Japanese women’s team – the 2011 champions of the women’s World Cup. In addition to helping develop Palestinian football, these encounters also cross borders and create spaces for international understanding. Through these events an atmosphere of hope has been created in Palestine. People realise that football can be a means to overcome the difficulties and challenges of everyday life under occupation. Sports provide a window to the world, a bridge between people and a tool for liberation, inclusion and recognition.

Sports can play an important role in creating bridges

Honey Thaljieh is the co-founder and former captain of the Palestine Women’s National Football Team. She absolved a Bachelor of Business Administration at Bethlehem University and worked for more than five years at the Palestinian Association for Children’s Encouragement of Sport. She is a member of the Palestine Women’s football committee, as well as of the Supreme Council of Youth and Sport The views expressed here are solely those of the author in her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of any official body or entity related to the author


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Reuters/Corbis

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Mirror to the state:

politicisation of football clubs in the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina Dr Gary Armstrong and Emily Vest examine the history of football clubs and political change in Bosnia-Herzegovina, illuminating the values that differing political actors have attempted to extract from or impose on the sport, and highlighting the complexity of the football-related nodes of civil society

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ntil 1992, Bosnia-Herzegovina was best known for its staging of the 1984 Winter Olympics. To many, Sarajevo conjured up images of Great Britain’s Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean skating to the sounds of Ravel’s Boléro and a sea of perfect sixes in the pairs’ ice dancing. Almost 10 years to the day after their gold-winning performance, the international media was once again covering events in the Bosnian capital. The aesthetic, however, could not have been more different. A missile had exploded in the Markale, the city’s central marketplace, killing 68 civilians. Besieged by the Bosnian Serb army stationed in the encircling mountains that had once been used for the downhill-skiing events, the city’s buildings were now used as target practice for tank missiles and other artillery fire. Almost 20 years after the Markale massacre, and 17 years after the Dayton Peace Accords were successful in stopping the violence, the country today exists in a post-conflict stalemate. The Bosnian conflict of the years 1992-95 was the most violent on European soil since the Second World War, with an estimated 140,000 casualties and two million people displaced. The execution of 8,000 Muslim men and boys from the Bosnian town of Srebrenica was considered an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. The post-conflict era saw Bosnia inherit a cumbersome, inefficient and over-bureaucratic state with exceptionally weak state-level institutions, which are prone to deadlock between competing ethno-political factions over everything. Today, more optimistic observers see Bosnia as a country with major issues that is working towards European Union integration. Others have Bosnia-Herzegovina’s national football team includes players of all ethnicities, and yet football continues to present a complex, nuanced picture of the country after the 1992-95 conflict

less confidence, sensing Bosnia as an international protectorate that is “waiting to collapse when the international commitment leaves”1. Commitment of another sort has been evident in Bosnia over the past 15 years. Since first appearing at 171 (out of 204) in the FIFA global-ranking index in June 1996 (just six months after the ceasefire), Bosnia’s national football team had risen to 19th by January 2012, with a team including players of all ethnicities, leading some to hail football as an example of how Bosnia’s institutions can be genuinely national and representative of the country’s three main ethno-political identities. On closer inspection, however, football presents a more complex, nuanced picture of post-conflict Bosnia, while concomitantly providing a useful tool with which to examine the socio-historical situation that caused one of the darkest moments in post–war European history.

Inspiring a useful spirit The story begins in the early 20th century, when sport began to take off in the rapidly industrialising Yugoslavia. University-educated young men began playing football – their enthusiasm supported by the aristocracy, who were of the mind that sport was desirable to keep the general population in good health, and functional in being both morally educational and inspiring a spirit useful for military service and war. Throughout the Balkans, football clubs in the early decades of the 20th century reflected the increasing sense of nationalism through the overt display of ethnopolitical symbols, as exemplified by the Croatian team Hajduk Split. Founded by pro-Croats in 1911, the club incorporated the Croatian crest as part of its emblem as a direct statement of their support of a unified Croatia, in defiance of the Austro-Hungarian policy of prohibiting the unification of Croatian provinces. In the unpredictable and volatile times leading up to the First World War, before


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Reuters

Partizan Belgrade fans celebrate winning their 21st Serbian national league title in 2009, while displaying a banner portraying former Bosnian-Serb leader, Radovan Karadžić, currently on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity

the Ottomans were finally expelled from the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarians had banned public gatherings. For young men to gather together at this time – with football as the legitimate excuse – was a subtle act of resistance against the dominant political order. This order was soon to be overturned by the First World War, which saw football played informally and the inception of a formalised league at the end of the conflict. Towns throughout Bosnia formed clubs, but, unlike the earlier clubs, were intended less for youth and more for the workers. Some clubs were founded with explicit Communist Party connections. With an increasingly strained political atmosphere between the Serbs and the Croats throughout the country, Communist clubs were significant for their philosophy of seeking to ensure that all nationalities were welcome. The authorities were well aware of the problems of nationalist tensions and the power of football’s symbolism, and acted to ban clubs from displaying overtly nationalistic emblems.

Political tensions By 1929, however, the increasingly fractious nationalist politics were reflected in tensions within the JNS (Jugoslovenski nogometni savez) – Yugoslavian football’s governing body. The Serb city of Belgrade was the undisputed capital of Yugoslavia, and Serbs felt that the football association should be headquartered there, rather

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than in the Croatian capital of Zagreb. The Croats, already fearing a dominant Serb hegemony, strongly resisted the idea. A move to the Serbian city was eventually achieved under the dictatorship of King Alexander, but this was only managed by disbanding the JNS and reforming the association under a new Serbian name. In retaliation, Croatian delegates banned Croatian players from joining the Yugoslav national team for the first World Cup in 1930. So toxic was the atmosphere between the Serbs and the Croats that in 1934, wary of football’s potential for catalysing violence, the minister of physical education felt compelled to cancel the Championship Tournament. As the impetus for recognition of a separate Croatian region gathered steam, the creation of individual national football associations became inevitable. It was around football matches that a public expression of support for the Croat regionalist impulses away from Serb Belgrade could be seen most visibly. Additionally, it was where the Bosnian Croats could emphasise their Croatian credentials and identity. A distraction from this tension came with the arrival of war in 1941. Most footballers left their clubs to fight. Yugoslavia was the site of many wars during this period – the country opposed Germany, but simultaneously several civil wars were fought as the tensions of the inter-war period boiled over. Opposition to the Axis occupation emerged in the


Tito – leader of the Partisans – understood the significance of nationalist symbolism around football. Consequently, clubs with a nationalist ethos were banned form of two main resistance groups: the predominantly Serb Chetniks (Serb nationalists), and the multi-ethnic Partisans led by Josip Broz (better known as Tito), the general secretary of the Yugoslav Communist Party. The resistance groups fought against the Nazis, against each other and against the Ustaša (Croat Nationalists). The Allies supported the Partisans, judging them to be the most militarily capable. The Bosniaks (a term for Bosnian Muslims without a religious term of reference) were uncomfortable with the dominant nationalistic ethos of the Serb Chetniks, and the Croatian Ustaša tended to support the Partisans, but held reservations about their Communist links, particularly regarding the Communist suppression of religious expression. An estimated one million Yugoslavs died between 1941 and 1945, killed in the main by other Yugoslavs. The Partisans, led by Tito and supported by the Allied Forces, gradually gained the upper hand, and following the liberation of Sarajevo in April 1945, the rest of Bosnia came under their control. The Bosniaks accepted communist rule as a preferable option to absorption into either Croatia or Serbia.

Yugoslav Communism Acutely aware of the need to suppress nationalist instincts in order to ensure a functioning Yugoslav state, Tito acted quickly, dismantling nationalist structures and destroying forces that had fought against the Communists – in particular those with a nationalist tendency. Tito created a single-party state and a centralised economy, but one with more flexibility and political decentralisation than the

Soviet style of communism (from which he split in 1948). Yugoslavia was divided into republics, and a model of communism developed for each, tailored to suit its ethnic mix and industrial strengths. The inter-ethnic nature of Bosnia made it politically important within Yugoslavia; it represented a microcosm of the Federation. In 1945, Bosnia was the least economically developed republic, despite the Austro-Hungarian infrastructural investment and economic development efforts. Predominantly rural, Bosnia was characterised by low levels of employment and high levels of subsistence farming and illiteracy. In an effort to raise Bosnia’s standards to parity with wider Yugoslavia, Tito concentrated on Bosnia’s industry, leading to a wave of urbanisation.

State control of sporting activities Tito understood the significance of nationalist symbolism around football. Consequently, clubs with a nationalist ethos were banned. In their place came new clubs associated with the army, police and other stateowned institutions. Dinamo Zagreb came about as the amalgamation of several banned Zagreb clubs. Partisan Belgrade – named after Tito’s Partisan resistance movement – was created as a sports club for the Yugoslav National Army, and Red Star Belgrade was initially formed as part of a youth sports society. Football clubs were financed through the State’s Organisation for the Administration of Physical and Cultural Activities, placing the state firmly in control of sporting activities and reinforcing notions of ethno-political parity.

A Bosnian Serb student, Gavrilo Princip, assassinates the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, creating a situation that precipitates the First World War

By 1929, fractious nationalist politics are reflected in Yugoslav football’s governing body, leading to disagreement as to where it should be headquartered

Timeline of key events 1910s

1920s

First World War


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The economic prosperity of the era and Tito’s suppression of nationalistic expressions saw relative harmony and tranquillity between the different ethnic groups in the post-war era. However, by the 1970s, the revival of nationalist sentiment was becoming evident, as most economically developed regions of Slovenia and Croatia – resenting the political power of Serbia within the Federation – began to agitate for greater economic freedoms. Following Tito’s death in 1980, it became obvious that Yugoslav communism was dependent upon his personal ability to suppress nationalistic tendencies. With no obvious successor able to continue this, and with eastern-European countries beginning to loosen the shackles of Soviet communism, some politicians began to use nationalist arguments to foster their personal ambitions.

Football as a political platform From the mid 1980s onwards, football clubs became a focal point for demonstrating nationalistic tendencies. Placards displaying political messages appeared at games, and nationalist songs and chants became more common2. An increasing awareness of the backdrop of football hooliganism across Europe gave fans an understanding about how their differences could be played out through violence. Despite their communist beginnings, both Red Star in Serbia and Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia became hubs for nationalist agendas. Franjo Tudman, the leader of the fiercely nationalist Croatian party HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), developed close ties with Dinamo Zagreb. The ultra Serb Red Star fan group Delije (meaning ‘Heroes’) had opposed the country’s communist system since the clubs inception in 1946, but their expansion into open Serb nationalism did not occur until the political power vacuum of the 1980s. Football filled the gap. The economic prosperity of the Tito years was funded in part through international debt and mismanagement. Corruption of state companies in Bosnia, combined with

Croatian delegates ban Croatian players from joining the Yugoslav national team for the first World Cup in 1930 In 1934, the minister of physical education cancels the Championship Tournament

the global economic situation throughout the 1970s, led to their eventual collapse in the 1980s. The parallel scandals forced the state to loosen restrictions surrounding civil society in Bosnia. The nationalism that was growing in Bosnia’s neighbouring regions now had the space to establish itself within Bosnia. As the country began to move towards a more democratic era, political parties started to appear. Those best organised were dominated by nationalist politicians guaranteeing the nationalist agenda would play a pivotal role in the future of Bosnia. As the nationalist politicians built their personal political power bases, they extended their reach into

Sarajevo is liberated following a campaign by the Partisans under Tito’s leadership Bosnia is part of Yugoslavia

1930s

1940s

Second World War

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1950s


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In the early 1990s, the Dinamo Zagreb supporters, known as ‘Bad Blue Boys’ were a centre of Croat nationalism

football supporters’ clubs. The Delije was transformed in 1990 with the emergence of Željko Ražnatovic, with his political connections including the new nationalistically minded Serb politician Slobodan Miloševic. Better known as Arkan, Ražnatovic was a career criminal, with convictions for bank robbery and a history of prison escapes across Europe. As the leader of the Delije, Arkan transformed the group from one prone to occasional outbursts of nationalistic football terrace chanting to a disciplined group, capable of extreme choreographed violence3. Many Yugoslavs pinpoint the moment they first began to feel that deep trouble was on the horizon to a specific

date: 28 June 1989. The date holds particular resonance in Serb folklore as the anniversary of the defeat of the Serb troops by Turkish forces at the battle of Kosovo Polje. In 1989, the then-president of Serbia, Slobodan Miloševic, used the occasion to deliver a particularly Serb-orientated speech, alarming the other ethnic groups. Unexpectedly, the nationalist party HDZ won the elections in Croatia the following year, as Croats sought to guard against perceived encroaching Serb nationalism. The increasingly tense atmosphere was reflected at football matches. By the time Red Star Belgrade arrived in Croatia to play Dinamo Zagreb in May 1990, violence was to be anticipated. The Dinamo Zagreb supporter entity (known as the ‘Bad Blue Boys’ [BBB]), had become a focal point for Croat nationalists since their foundation in the mid 1980s. The Serb Red Star team brought Arkan with 3,000 of his Delije who were prepared to fight. Among the disorder within the stadium, the Croat fans felt that the predominantly Serb police force were attacking them while protecting the Serb fans. Dinamo’s (and the future Croatian national team’s) captain, Zvonimir Boban, became a Croat hero overnight when he karate-kicked a policeman beating a fallen Dinamo fan. There was strong evidence that both sets of fans had planned for violence; acid had been used to break through the metal segregation barriers, and stockpiles of stones and weapons were prepared by both sides. The Croats broke through the barriers. The ensuing disorder lasted for more than an hour, left hundreds injured and ended when the stadium was set alight.

Political manipulation Why politicians were using football as a tool to create a nationalistic environment is not immediately obvious. Certainly some Serb politicians, most obviously Slobodan Miloševic, were harnessing nationalism as a tool to cement their own personal power within the Serbian political milieu. Supporters of Red Star celebrated their Serb identity with a tradition of distrust inherited from their antecedents who had fought Tito’s communists during In 1989, the then-president of Serbia, Slobodan Miloševic, uses the anniversary of the defeat of the Serb troops by Turkish forces at the battle of Kosovo Polje to deliver a particularly Serb-orientated speech, alarming the other ethnic groups

Tito’s death in 1980

1960s

1970s

1980s

Cold War 1984 Winter Olympics


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Political manoeuvres are never far from Bosnian football; key positions are politicised and political advantage can be made from the violence that surrounds the game the Second World War. As nationalism reappeared on the agenda in the 1980s, these supporters became more overt in their displays of their Chetnik legacy, and declared themselves extreme nationalists. This shift from football enthusiasm to political partisanship was not a difficult one. Football-fan subcultures contain deep divisions in terms of friend and foe, making such groups ripe for political manipulation4. Some form of manipulation was required in order to harness and encourage the unstructured nationalistic sentiment: it was not until Miloševic inserted Arkan into Red Star that the club’s display of Serb-ness became systemic and disciplined.

Pervading divisions With enthusiasm shared across ethno-political divides, football is considered to harness the potential to build a sense of shared passion. Peace-builders see qualities in and around the game that can bring enemies together. However, this has proven difficult in Bosnia, at both the administrative level and on the football terraces. The Bosnian Football Association, founded in Sarajevo in 1992, was predominantly Bosniak. The Bosnian Serbs

By the time Red Star Belgrade arrive in Croatia to play Dinamo Zagreb in May 1990, violence is anticipated The Bosnian Football Association is founded in Sarajevo in 1992 The Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian Croats also formed their own distinct football associations and leagues in 1992

Bosnian conflict

In 1996, FIFA recognises the Bosniak footaball association on the basis that it claimed to represent all Bosnians

1990s

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and the Bosnian Croats also formed their own distinct football associations and leagues in 1992, but in 1996 FIFA recognised the Bosniak association on the basis that it claimed to represent all Bosnians. Under pressure from UEFA and FIFA, the Bosnian Croat league eventually joined the Bosniak league in 2000 to create a single league structure for the Federation (the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat Entity in Bosnia), and the Bosnian Serbs finally joined the Bosnian Premier League in 2002. The National League, however, mirrors the state. While physically representing all ethnicities, below the surface the clubs and the structures remain divided, representing diverse ethno-political factions even as they sign players from all over the world. Meanwhile, the clubs’ supporters celebrate their ethno-political antagonisms, and in their chants will invoke the war years and notorious epochs of violence. In comparison with the conflict, the violence between fan groups is a ritualised affair, which is usually timespecific, permitting the police a degree of anticipation, as well as ease of intervention. That said, the hostility is genuine, and at times brings casualties. Not all the populace are concerned about this. Political manoeuvres are never far from Bosnian football; key positions are politicised and political advantage can be made from the violence that surrounds the game. Fear and recrimination over ethno-political instabilities and vulnerabilities is a vote-winner, and football-related violence factors into the debates about the need for ethnic

Bosnian Croat league eventually join the Bosniak league in 2000

Visiting supporters are banned from attending high-risk football fixtures in 2011

Bosnian Serbs finally join the Bosnian Premier League in 2002

2000s

Bosnia’s national football team rises to 19th in the FIFA global-ranking index by January 2012

2010s


Press Association

In April 2011, Bosnia was suspended from international football by FIFA and UEFA and threatened wtih expulsion from the 2012 European Championship due to its football federation being split on ethnic lines and refusing to appoint a single leader

exclusion. The banning of visiting supporters attending high-risk football fixtures in 2011 was well-intentioned, but has given rise to acts of serious, ethnically related disorder outside the stadiums. Many sports organisations, but particularly football clubs, carry political baggage tied in with their origins and history. On the one hand, this can make them particularly pertinent vehicles in contexts where sport is an important node in the civil-society network, contributing to processes of peace and reconciliation. Those tasked with delivery need to understand the historical development and identity of clubs and their fan groups. Without this knowledge, such schemes, no matter how well intentioned, are bound to failure. In the Bosnian instance, the clubs were the one-time location for the most overt celebrations of ethno-political nationalisms before an Empire, and then a dictatorship, banned their public displays of loyalty and ownership. Such identities spent decades submerged, but never disappeared. When a regime change came about, the clubs were once again the sites for the release of ethno-political loyalties and the main focus around which men gathered and fought rivals – both real and perceived. Ethnic affiliation containing a layer of religion and topped off with the pursuit of masculine credibility is a perilous combination, but this is what many football clubs in Bosnia continue to celebrate.

On the other hand, the game, while played out in a state of resentful toleration with bouts of violence, is also the main reason for people to travel in large numbers to visit people on the other side. Ideally, such encounters will provoke a sense of common humanity. The footballers and fans play their role – the politicians might be the ones who have to change tactics. Dr Gary Armstrong is a reader in the Sociology of Sport at Brunel University. Emily Vest has been working in Bosnia for the last 10 years, recently returning to the UK to complete her PhD, which examines the role of football in reconciliation processes in Bosnia References 1

Retrieved 1 May 2012, http://www.europeanforum.net/country/bosnia_herzegovina

2

Colovic, I. (Hawkesworth, C. translation), The Politics of Symbol in

Serbia, C.Hurst & Co, London, 2002 3

Judah, T. The Serbs: History, Myth and the Destruction of

Yugoslavia, third edition, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2009, p186 4

Vrcan, S. & Lalic, D. From Ends to Trenches, and Back: Football

in the Former Yugoslavia, in Armstrong, G. and Giulianotti, R. Football Cultures and Identities, Macmillan, London, 1998, pp176-188


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Fans of Independiente show their passion for their team, but in Argentina such fervour can extend beyond mere ‘support’ to highly orchestrated disruption and violence epa/Corbis

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Argentina’s barras: a volatile blend of crime, politics and football Samuel Logan examines how ‘ultras’ have developed within Argentinian football, looking at their roots in poor communities that lack opportunities, and analysing their exploitation of the football clubs that they ‘support’ for both financial gain and political influence

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rgentine ultras, known locally as barras, are among the most organised, violent and politically influential fan organisations in the world. Their reputation preceded them at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where South African authorities deported 10 members of the United Argentine Fans – an ultra umbrella group – almost as soon as they arrived in the country. Inside Argentina, raucous behaviour is part of the culture, but the motivation that drives barra membership and loyalty is basic: food and dignity.

Argentina’s ultras recruit from a social class that grasps at football fanaticism in order to escape the miseries of hunger, lack of opportunity and societal neglect. Barra membership is an attractive option for this significant part of Argentine society, where boys from the villas struggle for a daily dose of respect. At an early age, male youths join the lowest ranks of their team’s ultra organisation, in a decision that, in many cases, presents the best opportunity that they have in life. As part of a community in which hunger is constant problem and options are limited,


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Argentina’s barras have become a focal point for a chance to realise self-worth and to contribute loyalty. In a process common to gang inductions worldwide, though masked by the allure of football fandom, the young boys who grow into men prove their loyalty and devotion to the team through acts of violence, thus capturing the attention of the barra leaders: assaulting a rival team fan to steal his jersey is normal. “Football is the one glorious thing in his life, a chink of colour in the monotony of poverty, crime and unemployment that surrounds him and his young family,”1 a British reporter for The Observer newspaper noted following an interview with ultras in Buenos Aires in August 2011.

Street power and politics If the boy from the villa achieves a level of responsibility, he joins a high-stakes game in which football, politics and crime intersect in a way not seen elsewhere in the world. Argentina is a country where ultras threaten the president’s political standing because populist politics require lower-class support – the same social pool that gives itself readily to the ultra rank and file. For Argentine politicians, to challenge the ultras is to defy some of the very people who have voted them into power. A socio-political conundrum ensnares Argentina in this unique ultra subculture. Political power relies on populism rooted in poverty and its attendant social problems of delinquency and disadvantage. Add football to the mixture and the result is Argentina’s barras bravas – gangs of ultras that comprise a volatile mixture of criminality, politics and football fanaticism. Argentina’s fan clubs date back to the early 1900s, when the country’s football clubs began to take shape and organise at the neighbourhood level in cities across the country, especially in the capital city, Buenos Aires. Neighbourhoods in the second largest metropolis in South America were filled with families in search of work as the country went through waves of urbanisation in the 20th century. The Argentine press first used the term ‘brava’, or ‘wild’, to refer to Argentine football fans in 1958, after the death of a fan during a match between Club Atlético River Plate and Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield. Soon after, in the 1960s, the term ‘barras bravas’ gained traction in the media and wider culture, as the Argentine press sought to describe the groups of hooligans that were the most vocal, colourful and emotional fans of the country’s football clubs. From Argentina, the term barras bravas, or ‘wild gangs’, spread across Latin America in the 1970s to describe the ultras of the region. Argentina’s barras bravas, however, began to take their modern form in the mid 1990s, during the presidency of Carlos Saúl Menem (1989-99), when Argentina’s economic success drew the attention of the world. Football scouts paid large amounts of money to bring talented Argentine players to European football clubs.

The quality of Argentine football declined noticeably, allowing room for the barras to evolve into a support mechanism for club presidents who wanted to remain in power. They also became a part of the entertainment itself, helping to maintain ticket sales through their vivid, emotional displays of team support and providing a reason why fans and tourists would pay to see games despite the talent drain – a drain perhaps best personified in four-time Golden Ball winner Lionel Andrés Messi, who left Argentina in 1998 at the age of 11 to join the FC Barcelona youth academy in Spain, with a contract written on a napkin and a promise to pay his medical bills. Back home in Argentina, the football may have become mediocre by the late 1990s, but the ultras were a colourful and passionate sight.

Generating revenue As described by Argentine journalist and noted barra expert, Gustavo Grabia: “The barras believe that they are a fundamental part of the show and as such they deserve to charge [a fee].”2 As the barras evolved into a significant social force within Argentine football, swollen ranks, organisation and leadership began to undermine the control of club owners and the influence of regular fans to generate revenue for their gang. The barras began to effectively extort money from club owners: at any moment, an ultra could force the premature termination of a match with a firecracker tossed onto the pitch. The resulting financial loss would fall on the club, not the ultras. The most common sources of revenue for the barras included ticket scalping; illegal fees for stadium parking; contributions from football players and clubs; commissions earned from the sale of players and club merchandise; drugs sales; and the sale of tours, which allowed foreigners to experience the excitement of watching an Argentine football match from inside the barra section. According to a study that concluded in December 2012, one barra could earn as much as $30,000 to $40,000 a month – not a huge amount by the standards of international organised crime, but sufficient to reward loyalty and maintain influence.3

The ‘capos’ at the top earn the most money

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Rise of the Red Devils La Barra del Rojo, also known as Los Diablos Rojos, or the Red Devils, represents Argentina’s Independiente football club, one of the country’s ‘big five’. Along with the barras for River Plate and Boca Juniors, the Red Devils is considered one of the oldest and most powerful barras in Argentina. Founded in the 1950s, this barra went beyond ‘supporting’ its own team, raising money to send its members with the Argentinian national team to World Cup and Confederation Cup tournaments. Support for the barra is concentrated in the workingclass neighbourhood of Avellaneda, located in greater Buenos Aires. Beyond the core group of supporters, the


Press Association

Red Devils encompass more than 14 subgroups, which all draw Independiente fans from some of the poorest neighbourhoods across Argentina. The Red Devils are led by the ‘first line’ – a group of men in charge of principal subgroups that feed into the organisation. Another 15 to 30 men form the ‘second line’, and round out the leaders of the remaining subgroups that support the barra. In total, there may be as many as 30 men who run the barra organisation, where the ‘capos’ at the top earn the most money from enterprise activity. These men wield considerable social influence as each one is an important business, social and political leader in his community. With a phone call, each man is able to amass hundreds of raucous, loyal men who, though unruly, will snap to attention and follow orders. They organise to generate revenue or, just as quickly, to join a protest or break up the protest of a rival organisation.

Challenging the barras In May 2012, the Independientes president, Javier Cantero, decided to confront the Red Devils and did not allow its leaders the free tickets they normally scalped. The club stopped the barra from charging for parking near the stadium and denied the barra members access to the stadium between games and during team training sessions. In short, the club began treating the Red Devils and its leaders as they would regular fans. The Red Devils responded on 14 November 2012 during a match with Belgrano de Córdoba. Members hung derogatory banners from the stands, speaking out against club leadership. In the 34th minute of the match, a barra member tossed an explosive firecracker onto the pitch, near the opposing team’s goal. Authorities cancelled the match and the Red Devil first-line member arrested for smuggling the improvised sound bomb into the stadium, Richard Pavone, served 30 days in prison as a result. Both the Argentinian president, Cristina Kirchner, and civil society have begun to push back against the barras. Let’s Save Football, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), documents barra leadership connections to politics and crime, and has reported that barra members have been directly or indirectly responsible for 271 deaths since 1922. The NGO has become an important resource for investigators, journalists, academics and others who work to understand the complicated relationships between barra leaders, politicians, known criminals and members of the Argentine Football Association. Thorough investigations conducted by both Argentine and international journalists have cast some light on the nature of the country’s barras, as has ongoing coverage by international media sources.

A matter of context After deporting members of the United Argentine Fans organisation, South African officials released a statement: “Intelligence indicated that these persons would commit acts of public disorder, engage in acts of violence and provoke conflict with certain fans of opposing teams and other groups from Argentina.”4

Fans cheer Boca Juniors, a club that has one of the most powerful barras in Argentina

The history of the barras bravas in Argentina demonstrates how football and fandom exist and evolve within local political and social contexts, and that when problems arise, they must be confronted within that context. While the emotion, identity and demography of ultras in Argentina can be compared to ultras in Egypt, or in the Balkans, the dynamics of their organisation, activities and political interaction are quite different. In Egypt, the ultras have become a focus for demands for institutional reform and justice. In Argentina, the ultras serve as a power base within the existing political framework, and are more likely to be involved in crime and corruption issues within football than in leading a revolution. Samuel Logan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Southern Pulse, a field-based investigations company that is focused on security, politics and business in Latin America References 1

Kelly, A. The barras bravas: the violent Argentine gangs controlling football, The Observer, 20 August 2011

2

Mugica Diaz, J. La gente se opone cuando hay muertos pero le encanta tener una barra, Infobae, 9 September 2012

3

Olaso, F. Argentina: Heroína contra las barras bravas, Proceso Magazine, 10 January 2013

4

South Africa deports Argentine football ‘hooligans’, published 7 June 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10257163


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Challenging racism in European football David Winner interviews ICSS Director Helmut Spahn about racism in European football and his experience of effective tactics and strategies to eradicate it from fan groups and the game

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acism in European football has become a prominent issue once again, thanks to a number of high-profile cases across Europe in the past two years. In England, Luis Suárez of Uruguay and Liverpool, and John Terry, captain of England and Chelsea, were both punished for racially insulting opponents on the field. In Italy, the whole AC Milan team walked off the field during a friendly match when fans of Pro Patria, a small club from northern Lombardy, abused Kevin-Prince Boateng and other black Milan players. In Rome, Lazio were fined 90,000 euros after their fans chanted antiSemitic abuse at Tottenham Hotspur during a Europa League match in the Stadio Olimpico. The reaction of football authorities and politicians to such incidents has tended to be geared towards top-down, zero-tolerance pronouncements, commissioning of ‘task forces’ and advertising campaigns, calls for punitive policing and increased security and monitoring. Ruling bodies have devoted money and attention to anti-racist initiatives, such as FIFA’s fight against racism with the FIFA Anti-Discrimination Days, and UEFA’s Respect campaign and the partnership with Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE). Helmut Spahn, one of the world’s leading experts on the subject, argues that these are major steps and a good approach, but may not be sufficient or the most effective strategy. Punishing clubs for fans’ racist behaviour rarely changes that behaviour, he says. Many fan groups revel in their reputation as ‘bad boys’, and threats and coercion are not always the way to change attitudes. It would be better and more far-reaching to alter fan behaviour – not just within the area of the club’s control, but outside the stadia and precinct as well.

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Helmut Spahn believes that the fundamental first step in eradicating racism from football is getting all stakeholders to acknowledge the problem

While individual prosecutions are important in underlining the seriousness of racism, a less heavy-handed approach is needed to mitigate the general problem in the long term. Dialogue, education and cooperation with fans will yield more deep-rooted change, Spahn believes, and football stakeholders need to develop a long-term perspective and strategies. Spahn has formidable experience as an expert in security, safety and crowd management. He was head of security for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and chief security officer at the German Football Association (DFB) between 2006 and 2011. When it comes to countering racism, Spahn argues that football, which is sometimes criticised for failing to tackle the issue, is actually ahead of society as a whole. “I remember Thierry Henry speaking about this at a UEFA conference in Warsaw three or


In January 2013, AC Milan’s Ghanaian forward Kevin-Prince Boateng walked off the pitch during a friendly match, when fans of Pro Patria racially abused him and other black Milan players. Here, Boateng and his teammates wear jerseys against racism Reuters


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Press Association

During the Euro 2012 championships, reports emerged that Italy’s Mario Balotelli suffered racial abuse from Spanish fans in Gdansk and Croatian fans in Poznan

four years ago. He said that he experienced much more racism away from football, in restaurants, for example, or just walking down the street, than he ever did inside the stadium or when he was playing. He was talking about his experiences in France and England. I see the same thing. Football is used by the media, by politicians and others to address a problem which is really much more a problem in society than in football itself.” Spahn, now executive director of the ICSS, says: “Of course we need to fight racism. But we must also consider the reality, and that reality is clear from the statistics. Except for some countries in the eastern part of Europe, across most of Europe the situation is not that bad in football. Placed into perspective, we have hundreds

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of millions of spectators attending matches and, at the end of the year, despite intense scrutiny, only a few racist incidents are discussed in the media. The truth is that outside the stadiums, in broader society as a whole, the problem is much worse than in football.”

Making progress Considerable progress, he says, has been made in countries like England and Germany, and these lessons should be applied in those countries that continue to have severe manifestations of racism and where the problem is endemic. The fundamental problem in these countries is that the issue is rarely even acknowledged, let alone confronted. “There are still a handful of


and neo-nazi incitement at Polish and Ukrainian league games – and of police disinterest. Reacting to a film of thousands of sieg-heiling fans in Kiev, one police chief explained that the fans were merely “pointing” at rival fans, instead of giving the Hitler salute. Former England Captain Sol Campbell advised England fans not to travel to Ukraine in case they came home “in a coffin”. Spahn, who acted as a security official during Euro 2012, reports that there were indeed incidents. He says, “most notably the monkey chants directed at Czech defender Theodor Gebre Selassie by some Russian fans in Wroclaw. Italy’s Mario Balotelli suffered similar abuse from Spanish fans in Gdansk, and Croatian ones in Poznan. This behaviour is unacceptable.” But other alleged ‘racist’ incidents proved to be nothing of the kind. Mario Balotelli was booed by Ireland fans in Poznan. Spahn, who was inside the stadium, remembers: “Balotelli came on and made some really unfair tackles against the Ireland players, so of course the Irish spectators shouted at him, like any crowd anywhere in the world would do. If someone would label this type of incident as racism, they would of course be missing the point. Based on my experience of them, the Ireland fans are fair supporters with no history of violence or misbehaving, and they did nothing wrong.” Spahn stresses that the overall behaviour by fans throughout Euro 2012 was excellent. “I was in Poznan for the group matches of Italy, Ireland and Croatia, and it was generally perfect. Then I went to Kiev for the quarter finals, semi-final and final and it was perfect there as well. I didn’t only go to the matches. I walked around observing the fans in the stadia precincts, city centres, and I went to the public viewing areas. Nowhere did I feel a sense that there was any kind of tension.”

Dramatic changes

countries where there is racism in many games, and lots of right-wing groups in the stadiums. Many of these are simply oblivious to the fact that this is an issue and it is unacceptable, with no place in respectable societies. In these countries, there are no fan associations working against racism, and football authorities may not have the required level of knowledge and expertise. “I think the solution to preventing racism lies in education. There has to be a reaction by all the relevant stakeholders, first of all to acknowledge problems where they exist, then to work together to change behaviour.” Leading up to Euro 2012, there were dire warnings of xenophobic violence. In Britain, an edition of the BBC Panorama programme showed shocking scenes of racist

Some observers have since taken the success of Euro 2012 as evidence that racism is being eradicated in football in Poland and Ukraine. Spahn, however, is more cautious. “Friends and officials in those countries tell me the situation has improved since the tournament, but we need to see if this lasts. Certainly, for the four weeks of the tournament the problem was not evident. But you have to remember there is a totally different mix of spectators at these big tournaments. It’s not like domestic or international club football. At major international sporting events it’s more difficult to get tickets – there are many more families, business people and sponsors. It’s not the normal club fans.” Hard-core ‘problematic’ fans who support Polish and Ukrainian club teams could have decided, much like their counterparts in Germany during the 2006 World Cup, that they simply would not turn up. “In Germany in 2006, the most difficult fan groups decided: this is not our World Cup. It has nothing to do with us. We won’t attack it because it’s not our football event. It’s a business.” Over the last decade he has witnessed a dramatic change for the better. When Spahn, a former head of security and public order for the Frankfurt police, started


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Press Association

In 2011, Liverpool striker Luis Suárez (left) was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 after being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra – a defender for Manchester United

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working in German football in 2003, there was a lot of racist behaviour – and no willingness to confront it, let alone any agreement on a strategy. “In the professional league people would say: ‘That’s not our responsibility or business. We just organise football’.” It took two or three years of discussion to persuade clubs and other stakeholders that racism was indeed a serious problem, and for clubs, football authorities and fan groups to realise that projects and campaigns to prevent racism and misbehaviour were essential. Across the Channel, English football authorities, police, politicians and fan groups – horrified by hooligan excesses of the late 1980s and early 1990s – had gone through several painful years of a similar process of transformation. In England and Germany, says Spahn, there are now many organisations within the associations working hard with and engaging fan groups. Results in both countries have been quietly spectacular. “Ten years ago, we had a lot of right-wing groups in Germany inside the stadiums. And now there is no sign of these groups in the stadiums.” In England, 20 years ago it was routine for fans to subject black players to monkey chants. That pendulum has swung, and today the worst insult in public is to accuse someone of being racist. But progress was not imposed from above or through coercion through extra police, security and new restrictions. Rather, change came about through education and, in football, by fans themselves working quietly with other stakeholders. “The solution to racism is education. We’ve discovered that the essential approach is to sit down with fans, meet them, talk with them, to explain and to show them the problems and consequences. Then it becomes more of a ‘self-cleaning process’. From my point of view, this is the best approach. If you try to police your way out of the problem, you will fail,” says Spahn. Indeed, sometimes the police can be part of the problem. In some countries, the police have been known to resent being asked to do anti-racist work. “Sometimes there is more of a need to train security staff or the police, rather than the fans.”

Even more impressive is the case of Union Berlin, a club from former East Germany that turned professional in 1989. Once notorious for its right-wing fans, it has become a textbook example of how to tackle anti-racism. “It’s very important for a club to make very clear statements. Often, clubs just want a quiet life, staying on good terms with their local politicians and police, not challenging their own fans. But if there is a racism problem, and a club is not willing to confront it and discuss the real issues, then it will fail. All clubs – and everyone in the club – have to take responsibility, speak out in the media and to their fan base and say: ‘Yes, it’s an issue for us’.”

Rules and regulations A key figure at Union Berlin is the club’s president, Dirk Zingler. He galvanised everyone connected with the club to kick out racism. He got fans intimately involved – to such an extent that they even helped to build the new stadium with their own hands. Some big clubs, says Spahn, are less impressive in this area. “Confronted with a racism problem, a big club tends to throw money at the problem, very often commissioning a showy advertising campaign, for example. But they don’t often bother to really get energetic and serious about this. Smaller clubs, however, often work on a daily basis with their fans, so that makes the situation much easier.” On paper, there already exists a plethora of stringent rules and regulations that are against racism. Under UEFA’s Respect strategy, for example, three racist incidents during a match can lead to the referee stopping the game. “When racism occurs there has to be an immediate and strong reaction from all the stakeholders, especially players. That’s why the Milan players walking off when Boateng was abused was so powerful. But it would have been even better if the home team, the Pro Patria players, had actually walked off. Fans regard their players as heroes, so that would have had a much more powerful impact,” comments Spahn. Then again, Pro Patria-Milan was just a friendly match. Few people want to see league, European or international matches abandoned in this manner. In any case, giving tiny groups of racist fans the power to get matches cancelled is certainly not the way to go. For Spahn, the fundamental first step is getting all stakeholders to acknowledge the problem. “If nobody reacts, then nobody changes their behaviour. I’ve been in eastern Europe several times for international matches and I’ve seen many serious incidents – and no one was taking them seriously. I saw similar things in Italy years ago, and often no one wanted to talk about them. Until that situation changes, we will continue to have the problem,” Spahn concludes.

Considerable progress has been made in countries like England and Germany

Challenging racism Bayern Munich is an example of a big club that has worked patiently at local level to solve the problem it once had with a minority of xenophobic, right-wing fans. The club not only adopted explicit anti-racist policies, but it also found inspiration in its proud history as a bastion of tolerance before Nazi rule. Bayern fans now wave giant banners to join former stars like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in honouring the memory of Kurt Landauer – the club’s visionary Jewish president who survived the Holocaust, returning in 1945 to set Bayern on its post-war trajectory.


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Sport and employment: future hopes for South African youth Norman Brook looks at the problems of deprivation among South African youth in the Cape Flats, and argues that while sports initiatives can help some, widespread youth unemployment and poverty are driving a violent gang culture that only economic development can solve

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frica is ready to host the Olympic Games for the first time, despite prejudice against its capabilities, says Issa Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football. In an interview conducted by CNN at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2013, Hayatou identified five countries in Africa that could host the Olympic Games. However, it was 2013 AFCON and 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts, South Africa, that he put first on the contender list, stating: “South Africa can definitely organise the Olympic Games, with its infrastructure, hotels, communications and transport.” Given South Africa’s success in hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and that it is one of the larger emerging markets, it would be reasonable to expect that it might join BRICS partners Brazil, Russia, India and China in bidding for a major multi-sport event, such as the Commonwealth or Olympic Games. South Africa is, however, a country that is facing major social challenges, and many would argue that there are more pressing investment priorities than an expensive Olympic Games. Tackling poverty, unemployment and inequality are at the top of this list.

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Poverty, unemployment and inequality are not problems that are unique to South Africa. According to the International Labour Organisation, young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults, and more than 75 million young people worldwide are looking for work. Educated young people living in poverty, with no prospects of employment, living alongside people earning good salaries and with high living standards, represent a recipe for potential conflict and unrest.

Youth unemployment In South Africa, youth unemployment is very high, with 50 per cent of young men and 66 per cent of young women out of work. According to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), there is no other middle-income country in the world with such a high rate of unemployment. COSATU’s General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, states that: “This is a crisis. We call it a ticking bomb. We think that one day there may be an explosion. 73 per cent of people who are unemployed in South Africa are below the age of 35, and a lot of them have been to universities.”


Tackling poverty, unemployment and inequality in South Africa is deemed by many as more deserving of investment than major sporting events Corbis SABA


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Alamy

Khayelitsha is home to the notorious Vuras, who fight turf wars with rival gangs, bringing terror to local communities

In the search for work, young people have gravitated towards the cities. Post-apartheid freedom of movement and higher economic growth in urban areas has attracted people searching for employment. The proportion of people living in urban areas increased from 52 per cent in 1990 to 62 per cent in 2011, according to the South African Institute of Race Relations. Although urbanisation increases economic opportunity, it also fuels crime and social tensions, creates greater environmental and health risks, and is a challenge to delivering basic services. South Africa is also a country exposed to high levels of violent crime, including murder and rape. The country has the third-highest annual number of recorded murders in the world, behind Brazil and Mexico, and has the highest number of recorded rape cases.

Factors contributing to violence Research conducted in 2007 by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation reported a number of factors that contribute to the prevalence of violence in South Africa. These included the high levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality; the fact that young people living in poverty are more vulnerable to criminality and violence as a consequence of inadequate child care

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and poor youth socialisation; and the normalisation of violence, where it becomes an accepted means of resolving conflict, and where men believe that coercive sexual behaviour against women is legitimate. If South Africa were to host a future Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games, the potential for civil unrest as a consequence of high numbers of disaffected young people living in urban areas would be a risk factor that needs to be considered. The country has experienced high levels of unrest around wage and service-delivery demands. Of course, investment in a major sporting event would create new opportunities for unemployed youth. However, these opportunities would be short term and unlikely to significantly address the longer-term requirement of creating sustained employment. If South Africa was to make a bid for the Olympics or even the Commonwealth Games, the cities of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban would be potential hosts. Many would prefer to see the iconic city of Cape Town stage a Games. Surrounded by natural beauty and a favourite destination for international tourism, Cape Town would prove an appealing host city. Cape Town is, however, a city in which inequality quickly becomes evident for visitors. The contrast can


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Coaching for Hope uses football to create better futures in South Africa. The charity recently engaged 40 young people as coaches on a work experience programme

be seen clearly between the leafy southern suburbs and the poverty-stricken Cape Flat townships. During the apartheid era, people were segregated and forced to live in separate areas according to their race. White areas were generally affluent, while areas in which black people and people of mixed origin lived were generally disadvantaged. Post-apartheid, these areas continue to be racially segregated, as few people in poor communities can afford to move into neighbourhoods that are more affluent. The population in the Cape Flats has also increased as a result of urbanisation.

Many young people join gangs as a means of staying safe Disadvantaged communities have high levels of poverty and youth unemployment, while also facing challenges with related youth violence and crime. Both black and mixed-origin communities face gang-related problems. Mixed-origin communities have a long history of gangs driven by drugs and other criminal activity, while black communities face a recent phenomenon of warring gangs of disaffected youth. Gang-related violence is a real threat to sport, as it creates an environment in which it is difficult for young people to participate safely. Parents are reluctant to let children attend sports clubs when there is the threat of

being attacked. Walking to the sports centre or sports field becomes an issue when gangs are patrolling their turf and you are not a member of the group. Sports programmes in the Cape Flats often take place in schools, as there are few safe places to play sport. However, gang violence also takes place within schools, and as a result, the Western Cape Government has deployed police into schools to tackle this problem. Young people in mixed-origin communities are targeted by long-established criminal gangs. Many join the gangs as a means of staying safe. Unemployed, lacking a good education and with few employment prospects, young people are easily lured into a life of drugs and crime. The drug known as TIK (crystal methamphetamine) is cheap and fastacting, dragging youth into addiction quickly. Violence – including crimes involving the use of knives and guns – is fuelled by an addiction to the drug. High levels of gang violence in black communities seem less related to drug abuse and organised crime. Here, disaffected young people are forming and engaging in turf wars with other groups of young people, due to social exclusion and identity issues. Sihle Sikoji, aged 19, was a young woman who loved football and played for her local women’s team. One Friday night, she and some friends walked from a local tavern to a friend’s house to get some money. On the way back, they were stopped and challenged by a group of young men, who said: “This is not the


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place or the time for you to be walking here, it’s for us Vuras.” During the confrontation, one of the young men pulled out a mini spear with a long blade and stabbed Sikoji once in the chest, killing her. The Vuras, also known as the Siberians, are the dominant black youth gang in Site B – an area of Khayelitsha. Running in large groups with children as young as 12 years old, they are terrorising local communities as they roam the streets at night, armed with knives, pangas, axes, spades, hammers and even guns. They seek out members of rival gangs – in particular their arch-enemies, the Vatos Locas.

Sports programmes Tackling violence among young people in South Africa and addressing its causes is a priority for government as well as civil society. Youth violence cannot be resolved through sport alone. However, sport as a pillar of society can make its contribution to tackling these problems. Sport has to have a stake in this challenge, because the culture of youth gangs and violence has an impact on sports participation, and is preventing many talented young people from achieving their potential. One person who was able to turn his back on gang life is the former South African rugby player, Ashwin Willemse. Willemse grew up in poverty in the Cape Flats,

The culture of youth gangs and violence has an impact on sports participation living in a shack with his mother and grandparents, without electricity or heated water. As a boy, he became a member of one of South Africa’s most reviled criminal gangs, the Americans. He took and sold drugs, stole, used a gun and had been shot at. One of his friends, also in the gang, was killed in a shooting. That young person could easily have been Willemse himself. At the age of 16, Willemse tried to escape his life by attempting suicide. He was, however, a talented youth rugby player and had a school coach who kept faith in him. The coach even arrived at Willemse’s hospital bed, accompanied by the school rugby team. With the support and encouragement of his coach, Willemse went on to become a member of the South African Rugby Team, and played in two Rugby World Cups. Reformed gang members such as Willemse can become positive role models for young people, encouraging them to find alternative forms of affiliation to gangs, such as membership into a sports club. Sport-for-development organisation AMANDLA Edufootball, which works in Khayelitsha, has also adopted this strategy. It recently engaged with other

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local stakeholders in an attempt to better understand the local youth gang problem and to develop a collaborative response to the issue. AMANDLA hosted a school holiday programme, targeting boys aged between 14 and 18, which included discussion groups facilitated by former local-gang members. They engaged the boys in safe and constructive out-of-school activities, while informing them about gangs and the associated consequences of becoming involved with these groups. One of the drivers of young people joining gangs is that they find acceptance where few other opportunities are available to them. Many are not well-supported at home, are unemployed and have no access to further education. Like many South Africans, the young people of the Cape Flats find that hard work and good matriculation results do not guarantee a decent job or higher education. Coaching for Hope, another sport-for-development organisation, is addressing this issue by creating opportunities for young people to gain work experience and vocational training. The organisation has engaged 40 young men and women as sports and life-skills coaches, creating opportunities through which these young people can improve their employment prospects.

South African rugby union player, Ashwin Willemse, turned his back on gang culture by embracing sport

Links between poverty and violence

Reuters/Corbis

There is a clear link between poverty, unemployment, inequality and the high levels of violence that exist in South Africa. Strategies to address youth violence need to include action that will increase employment opportunities, which will in turn take people out of poverty and reduce inequality. Giving young people hope will also help them avoid a life of drugs, crime and violence. Sport can and is helping young people to build healthier affiliations and develop as positive young people, and is further equipping them with the skills they need in life. In doing so, sport is also benefiting, as more young people are encouraged to participate, giving their talent the opportunity to shine. If Africa is to host a future Commonwealth or Olympic Games, it will need to address the issues of poverty, youth unemployment and inequality. What government can afford to host a major sporting event if the majority of its young citizens are living without hope, and if hosting the event does not improve the lives of the country’s youth? Norman Brook works at Skillshare International as Southern Africa Coaching for Hope Programme Manager. Prior to moving to South Africa in 2008, Brook enjoyed a successful career in British sport, serving as a national athletics coach and then Technical Director at UK Athletics, before taking up the position of Chief Executive Officer at the British Triathlon Federation – a post he held until the end of 2007. Brook is widely acclaimed for his work in growing the sport of triathlon in the UK and establishing the country as a world-leading triathlon nation. He was a member of the British National Olympic Committee and a board member of the National Coaching Foundation


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FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter hands the winner’s trophy to Spain’s goalkeeper and captain, Iker Casillas, during the FIFA World Cup 2010 final. The World Cup and the summer Olympic Games dictate the shape of the international sports calendar

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The powerful platform of sport Keir Radnedge looks at the roles of FIFA and the IOC in managing sport, and examines the various ways sport cannot help but be involved in politics, just as politics plays a role in sport

“I

don’t think sport should be involved in politics”, Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One supremo, argued ahead of the F1 grand prix in Bahrain in 2012. The issue in Bahrain was divided between critics of the Bahraini regime, who wanted to force a cancellation as a gesture of disapproval, and sport insiders, who were concerned about the security of the race itself in the face of possible organised protests. The aggregation of these issues around one motor race demonstrates that, contrary to Ecclestone’s sentiments, major sporting events always exist in the political fabric of a society, and the organisational bodies that manage a sport also function within a social and political matrix. Sport is involved in politics, and politics is involved in sport.

The grand stages The world’s greatest sporting events are the FIFA World Cup and the summer Olympic Games – the ‘big two’. Each takes place every four years, and they dictate the shape of the international sports calendar. The World Cup lasts for four weeks, slotted around the last three weeks in June and the first week in July. The Olympic Games nowadays is adjusted within a July/ August time slot. This is, however, only a comparatively recent development, which owes much to the importance of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) financial contract with television companies in the United States. As recently as 2000, the Olympic Games in Sydney opened on 15 September and closed on 1 October. Since then, it has become a financial imperative to restrict the timing of the Olympic Games to avert a

conflict with other important North American TV sports coverage, which would affect ratings and, hence, advertising and sponsor value. Cricket, rugby, swimming and athletics, for example, slot in their own championships around the big two, though certain events ‘own’ time slots, which are driven by tradition, and are significant enough in their own right to stand alone and withstand a clash of dates. Hence, the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon in London is to be found spanning the last week in June and first week in July. That event conflicts with the World Cup, but Wimbledon is an annual championship, and TV directors need concern themselves with schedule shuffling only one year in every four. Equally traditional, for simple reasons of northern-hemisphere climate, is the competitive schedule for winter sports. The only adjustment in this sphere concerns those sports in relation to ‘their own’ Winter Olympic Games. The mutual respect over schedules between FIFA and the IOC has been evident in the debate over whether the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, to avoid the searing summer temperatures in the Gulf, should be shifted to the winter. Michel Platini, a FIFA vice president who is also president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), is a leading proponent of a winter switch. Even he acknowledged, however, that ‘winter’ in 2022 terms would mean November and December, so as not to conflict with that year’s Winter Olympics, which, wherever they may be staged, will be in January/February. The calendar predictability of World Cup and Olympic Games is convenient not only for sports, but also for the political and commercial connections that are enmeshed with these sporting giants. Heads of state and

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senior politicians are all VVIP attendees, and important intra-governmental meetings and summits tend to be scheduled both in and around sporting events. That link between all these worlds – sport, politics and business – provides the World Cup and the Olympic Games with enhanced significance, and makes FIFA and the IOC important organisations, not just in the world of sport, but in international relations as well.

The conflicting roles of FIFA FIFA is the governing authority of world football, bringing together national football associations into one body. This provides it with two central – and sometimes conflicting – roles. FIFA is both the guardian of the laws of the game, along with its promotion and development worldwide, and also a manager of events – 15 at the last count, from the World Cup down through age-group youth and youngadult events for men and women, plus offshoots such as world championships for indoor football, beach soccer and computerised interactive competition. Some critics of FIFA regretted that the recent governance reform, nearing an apparent conclusion at Congress in Mauritius on 30-31 May, did not extend to a structural reorganisation entailing a separation into FIFA football and FIFA event management. A clear division of this nature might have removed the temptations underpinning recent scandals. The political structure of FIFA is pyramidical and transparent, whatever the inner dynamics. All of the world’s 205 national football associations are members, and command one vote in the annual congress. The associations are also single-vote members of each of the six geographically regional confederations. The confederations elect their representatives on the FIFA executive committee. Hence, each national association has a direct say and vote in the activities of both its regional confederation, and of FIFA. The IOC, though considered on a par with FIFA in terms of the world sporting hierarchy, is significantly different. The most crucial variation is that the IOC is not the governing body of a sport – it is ‘merely’ an event organiser, albeit of the oldest major international event. The initial Olympic Games of the modern era took place in Athens in 1896, some eight years before FIFA was even created, and 34 years before the first World Cup in 1930. The political dynamic within the IOC is very different from that within FIFA. As with FIFA, all of the national Olympic committees are members of the IOC but, unlike FIFA, they do not all have a vote in the biennial congress. A recent count by this writer, drawn from statistics on the IOC’s own website, showed the IOC boasting 204 national Olympic committees, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. However, the 101 voting members of the

IOC are not the national committees, but individuals afforded particular status within the upper reaches of the world of sports administration. These individuals represent only 74 of the national associations, meaning that just under two-thirds are disenfranchised. This is because 18 countries have multiple memberships: Switzerland tops the class with five; followed by Great Britain on four; then Italy, Russia, Spain and the United States all have three. Narrow this down to regions, and Europe has 41 active votes (IOC president Jacques Rogge demurs from casting his own vote), Asia 23, the Americas 18, Africa 13 and Oceania five. These individuals take two supremely important decisions. The first is to choose the host city for summer and winter Olympic Games (as they will, for 2020, this coming September). The second decision is to choose which sports are adopted into or leave the Games programme, which can have a massive impact on a sport code in terms of popularity and finance. Both FIFA and the IOC also play an important role in regulating and maintaining integrity in their sports. The ultimate disciplinary sanction available to both is suspension from membership. Here, FIFA has a punitive advantage as a sport’s governing body. For a football association, suspension means its teams cannot compete internationally in either World Cup or regional championships, or in international club competitions. That is a powerful weapon. Suspension of a national Olympic committee (NOC) by the IOC is more of a political and public relations slap on the wrist. Athletes from suspended NOCs have still been enabled to compete in the Olympic Games, albeit walking behind the Olympic flag. The reasoning behind the compromise is obvious: without athletes in competition, the IOC has nothing. The IOC does, however, claim a good-of-humanity raison d’etre, which goes beyond both FIFA and football. This is expounded in the Olympic Charter (see panel, page 74). Dmitry Chernyshenko, president and CEO of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics organisers, once asked this writer: “Why does the Olympic Games have far more problems with protesters than the World Cup?” He was thinking, at that point, of concerns expressed over environmental issues. In fact, London 2012 chairman, Lord Sebastian Coe, might well have asked the same question last year after controversy over the Olympic sponsorship by Dow Chemical, owner of the disaster-hit former Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. The answer is that in addition to sheer size and audience, the Olympic movement’s claim to the moral high ground makes an Olympic Games a politicalforce multiplier for protesters. This may be viewed as beneficial in bringing pressure to bear on regimes or organisations that do not reflect Olympic values, but

The political structure of FIFA is pyramidical and transparent, whatever the inner dynamics

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Dow Chemical’s sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympic Games was a source of controversy, showing that the link between sport, politics and business gives the Olympic Games enhanced significance


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it also lays the Olympic Movement open to accusations of hypocrisy if it is deemed to be seeking to ignore social and humanitarian issues highlighted by a Games. The massive media profile of the World Cup and Olympic Games and their attendance by VVIPs mean both are used by states as a means to attain international acceptance, and present an opportunity for national selfpromotion. The events are the ‘soft power’ equivalent of the old Grand Fleet reviews of the imperial powers.

Political manoeuvring In terms of the World Cup, this started at the very beginning. Political influence had already threatened a rift immediately after the First World War, when nations from the one side refused to play nations from the other. Then, when it came to picking the host country for the inaugural 1930 World Cup, Uruguay swung the decision, because its government offered to pay the travel and accommodation expenses of all the finalist nations. The will to create a positive international opinion was even more of a priority for the 1934 host. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini saw the potential of the World

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Cup to impress the wider world with the achievements of his fascist regime. Such an ambition included creating the best conditions for victory by Italy’s national team. This was illustrated by the tale of Mussolini summoning his event organiser, General Giorgio Vaccaro, and telling him: “General, Italy must win the World Cup.” Italy, with Manager Vittorio Pozzo capitalising on all the powers of host advantage (including some questionable refereeing), beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 after extra time in the final. Two years later, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and his Nazi henchmen took national self-promotion to notoriously extreme lengths at the Berlin Olympics. The 1936 Games remain the prime example of all the worst excesses of sports-event manipulation for political ends. Not everyone was fooled. Two years later in France, at the 1938 World Cup, local distaste for Italian fascism prompted French fans to jeer the Italian team; a team that now wore black shirts, rather than their traditional blue. After the Second World War, the communist regimes of Soviet Europe used sport as tool for promotion and propaganda. Hungary’s legendary national team of the early 1950s (1952 Olympic champions, 1954 World


Sygma/Corbis

The United States barred its athletes from competing at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Cup runners-up) comprised outstanding players who were nominally soldiers, but who never went near a parade ground. Their team captain, conversely, was an army major: Ferenc Puskás. State support carried Eastern Bloc sport all the way through to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. That support included scientific experimentation (such as doping) and recordbreaking. Teams, players and athletes became publicrelations pawns in the hands of political puppetmasters. Various nations have affected political boycotts over the years. For example, African nations refused to compete in the 1966 World Cup qualifiers in a row over representation at the finals. The first high-profile Olympic boycott was delivered by the United States, which barred its athletes from competing at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Four years later, the Soviet bloc boycotted Los Angeles 1984, even though the decision was not formally confirmed until mere months before the Opening Ceremony. The end of the Cold War did not mean an end to sports politicking. The balance of world power changed dramatically without the Soviet/US balance of distrust.

China joined the international mainstream by virtue of President Richard Nixon on the political stage, FIFA president Joao Havelange, and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch on the sporting stage. However, all manner of politicians threatened various boycotts of Beijing’s 2008 Olympics, objecting to restrictions on freedom of expression (including the so-called Great Firewall of China). But when it came to the Games, the winning strategy was that of IOC leader Jacques Rogge, who insisted that engagement achieves more, albeit not overnight, than isolation. The most recent sports-boycott talk swirled around the run-up to last year’s European Championship football finals in Ukraine and Poland. No western politicians objected to Poland, but Ukraine, a younger nation with infinite complexities, was the problem. A perfect compromise was achieved: the finals went ahead with all the teams, and antagonistic politicians stayed away, and thus played their own games in their own way. An acceptance that sporting boycotts are selfdefeating can be challenged by reference to South Africa. An international sports boycott had a catalytic effect on the dismantling of apartheid. Here, sport played a political role.


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The fundamental principles of Olympism

Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.

The Olympic Movement is the concerted, organised, universal and permanent action, carried out under the supreme authority of the IOC, of all individuals and entities who are inspired by the values of Olympism. It covers the five continents. It reaches its peak with the bringing together of the world’s athletes at the great sports festival, the Olympic Games. Its symbol is five interlaced rings.

The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. The organisation, administration and management of sport must be controlled by independent sports organisations.

Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.

Belonging to the Olympic Movement requires compliance with the Olympic Charter and recognition by the IOC.

Source: The Olympic Charter

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During the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, members of the Israeli team were taken hostage and killed by Black September, a Palestinian militant group

The political visibility of international sport has made it a target for terrorist acts, though security experts have suggested to this writer that comparatively few have been recorded, because many militants found the revulsion generated to be counter-productive.

Political violence Three major terrorist attacks on sport have been recorded over the past four decades, while a number of events (including the British Grand National horse race) have been postponed and/or cancelled, including, once, the Dakar Rally, because of a perceived threat of attack. The first significant outrage occurred at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, when Black September, a Palestinian militant group, took hostage members of the Israeli team in the Olympic Village on 5 September. Nine members of the Israeli Olympic team, five of their captors and one policeman were killed in a shootout. Two Israelis had also been killed in the Olympic Village. Ironically, the West German organisers had sought to reverse an authoritarian image of the country by dressing security guards and officials at the Games in green tracksuits. Two years later, when world sport returned to West Germany (and Munich) for the 1974 World Cup, the security presence was overtly intimidating, uniformed and armed. A further outrage during the Olympics occurred in 1996 in Atlanta, when two people were killed and 120 injured by three bombs planted at a concert by Eric Rudolph, a former US army explosives expert. Rudolph’s reasoning, as expressed later, varied between protesting at the ‘secret purpose’ of the Olympic movement and

at the Clinton government over abortion. The Games continued and Rudolph was subsequently sentenced to four terms of life imprisonment. The next major sport attack followed in 2009. A bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team was ambushed by an estimated 12 gunmen while on its way to play the third day of the Second Test in Lahore against Pakistan. The attack on the Sri Lankan team and a minivan carrying match officials occurred as the bus slowed to cross Liberty Square. It came under fire from a mixture of rockets, grenades and multiple rounds of ammunition. Six police guards and two civilians were killed, and seven of the cricketers and their assistant coach were injured. A militant group with close links to Al-Qaeda was blamed. Sri Lanka had stepped in, comparatively late in the day, to play the Test series after India withdrew in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Seven years earlier, in 2002, New Zealand had abandoned a Test series in Pakistan after a suicide-bomb attack outside their hotel. The third major attack occurred on 8 January 2010, two days before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations football championship in Angola. One group had been scheduled for the separated province of Cabinda, and the Togo football federation had been told by the organisers to fly their team to the matches. Instead, officials decided to travel by bus, which came under machine-gun fire just after it had crossed the Congo border back into Cabinda. Three people were killed, including the bus driver and assistant coach, and nine people were injured, including a doctor and a physiotherapist. Responsibility was ascribed to an offshoot of the independence-seeking Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda. The players insisted, after early confusion, on withdrawing from the tournament. Remarkably, Togo was subsequently banned from the following two tournaments and fined $50,000 by the African football confederation, as punishment for “a decision taken by the national political authorities”. The punishment was quashed after pressure by FIFA in response to outrage throughout world football.

Presenting core values Politics is an internal factor within all sports clubs and associations – as it is within all organisations – but sport and sporting organisations cannot be separated from politics in its wider sense because they exist as part of the cultural and social fabric, and they often adopt and promote values that are not apolitical. Rather than trying to insist that sport should not become involved in politics, sports organisations would do better to accept the reality, and ensure that the values within their codes present the most inclusive, positive platform for the politics that will surely follow. Keir Radnedge is columnist and former Editor of World Soccer magazine, spent 20 years with the Daily Mail and other newspapers, and is an analyst of international sport for CNN, Al-Jazeera, the BBC, Sky and other international broadcasters. He can be found on Twitter: @KeirRadnedge, and runs a website: www.KeirRadnedge.com


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Crowd-sourcing security: the role of smartphones in securing major events Christopher Aaron considers how smartphones can be used to improve safety and security during major sports events

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martphone technologies will revolutionise approaches to sports-event security and fan communications in the next 10 years, offering remarkable possibilities for event organisers and sports bodies, but also presenting tough decisions for planners attempting to exploit fast-moving advances in smartphone technology while working to 10-year planning and preparation cycles. The convergence of mobile connectivity, location services, biometrics and cloud computing will lead to new possibilities for ticketing, access-control, crowd monitoring, emergency public communications, infectiousdisease monitoring, healthcare and traffic management on the security side, while enabling entirely new ways of handling customer-relationship management – or fan participation – and Game Time communications.

Ticket sales Ticket selling for a major sports event like the Olympic Games is a complex operation, with factors such as licensing regulations, international federation allocations and fraud prevention playing a role. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, six million seats were available for stadiumbased events, with 12 per cent allocated to federations, and tickets available for general purchase online. However, a second-hand market also developed, with tickets trading on Craigslist, e-Bay and other trading sites, and available from national European Union (EU) country booths in London that were entitled to sell their tickets to EU citizens, as long as it was done at face-value. As returned tickets became available during Games time, these returns were made available on the official website, but finding tickets on the site was not always easy, leading one person to write a programme that searched the site automatically for newly available tickets and published the data via a Twitter feed. This feed was first blocked by Ticketmaster, the site operator, but was then allowed once the benefits of the feed, and its benign nature, became apparent.

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The logistical problems of selling tickets electronically through a smartphone application should therefore not be underestimated, but systems are developing and being implemented now. In the US, StubHub launched a mobile ticketing service for NFL New York Giants games in September 2011. Transport services in many countries already offer mobile ticket purchasing that does not require the printing of tickets, and the data systems and on-site reader technologies are developing rapidly.

Technology

future. Clearly, there are privacy and civil rights issues that would need resolution, and may prevent implementation, but technologically such data will be available.

Access-control for fans Smartphones can clearly do little to reduce the screening procedures (X-raying of jackets, bags, searches and so on) necessary to ensure security and safety, but they can help in crowd management, directing fans towards the correct entry-points, communicating with fans if there is a delay at an entry-point to prevent frustration and crowd buildup, and re-directing fans to different gates on a dynamic basis if needed, as well as fast-tracking individuals with tickets for events that may be about to start (this clearly applies to Olympic Games scenarios more than to single events, such as football matches). Another benefit is the biometric data available on a smartphone, which can can be cross-referenced with the data uploaded at the time of purchase, and clearly with the physical person present, essentially eliminating ticket fraud, but also speeding the checking process. Greater advantages will stem from the possibility to link last-minute ticket purchases to access-control systems once fans are within the Games park. If, for example, a fan has tickets to a basketball event, but is then alerted to available seats for swimming, the smartphone application can grant access to the swimming venue, and also provide way-finding instructions for the fan to navigate from one site to the other. One can envisage the capability by which a fan could also purchase last-minute seat upgrades, as stadia management try to close the gap between VIP seats and normal seats minutes before an event.

Information validation

The advantage of true paperless ticketing is the instant availability and returnability of the ticket. While many fans will purchase tickets long before an event, many others make last-minute decisions to attend, while some prepurchasers have to return tickets for all kinds of reasons. Posting and even printing electronically delivered tickets is inefficient. Truly electronic tickets will resolve such issues. Apart from fan convenience, smartphone application ticketing will bring security benefits that will outweigh cyberfraud concerns, which will be resolved eventually by necessity. At time of purchase, facial identification (by cameraphone photo), physical location (by phone GPS) and phone IP details could be communicated and stored alongside the ticket reference. Fingerprint-reading capability is currently being developed for smartphones, and other such biometric data could be available in the

Checking the credentials of staff, competitors, VIPs and such like for physical access to the site and logical information-systems is a core concern from the outer, middle and inner perimeters, right down to specific locations such as server rooms, locker rooms, power houses and hospitality suites. Iris scanners, electronic keys and locks, and a plethora of card-reading systems, physically installed and connected to access-validation and logging systems, currently provide access-control and monitoring at major stadiums during the build and on completion. This requires the fixed installation of devices for possibly temporary stadia or gates, production and issuing of smartcards and programming of electronic locks and so on. However, several companies now offer access-control systems that are based on smartphones and the near-field communications (NFC) functionality that they contain. One supplier, Intercede, has developed the MyID software to enable staff smartphones to be used for both logical access to computer systems, and to interact with door-control readers to interrogate access permissions. Similarly, the smartphone of a security guard can be used as a type of reader to validate permissions in a mobile context. With the spread of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) protocols, it is possible that smartphones


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could, in the future, replace smartcards for access-control, with the added benefits of voice communication and the location-sensing intrinsic to smartphones. A plethora of smartphone applications already exist to help travellers check routes and departure times for planes, trains, metro systems and buses en route. During the London 2012 Olympics, several apps were created that integrated with event start times and destinations to help fans, while others focused on helping commuters avoid the inevitable disruption to normal transport schedules. In Coventry, a venue for Olympic football, the city’s council produced an app that integrated sport and cultural events as well as tourist sites with travel information.

Transport management Now, smartphone ticketing is spreading on transportation systems, with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority carrying out a pilot project in July 2012. The combination of NFC mobile payment technology, mobile ticketing and smartphone-app scheduling and route planning will make the smartphone a powerful assistive device for fans travelling to major sports events, many of whom will be in an unfamiliar environment, but it also holds potential for security and safety managers, who could collate data on traffic patterns prior to the build-up of fans near to a stadium or fan zone. If made clear to the public, there is little reason why the connectivity and data-communication abilities of smartphone apps should not be used to build a picture of fan travel routes during

analysed and then visualised on a map. This made it possible to see in which direction and at what speed crowds were moving, and where crowds of people could reach potentially dangerous dimensions. The technology was developed under a four-year EU research project, SOCIONICAL, lead by Professor Paul Lukowicz at the Embedded Intelligence department at the DFKI in Kaiserslautern. Other techniques for crowd monitoring close to venues also take advantage of smartphone functions, including Bluetooth connections. According to a paper, ‘Mobile Mapping of Sporting Event Spectators Using Bluetooth Sensors: Tour of Flanders 2011’, in the journal Sensors, transmitters can be established to interrogate Bluetooth devices in their surrounding area. According to the paper, “the master device transmits inquiry packets, to which discoverable devices within its vicinity respond with inquiry-response packets. These include the MAC address (which is a 48-bit identifier of the mobile device), and the class of device (COD) code (which gives a general idea about the type of device and some of its functionalities). By mapping detected MAC addresses to a specific timestamp and location where a sensor that made the discovery was located, one can reconstruct proximity-based trajectories. Since an actual connection is not required, tracked individuals are not aware of the presence of Bluetooth sensors and the methodology is in essence completely unobtrusive. Since Bluetooth 1.2, it is also possible to register the received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) of the inquiry-response packets, which is loosely correlated with the distance between the sensor and the detected device.” Clearly, Bluetooth devices can be switched off at will, and no one is required to install an app on their smartphone. Therefore, such crowd-monitoring technologies may not have the reliability of current CCTV methods. However, it can be argued that, given public understanding of the method’s use, there could be acceptance of the value of such technologies in ensuring public safety – for example, detection of a sudden crowd surge could alert security managers to a problem area.

Smartphone ticketing is spreading on transportation systems an event – especially an event such as the Olympics. This could be built up during the course of an event to serve warnings of bottlenecks, and also allow the almost real-time movement tracking of ticket-holders in order to forewarn of surges at venues. Extensive research is being done globally on the methods and challenges for monitoring real-time traffic using smartphones, but more specific research is needed on how such monitoring could be executed and utilised in the context of a major sports event.

Crowd monitoring Closely linked to the issue of transport management, the challenges of crowd monitoring for major sports events are also finding potential solutions in the aggregation of smartphone location data. During London 2012, the City of London police, Westminster City Council, the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), volunteer fans and the Wearable Computing Lab of the ETH Zurich collaborated in trials of a smartphone app, which passed real-time information of fan movements to a central server. The data was provided voluntarily and anonymously,

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Health and infectious-disease monitoring Petra Dickmann addresses the safety and security concerns associated with infectious diseases in the context of major sporting events in her paper in this issue (see page 80). She draws attention to several web-based initiatives that have been set up to monitor infectious-disease outbreaks – for example, the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN). Smartphone apps are ideally suited to the reporting of infectiousdisease problems, and while the existing networks mentioned by Dickmann are not specifically linked to major events, any reporting by ticket holders to an event could provide valuable forewarning to event organisers and other attendees, while presenting opportunities for organisers to offer advice to affected ticket-holders.

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Technology

Crowd management can be enhanced through the use of apps. At London 2012, apps were deployed to help fans navigate the venue

Smartphone apps are also a more effective means through which to communicate health and safety warnings associated with events, especially as they can be triggered once a fan enters a certain area. As Dickmann notes, conventional health-advice leafleting at sports events is missed by nearly 80 per cent of fans.

Emergency public communications Communication with fans is a crucial factor in the design of stadia and the organisation of major events, and the ability to communicate directly in an emergency situation can bring significant safety and security benefits. Panic, stampedes and crushing have been causes of death and injury in stadia in the past, and effective communication plays an important role in reducing panic. For example, the ability to send targeted evacuation procedures, with routes that can be read on a lit smartphone screen to different sections of a stadium, or simply to advise some fans that they are safe to remain in place, could mitigate the dangers inherent in mass evacuation procedures. The ability to communicate different messages to fans based on data stored on their phone – data that might identify the fan’s location, age or nationality – is an invaluable tool, and is only possible using a smartphone. The issues discussed above focus on security and safety concerns, and are intended to give a broad outline of how smartphones may be used at events in the future. With the speed of innovation in smartphone technology and software, new apps are likely to be seen at each

new event, but it may be some time before systems are reliable and mature enough to be deployed in some of the more sensitive functions, such as access-control. This article does not explore the wider use of smartphones for customer-relationship management (fan involvement), for example games information, stadium management or in-venue entertainment, though these will be the driving forces behind the investment that is needed in stadium connectivity. Providing Wi-Fi coverage to 80,000 fans in a stadium is no mean feat. Suppliers such as Cisco are developing high-density Wi-Fi solutions, and their Connected Stadium solution was deployed by British Telecom (BT) in the London 2012 main stadium. This was the first time public Wi-Fi access had been provided inside Olympic venues, and BT set up 1,000 access points at nine olympic venues, as well as 500,000 across London in preparation for the Games. A survey by technology company Huawei found that 85 per cent of non-UK visitors to the London games carried a smartphone or tablet PC. While technology challenges remain, smartphones will have almost 100 per cent penetration of the sports-fan market in just a few years, and sports clubs and bodies will want to deliver services via Wi-Fi and smartphone apps to maximise revenues and fan loyalty. Security and safety managers for venues and events, and related law-enforcement bodies, should consider how they can integrate their data-gathering and communications needs into such applications, and use this previously unavailable data to refine security and safety operations.


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Respiratory infections are a major concern for mass gatherings and sporting events, as the dense concentration of people enables the rapid transmission of infection Science Photo Library

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Mitigating the impact of infectious diseases at sporting events Dr Petra Dickmann examines the safety and security threats to sporting events posed by infectious diseases, and looks at how risk-communication strategies could be better implemented to mitigate the risk of disease, and the impact of outbreaks

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ajor sporting events are huge gatherings and complex social situations: the London 2012 Olympic Games, for example, hosted 14,690 athletes, 11 million spectators in stadiums, four billion television viewers and 21,000 media personnel, according to statistics from the BBC. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mass gatherings as “events attended by a sufficient number of people to strain the planning and response resources of a community, state or nation”1. Every major sporting event puts an extra strain on existing infrastructures in the host country, and to some extent on departure and returning countries. Travel, trade, security and health systems are particularly challenged by this predictable influx and movement of people. Health concerns during major sporting events have traditionally taken account of both communicable, infectious diseases and non-communicable health risks, such as weather-related illnesses and traumatic injuries – for example, from stampedes. From a health perspective, planners face an intrinsic paradox2: they wish to bring people together to attend an event in a stadium or public viewing area, but they need to maintain some separation to prevent crowds, stampedes or the transmission of infectious diseases. Planning for preventing and responding to health risks has, in the past, focused mainly on the event locale, ensuring the preparedness of local health services and the emergency medical response teams. However, with greater globalisation and more mega sports events in diverse locations, the prevention of, preparedness for, and response to infectious-disease health threats now require a broader approach that is not limited to the time and location of the event.

Major sporting events pose a unique opportunity for diseases to spread among a broad variety of people: pathogens can travel from or to remote areas of the world infecting naïve, non-immune populations, facilitated by the high density of people gathering and their sometimes risky behaviour. The exposed setting, high visibility and political importance of large, international gatherings could be used for biological weapons threats or attacks taking advantage of the intangible nature of biological agents used as weapons. Major sporting events though are exposed settings for the spread of infectious diseases and the threat of biological weapons. Therefore, they require more complex planning and preparedness, coordinated response strategies and strategic risk communication.

The managers responsible for infection control are often faced with uncertainty about the source of an infectious disease So what aspects of infectious disease threats should planners consider to better prepare for major events? What should be the recommendation when a pandemic has just started, or an infectious disease emerges during Game Time? And what should planners do when facing the related problem of a biological weapons threat? Infectious diseases are transmissible from human to human via airborne droplets or direct contact (including blood-borne diseases), through vectors such as mosquitoes, or by eating or drinking contaminated


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food or water3. According to the transmission route, effective prevention and infection-control measures can be implemented. The most frequent infectious-disease outbreaks at mass gatherings are caused by foodborne diseases via a faecal-oral transmission route3. Poor hygiene in the preparation and distribution of water and food lead to contaminated food that causes gastrointestinal illnesses. Therefore, key interventions are good personal hygiene and the hygienic handling of food.

Peculiarities of infectious-disease risks Respiratory infections are a major concern for mass gatherings and sporting events, as the dense concentration of people enables the rapid transmission of infection via the respiratory route (airborne or droplets). The key recommendation to prevent the transmission of airborne diseases is to stay away from ill people or those who are contagious. However, this is a particular problem for sports events as many people may choose to attend even while ill, due to the importance and personal meaning of the event. While in theory the prevention and control of infectious diseases sounds straightforward, the reality is not. The managers responsible for infection control are often faced with uncertainty about the source of an infectious disease, the course of the infectious disease outbreak and its social and psychological amplification and economic impact is unpredictable. The identification of an outbreak is difficult, and uncertainty is a major planning obstacle. Cases of gastrointestinal illnesses, for example, need to be detected and the information forwarded to those who can assess and understand the implications. Often, less severe infections are not seen by healthcare professionals, but add to the infectious burden. Even if a number of cases form a recognised outbreak, the source of the disease needs to be identified in order to prevent further spread. Outbreaks can be single-sourced, but are more often caused by a plethora of sources. This requires continuous surveillance and active detection. However, the majority of gastro-intestinal disease outbreaks have no identified source, and general health advice and risk communication to the participants, spectators and the public become the crucial means of mitigation. Some diseases are contagious before the onset of symptoms, which adds to the uncertainty and unpredictability. Influenza is the key example in this case. Given the advice to stay away from ill people, or to stay away from events when feeling unwell, how can one prevent the transmission of diseases that can spread before being recognised? This makes them both difficult to manage and carries potential for causing public panic

– a perfect terrorist threat narrative. Bioterrorist threats, whether real or hoaxes, have the potential to cause disruptions to sporting events and require careful planning and effective risk communication to achieve a level of resilience in the public and the participants. For sporting events that only last one or two days, these concerns are not directly related to the performance of the event itself, but they have wider implications. Incubation periods – the time from exposure to the pathogen to the onset of symptoms – vary among diseases and individuals, and can be short (with a range of hours and days), mid (days and weeks) or long (weeks and months). From an infection-control perspective, a short incubation is easier to manage. Mid and long incubation periods present greater problems, especially for sports events, as athletes and visitors come from various, sometimes remote parts of the world, and can import infectious diseases to a non-immune population at the host country or export diseases to their home countries, where this disease may be unknown or eradicated.

Planning recommendations The WHO has prepared key considerations and planning tools that complement the general systems that are observed by countries in order to ensure and maintain compliance with the International Health Regulations (IHR)1,4. The International Health Regulation 2005, which was put into force in 2007, is an international legal agreement that is binding for 194 State Parties across the globe. The State Parties must implement capacity in order to prevent, prepare and respond to major disease outbreaks and other health threats that are of serious concern. In line with the IHR 2005, the WHO has developed key considerations and is able to support host countries in health preparedness and response. In general, the management of infectious diseases can be divided into prevention, preparedness and response. The prevention of infectious disease encompasses specific measures, such as vaccination, and general advice to promote hygienic behaviour. For major sporting events or other mass gatherings, immunisations can be made mandatory. The annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj), for example, requires the immunisation against Neisseria meningitidis, which had caused severe outbreaks of meningitis during previous pilgrimages. Travel restrictions can be announced in order to prevent the influx of visitors coming from countries with endemic diseases that are unknown to the host population. An important aspect of preventing the spread of infectious diseases is appropriate behaviour. This applies to personal hygiene and to food and water safety, as well as sexual behaviour, particularly regarding prostitution

The identification of an outbreak is difficult, and uncertainty is a major planning obstacle

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Press Association

Medics training for the Beijing Olympic Games conduct a drill simulating a bioterrorist incident. Effective planning and risk communication is required to prepare for such attacks


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and the illicit sex trade. Health advice is usually given in traditional formats of leaflets and posters. However, some evidence suggests that these health messages, which should play an important role in the health and safety of spectators and visitors, hardly reach their audience. During Euro 2012, for example, the health advice provided was missed by 77 per cent of attendees5. Newer media formats, such as text messages and the use of social media, seem to be slightly more successful6. Behaviour affects the dynamic of infectious diseases and it is surprising that little attention has been paid to improving risk communication. Preparedness planning, response and outbreak control is undertaken, mainly among health and planning professionals, ensuring the training and resources to respond to infectious-disease outbreaks. Yet, those who are at risk and potentially attacked are not appropriately addressed. There is a clear need to improve health-risk communication with participants, spectators, visitors and local people, and public engagement needs to be developed and implemented in the planning rationale. In the WHO key considerations (2008), the riskmanagement process is divided into: 1. Risk analysis/assessment: What might happen? 2. Surveillance: When has it happened? 3. Response: What to do when it happens?

The London 2012 Olympic Games provides a good example of how to use and implement surveillance data

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Risk analysis is a strategic approach and a continuous process that evaluates the concerns in relation to the setting, the context of the event and vulnerability of the audience. The key considerations provide checklists to help structure the analysis. Risk assessment is a crucial part of planning, starts well before the event takes place and should coordinate with the permanent risk assessments that states perform as a matter of course. Infectious-disease surveillance has seen a huge increase in popularity, partly due to new technology, and in response to newly emerging or re-emerging diseases. More recently, syndromic surveillance has become common – that is, symptoms (coughing and a fever, for example) are registered and reported to health authorities, in addition to the diagnosis being confirmed by laboratory results (such as influenza). Given the global dimension of infectious diseases that affect not only host countries of sporting events, but also the countries to which participants and visitors return, there is a need to extend the scope of infectiousdiseases surveillance. Rather than limiting the surveillance period to the duration and location of the mass gathering itself, Khan and colleagues argue for the extension of the geographic focus to a worldwide perspective7. They suggest including air-travel information and real-time, web-based, infectious-disease surveillance to acquire a more precise picture of infectious-disease

Security and safety

how to use and implement surveillance data. Outbreak management and coordination are activated in response to detected outbreaks, and they rely on crisis-management plans and established protocols. The aim of outbreak management is to control the outbreak and/or to mitigate the negative impact is has on the event.

Practical implications What should organisers of major sporting events do when there is a pandemic influenza six months before a scheduled event? What sounds like a worst-case scenario was the planning reality for a variety of gatherings in 2009, when Influenza A H1N1/2009 (‘swine flu’) emerged globally. A pandemic is an infectious-disease outbreak occurring for a limited time (it has a beginning and an end), which occurs worldwide and crosses international boundaries. As the disease is already occurring globally, the risk assessment for major sporting events is based on whether the sporting event comes into conflict with national and international health regulations, recommendations and travel advice. Organisers have to connect and collaborate with the national and international public health authorities in order to make their risk assessment. The basic question is: does this event have a significant negative impact on the society – does this event make the pandemic worse?

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emergence globally. Ideally, formal and informal sources of disease outbreaks should be integrated into epidemic intelligence that informs risk monitoring and assessment. Khan and colleagues suggest the integration of intelligence-gathering tools such as the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN), ProMED and Health Map, which build their information on informal data from the internet8. They believe these will overcome the limitations of traditional surveillance systems, including delays in reporting, inconsistent population coverage, and poor sensitivity for emerging diseases, because “these systems can complement traditional surveillance systems by allowing public health professionals to detect weak signals across borders and create awareness at an early stage of emerging-disease risks that might affect mass gatherings”8. The scope of surveillance can be broadened by increasing communication between public health stakeholders and the public, using internet and mobile phones, as well as crowd-sourcing through informal sources. However, the information has to go through a knowledgeable assessment process that is able to discriminate data noise from meaningful information. The WHO mass-gathering key consideration provides useful advice about the duration of the surveillance, recommending pre, during and post surveillance, and the London 2012 Olympic Games is a good example of


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Major sporting events have a high visibility and political implications. This makes them vulnerable to terrorist threats WHO has issued an interim consideration for influenza pandemic 2009. They put emphasis on the following factors, which have special relevance9: ■■ The local level of influenza activity. Information about activity level is regularly published by public health authorities and should be used for the decision of whether to cancel the event or not; ■■ Event duration. If the event is longer than the incubation period of influenza (two to three days), then an increase of ‘event-associated cases’ will occur during the event, and a decision has to be made on whether to cancel the event. If the event is shorter, then people will develop symptoms when they are returning home. The WHO does not discuss the ethical issue about causing or increasing the likelihood of catching the disease and affecting destination countries’ health systems; ■■ The vulnerability of participants. During the swine-flu pandemic, it became apparent that younger people were more affected by the disease than those who were older. Sporting events that attract primarily younger people have the potential to lead to an increase of cases in this age group; and ■■ Healthcare capacity. While the majority of influenza cases are non-severe, the health capacity to manage severe cases should be taken into account. Planning for major sporting tournaments in the event of a pandemic should consider measures to: ■■ detect and monitor event-related pandemic influenza; ■■ reduce the spread of the pandemic virus; ■■ manage and treat ill persons; and ■■ disseminate relevant public health messages9. Reports from sporting events and other mass gatherings that took place during the swine-flu pandemic show a small increase in ‘event-associated cases’, but little overall impact on the events themselves10, 11. The general advice by the WHO to mitigate the course of a pandemic has basic recommendations for planners that include hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette promotion, isolation for patients who become ill during the event, reduction of crowding and behavioural advice for participants and spectators. ‘Stay away from event when ill’ is regarded as the most effective advice that was given consistently in a variety of events. The key to reaching the participants and spectators is communication. However, given the low effectiveness of traditional health-advice leaflets and uni-directional communication strategies, one of the major tasks for

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future events will be to establish and maintain appropriate connection and communication with their audience. Risk communication is key to engaging with the public and the participants, and to ensuring safe and secure games. What should organisers do if there is a local outbreak during a sporting event? This situation is one of the most practised scenarios in the preparation for major sporting events, and protocols and standard operating procedures should be well exercised and in place. The key entry point is to identify an epidemic outbreak and to activate the protocols. The major challenge is the uncertainty before an outbreak and before its source has been identified. The most challenging scenario is a biologicalweapons attack, or even a credible threat. The WHO key consideration gives some advice for improving planning1. Major sporting events have a high visibility and political implications. This makes them vulnerable to terrorist threats and attacks. Biological weapons in particular have some features that make response management problematic: protection and detection is difficult and, due to incubation periods, they can achieve a wide dispersal and distribution. Their discovery or recognition may not even occur during the event or at the location of the event. In some ways, these factors make a biological attack less attractive to terrorists seeking a ‘spectacle’. However, threats and actual attacks can challenge the management team of the event almost equally. Discussing the scenario with the key health person from the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, a biological-weapons attack would have been a reason to cancel the Olympic Games 2012. Interestingly, this was not because of the medical management, but rather due to the social amplification of an uncertain and unpredictable situation, and the psychological affect it could have on the public12.

Risk communication Health-risk communication strategies for mass gatherings are still in the early phase of giving health advice for participants and visitors, and providing straightforward ‘do this, avoid that’ instructions. International preparedness planners have identified the importance of risk communication, but it is often seen as the last technical part of event planning. There is an urgent need to better understand and implement risk communication in the strategic management of events. Conceptual communication approaches in preparedness planning still rely mainly on the early information-technology paradigm, assuming a rather static and unilateral sender, a solid message and addressable recipients. However, the public is no longer (and maybe never was) a passive entity given recommendations and guidelines to follow by trusted institutions, and this technocratic communication model (sender-message-

Security and safety

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During the swine-flu epidemic, reports from sporting events and other mass gatherings identified a small increase in ‘event-associated cases’

recipient) is insufficient for designing risk-communication strategies to mitigate health concerns at major events. With access to Twitter feeds and mobile internet, spectators at events can be influenced by a host of messages, some of which could gain undue credibility in the absence of trusted communication. Such an absence was seen at the Poland-England football match in October 2012, which had to be postponed due to bad weather. Fans waited in the stands for hours, frustrated by a lack of information about the decisions being made. In that case,

there were no health risks, and no adverse consequences, but in other situations such a lack of communication planning could have more serious effects.

References

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Dr Petra Dickmann MD, PhD is an expert in infectious disease and risk communication at the London School of Economics, and a member of the WHO virtual advisory board on mass gatherings. She has recently written a report for the ICSS about public health preparedness for major sporting events

1 World Health Organisation (WHO), Communicable disease alert

Sonricker, A L., et al, Preparing for infectious disease threats at

and response for mass gatherings. Key considerations, WHO

mass gatherings: the case of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2010

Press, Switzerland, 2008 2

Johansson, A., Batty, M., Hayashi, K., Al Bar, O., Marcozzi, D. and

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Khan, K., McNabb, S J., Memish, Z A., Eckhardt, R., Hu, W.,

Memish, Z A, Crowd and environmental management during mass

Kossowsky, D., et al. Infectious disease surveillance and

gatherings, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, research support,

modelling across geographic frontiers and scientific specialties, the Lancet infectious diseases, 2012

non-US government review, 2012 3

Khan, K., Freifeld, C C., Wang, J., Mekaru, S R., Kossowsky, D.,

Abubakar, I., Gautret, P., Brunette, G W., Blumberg, L., Johnson,

9

D., Poumerol, G. et al, Global perspectives for prevention of

infectious diseases associated with mass gatherings, The Lancet

WHO, Interim planning considerations for mass gatherings in the

context of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza, 2009 10 Loncarevic, G., Payne, L., Kon, P., Petrovic, V., Dimitrijevic, D.,

Infectious Diseases, research support, non-US government, 2012

Knezevic, T., et al,

4

WHO, Communicable disease alert and response for mass

Public health preparedness for two mass gathering events in the

gatherings, technical workshop, 2008

context of pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 - Serbia, July 2009,

5

Janiec, J., Zielicka-Hardy, A., Polkowska, A., Rogalska, J.,

Euro surveillance, 2009

Sadkowska-Todys, M. Did public health travel advice reach EURO

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6

Gutierrez, I., Litzroth, A., Hammadi, S., Van Oyen, H., Gerard, C., Robesyn, E. et al, Community transmission of influenza A

2012 football fans? A social network survey, Euro surveillance, 2012 Lund, A., Wong, D., Lewis, K., Turris, S A., Vaisler, S. and Gutman,

(H1N1) virus at a rock festival in Belgium, 2-5 July 2009,

S. Text Messaging as a Strategy to Address the Limits of Audio-

Euro surveillance, 2009

Based Communication During Mass-Gathering Events with High Ambient Noise, 2013

12

Dickmann, P. Public Health Preparedness for Major Sporting

Events, report by the LSE and ICSS, 2013


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Sport Integrity Units lead fightback against corruption in sport Fred Lord explains the role of Sport Integrity Units at sport, national and international levels, and reviews the structures that have evolved in Australia to combat the infiltration of organised crime

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he creation of dedicated Sport Integrity Units (SIUs) to protect sport has emerged in recent years as a strategic response by governments and sports organisations to the increased global infiltration of diverse sporting codes by organised crime syndicates. The process of penetrating sport in order to manipulate and corrupt for financial gain has existed for decades, but it is now being taken much more seriously by governments and sporting bodies alike. Global sporting programmes are intended to be a platform for peace, unity and enjoyment, and to foster a basic human principle for fair play. Organised crime interventions damage these core beliefs by manipulating athletes and the true outcome of sporting events. Many international sporting codes have faced significant integrity issues, but none more so than football. Football has been plagued with match-fixing and manipulation issues across the globe, with virtually

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no region free from the crime. In May 2011, the then head of security for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Chris Eaton, brokered a deal between FIFA and Interpol for the largest donation to Interpol from a non-law enforcement entity – 20 million euros. This was to fund a joint initiative between the two organisations to build the first global sport-integrity initiative for the protection of the sport over the next 10 years. The Interpol Integrity in Sport unit has a programme that is focused on training, education and prevention for players, referees, coaches, administrators, governments and law-enforcement personnel, to alert them to the threats from matchfixing and irregular betting. It is designed to improve individual awareness of the criminal methodologies used, and to provide the basic skills and tools that are required in order to counter infiltration by organised criminal networks. The programme is

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Australian sport has been mired in scandal after a report identified significant integrity concerns in professional sport. The government has taken measures to combat corruption head on Ocean/Corbis


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Australia’s Minister for Sport, Senator Kate Lundy, said in February that she had doubled the investigative resources at the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority in response to the findings of an Australian Crime Commission investigation

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designed to ensure that sporting entities know how to recognise, resist and report any suspicious approaches being made by organised crime or other actors. In 2011, the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) established its own global sport integrity unit (SIU), with a mandate to support all sports and with a core focus on the following efforts: ■■ a confidential intelligence appreciation of the impact of global betting on the integrity of sport internationally, and the institutional vulnerabilities of betting agencies; ■■ an early warning and fraud-investigation arrangement advising on and supporting the integrity of global sport; ■■ training, education and a communication programme for leaders in sport integrity; ■■ developing an integrated legal and regulatory global framework protecting and adjudicating on sport integrity; ■■ a global support system assisting to promote and protect the integrity of children and young persons in sport; and ■■ assessments of the relative sport-integrity capabilities of different states.

provide the right tools for all Australian governments to work with. It was also designed to enhance the relationship between betting companies, and to create a hostile environment to deter corruption in sport. Under the provisions of the Australian legislation, the core definition for match-fixing involves the manipulation of an outcome or contingency by competitors, teams, sports agents, support staff, referees, officials and venue staff. Such conduct includes: ■■ the deliberate fixing of the result of a contest, or of an occurrence within the contest, or of a point spread; ■■ deliberate underperformance; ■■ withdrawal (tanking); ■■ an official’s deliberate misapplication of the rules of the contest; ■■ interference with the play or playing surfaces by venue staff; and ■■ abuse of insider information to support a bet placed by any of the above, or placed by a gambler who has recruited such people to manipulate an outcome or contingency. The Australian policy is also underpinned by the following agreed principles: ■■ a nationally consistent approach to deterring and dealing with match-fixing in Australia; ■■ information-sharing and highly efficient networks between governments, major sports, betting operators and law enforcers; ■■ consistent national code-of-conduct principles for sport; and ■■ active participation in international efforts to combat corruption in sport, including an international code of conduct and an international body.

The ICSS SIU, the Global Sport Integrity Initiative, will complement and support all international sporting codes, and is currently entering key relationships with other SIUs.

The Australian experience

Press Association

In June 2010, all Australian state and territory sport ministers agreed to the unification of State and Commonwealth laws to combat match-fixing and corruption, and to protect the integrity of Australian sport. The legislation, which was championed by the former Commonwealth minister for sport, Mark Arbib, envisaged that the national Policy on Match-Fixing in Sport would

President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, shakes hands with Australia’s former federal sports minister, Senator Mark Arbib, before the first meeting on combating illegal sports betting in March 2011

The Australian legislation is unique, and with the introduction of custodial sentencing penalties of up to 10 years applying to match-fixing and corruption in sport, it sends a clear and strong message to organised crime and other actors who may attempt to interfere with Australian sport. With a strong mandate to share information and intelligence, and enhance relationships with entities involved in the protection of sport internally, it positions Australia globally as a strong advocate for confronting matchfixing and betting fraud. The establishment of the Australian National Integrity of Sport Unit (NISU) is the key support mechanism to lead this process. In 2008, the Australian Football League (AFL) established the first specific sport integrity services unit to protect AFL and its players. Integrity Services has had a critical role in protecting major sport in Australia. It has established aggressive tools and services with which to govern the sport, and has been involved in the investigation of a range of incidents involving illicit drugs, salary cap, player draft and tanking (playing to loose). The unit also has a high-level information-management


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Press Association

Andrew Demetriou (third left), CEO of the Australian Football League, speaks during a press conference following a drugs summit at AFL House in January 2013, which granted involved and interested parties the opportunity to discuss, review and enhance the AFL’s illicit drug policies

capability, and has built a solid relationship with law enforcement, the betting industry and international stakeholders in the sport-integrity environment. The AFL has set an industry standard that can be replicated across other major codes in Australia and overseas. It is currently addressing the threat of illicit drug use in sport, which, when undertaken by players, can cause harm to both them and the game, from both a health and organised-crime perspective. The AFL held a drug summit in Melbourne in January 2013, which included the AFL executive, players’ unions, law enforcement and industry experts, to discuss the issues at hand and look to review and enhance its current illicit drug policies. There are a number of other sporting codes in Australia currently scoping the need to establish their own integrity capabilities and/or to join resources with other existing networks in order to protect their sport.

As they stand currently, SIUs are part of the specific sporting code and have a solid understanding of the internal and external threats to their sport. They are designed to protect the organisation and players alike, and to protect the brand and sponsorship. Integrity in sport is now a central concern for any sporting organisation, and is treated with the highest priority in most instances.

Broadening the reach of SIUs This embedded capability is an internal mechanism to ensure that breaches of integrity in the first instances can be identified before they became a larger issue outside of the organisation – including criminal breaches. As the understanding of match-fixing and corruption in sport becomes more widespread, SIUs are actively reaching out internationally in order to

As the understanding of match-fixing and corruption in sport becomes more widespread, SIUs are actively reaching out to learn and share experience, information and intelligence 92


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learn and share their own experiences, information and intelligence with other SIUs and other international organisations on the issue. The need for SIUs to establish strong relationships with the broader law-enforcement community is paramount in tackling sport corruption. It is essential to build trust between the SIU and police, crime commissions and anti-corruption bodies, all of whom may come across issues concerning the integrity of sport – at times by accident from their general state and national investigations.

An integrated approach In some instances, law enforcement cannot secure all the relevant information to assist with the completion of a sport-related investigation. There is a significant need for the SIU and police authorities to establish and build mutual, long-lasting trust in this area to enhance a joint approach to combating match-fixing and corruption in sport. Sport has unique, and at times complex or unusual, aspects not known to law enforcement, so this exchange between parties will complement the investigative process. The establishment of SIUs across many other sports will increase, as the phenomenon of sport manipulation continues to grow. It is a soft crime, and in some jurisdictions internationally it is not a declared crime.

Transnational crime is extremely complex in nature and is expensive to investigate. There will be an increasing requirement for individual sporting organisations to establish their own sport-integrity capability as part of their due diligence and prevention, education and training programmes. It is likely that even though central sport-code specific SIUs, such as the AFLs, will remain, the need for a more centralised approach from a national and international perspective will grow. The general approach for a global sport-integrity body, with secretariat responsibilities to record, monitor and report with investigative support functions, will evolve, probably independently financed by the global sport community, to monitor sport-related crime. The response to global match-fixing and corruption in sport must be nimbler than the organised-crime adversary, which can change shape rapidly and is wellfunded. SIUs are one vehicle that can be used to help the international sporting community, law enforcement and governments unite to have an effective chance at disrupting and dismantling this priority crime type. Fred Lord is Manager of sport-integrity operations at the ICSS, and a former Anti-Corruption Officer at Interpol


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Legacy

During preparations for the FIFA 2010 World Cup and Confederations Cup in South Africa, a specialised police unit simulated a plane hijacking. Enhanced security procedures can be a positive legacy of sport events

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Six security legacies of major sporting events Richard Giulianotti sets out a framework of six security legacies that should be considered by host countries and cities when planning bids that will inevitably entail billions of pounds of spending on security services and infrastructure

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s the political calculus underlying decisions to host sport mega events has shifted over the past two decades (see Dr Jonathan Grix’s article, page 22), there has been a growing focus, particularly among developed capitalist states, on the various social impacts and legacies resulting from major sport events. Usually, the range of legacies that are recognised by host cities and nations include the economic, such as increased spending and employment; the environmental, such as the carbon footprint of hosting the event; health, such as promoting physical activity among citizens; and the social impacts, such as increased national identification and pride.

Now, host cities and nations need to extend this range of legacies in order to consider the security impact of sport events. Security legacies include the full range of security-related strategies, practices and effects that continue to have significance beyond the life of the sporting event. These legacies may include top-down aspects, such as risk-management policies; bottom-up aspects, for example new policing techniques; and more generalised effects, such as in regard to employment or technological innovations. There are two main reasons why hosts need to factor analysis of security legacies into their plans. Firstly, many of the security aspects of sport events outlive the event per se, and have a substantial longer-

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term impact. Secondly, the significance of security for sport events has grown exponentially in recent years, particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. This is reflected in the security budgets. Prior to 9/11, the security expenditure for the 2000 Sydney Olympics was $180 million, while at London 2012 it reached an estimated $1.9 billion1. Such enormous expenditure is in itself worthy of close examination, as it will inevitably have long-term economic and social consequences, but it also suggests the security legacy resulting from such spending should be more closely studied, as it will impact on the security status of the city or country. There are six key security legacies deriving from sport mega events. These relate to new technologies; strategic partnerships; knowledge and expertise; economic factors; legislation and policing practices; and public effects. The six security legacies are presented in Figure 1, below.

systems. Although they were evident in stadiums at least as far back as the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, the most influential use of CCTV systems occurred from the late 1980s onwards, through their installation inside and outside every major UK football ground. This was in a bid to monitor and prevent spectator-related violence. In turn, the perceived success of these systems at football encouraged most major UK cities to install CCTV cameras in city centres, while also helping to catalyse a vast private market in CCTV systems for homes and businesses3. One recent estimate is that there are now around 1.85 million CCTV cameras in the UK – one for every 32 UK citizens – with the potential for this figure to double within four years. It is highly unlikely that such a vast proliferation of CCTV cameras and systems would be in place in the UK without the initial contribution from sport.

Figure 1: Security legacies at sport events

New technology Public impacts

Partnership SECURITY LEGACIES

Laws and policing

Expertise Economy

Sport events all have their own unique features, and so the legacies for each event will vary according to context, particularly between the global North and the global South. In this discussion, I consider the security legacies associated with a variety of major events – notably the football World Cup finals in Germany (2006) and South Africa (2010), the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) and London (2012), the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver (2010), and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi (2010). The discussion that follows builds substantially upon the initial concept of security legacy at sport megaevents, which I advanced in a co-authored paper with Francisco Klauser, published in 20102.

New technologies One of the most striking legacies of sport events relates to the use of new security and surveillance technologies, which then remain in place after the event, or which are in effect piloted at sport events before being installed in other public contexts. Perhaps the most substantial illustration of this process relates to the use of CCTV

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Security legacies in technology have arisen at sport events in other national contexts. In the global South, the use of CCTV systems is less evident in public places, hence sport events may lead host cities to install these cameras. For example, for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, a reported 2,000 CCTV cameras were installed in the city in the build-up to the event. In the global North, further advanced surveillance technology is introduced through sport events. In Germany, the first national use of CCTV cameras with facial-recognition software occurred at the 2006 World Cup finals. These surveillance systems enable the images of individuals being filmed to be checked against photos that are already stored on ‘hooligan databases’. Some cities, such as Stuttgart and Munich, also installed hundreds of new public CCTV systems in the build-up to the tournament, such as in transportation systems and major public locations. Other new security technologies included the use of radiofrequency identification (RFID) chips, bar codes and holographic images for match tickets. RFID chips provide substantial personal information on the ticket purchaser,

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The security expenditure for London 2012 has been estimated at $1.9 billion

such as name, address, date of birth, nationality and passport or other ID numbers4. In theory, security personnel are also able to check ticket information with the spectator’s photographic ID or passport, although, with thousands of fans pressing to get entry, the actual implementation of this form of screening may be difficult.

Strategic partnerships Sport events may have lasting legacies in terms of establishing new links between security providers at local, national and international levels. These partnerships may involve, for example, different local, regional or national police forces, the intelligence services, the national military forces and international police units. The security build-up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games lasted seven years, and was managed by the specially created Integrated Security Unit (V2010 ISU). The unit’s integrated security model brought together a plethora of security partners, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Department of National Defence, Vancouver and West Vancouver Police Departments, and other key stakeholders, including transportation authorities, conservation services, and other Canadian police authorities. One key legacy is that such a security unit may be introduced again in future, when the next major international public event is staged in British Columbia or in another state in Canada – such as the G20 summit in Toronto that took place later in 2010. Security at the London 2012 Olympics featured similar security partnerships, but also demonstrated that effective

adjustments may be made in the links between police officers, army personnel, and private-security employees. Around 12,500 police officers were on Olympic-focused duty, drawn from forces from across the UK; outside the Olympic stadium in London, it was routine to find patrolling officers from all over England, Wales and Scotland. At an everyday level, further security was provided by the UK Border Agency, which screened those entering the UK for the Olympics, while security personnel worked alongside Olympic volunteers and transport officials to deliver all Olympic-related travellers to and from event venues. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, UK intelligence services such as MI5 and MI6 were also mobilised in full. Just as the Games began, it became clear that the major private-security company, G4S, would fail to provide around half of its contracted 10,000 trained personnel. However, the shortfall was met in part by other security companies, but mainly by the armed forces, whose initial planned contribution of 5,000 security personnel was rapidly trebled to around 18,000. Thus, two of the security legacies here were to establish a network of partnerships that might be reactivated for future events, and also demonstrate the resilience of those partnerships in delivering security, particularly when roles needed to be significantly changed at short notice. Finally, the scale and importance of international security links and liaison should not be underestimated. For example, prior to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the minister of police consulted with more than 30 different nations in order to plan policing arrangements for the


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tournament. In addition, Interpol had a liaison team in South Africa during the tournament, providing the South African security services with controlled access to its various databases. Overall, this was an entirely new level of partnership working for South African security services at international level, and would provide a clear basis for such cooperation for future hallmark events.

Knowledge and expertise The successful hosting and securing of the sport event can advance knowledge and expertise in the security field in a variety of ways. One broad legacy is to demonstrate the security resilience of the host city or nation; that is, when faced with an exceptional security challenge, the relevant stakeholders have the expertise and knowledge to respond successfully. A robust security track record also places the host city or nation in a stronger position when bidding to stage future events. The successful hosting of sport events can strengthen the highly marketable skills and expertise of those engaged in delivering security substantially. The hosting of major sport events involves a significant degree of knowledge transfer, in security and other fields. Key personnel in charge of event security will be in demand to lead or to advise on security provisions for major organisations, or for other events that are staged elsewhere. At the everyday level, the training undertaken by security staff prior to the event should provide them with a set of skills that improve their employment prospects and that help to professionalise the provision of security in other fields in which they might work.

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The other side of this legacy is that any agency that fails to deliver security in a successful way will come to be associated with a lack of expertise and professionalism. At the London 2012 Olympics, the failure of G4S to deliver its contracted security personnel produced a welter of bad publicity – including strong criticism from UK politicians – and left the company in a far weaker position when bidding for future public or private contracts.

Economic aspects The security of sport events will have significant economic effects and legacies. Earlier in this article, I noted that there has been a large growth in the security budgets for events, and where this is spent at local and national levels, such expenditure must be seen as having a substantial economic impact, particularly in contexts affected by the global economic downturn. The security legacies in this sense might include sustaining or expanding local or national security businesses, and boosting security-related employment. For example, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics featured 5,000 private-security personnel, while a further 10,500 police and military personnel were budgeted to provide security. Even at the most everyday level, expenditure such as this will have had direct financial effects for all of these employees and, in turn, for all goods and services that these individuals might purchase. The successful staging of sport events enables the host officials, cities and nations to market their expertise and experience to future event hosts. Security represents one of many fields of such expertise, which can have

Legacy

A robust security track record places the host city or nation in a stronger position when bidding to stage future events

direct economic benefits for the hosts, in regard to advancing trade and industry links through convening sport summits that are attended by international partners. A further economic aspect of such events is in connecting host cities and states to the growing transnational security industry. For example, for the Athens 2004 Olympics, the German electronics corporation Siemens was subcontracted to provide the full security system, known as C4I (Command, Control, Communication, Computer and Integration), which was billed as the world’s most advanced civilsecurity system, and which was intended to be fully operational after the event5. Perhaps the most potent example of such links is provided by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where large slices of the $6.5 billion security budget were spent on buying surveillance technologies and other security support from foreign transnational companies – particularly General Electric, Honeywell, IBM, LG, Panasonic and Siemens, as well as smaller companies such as Segway. The event enabled many of these companies to establish or strengthen their presence in China, where the national security industry was set to grow steadily in value to over $10 billion. These links at Beijing 2008 also placed companies such as GE in pole position to acquire security contracts for future Chinese events, such as the Asian Games and the 2010 World Expo. While the Beijing Olympics was certainly exceptional in terms of the volume and

complexity of security arrangements, there is no doubt that transnational security providers will continue to do substantial trade with future sport-event hosts, particularly in developing and emerging nations.

Legislation and policing The hosting of sport events will often feature new legislation that centres on security, and will give rise to new policing strategies and practices, whose effects may extend well beyond the event. Event-focused legislation may give police and security forces wider powers to restrict individual activities that may have not otherwise been criminalised. In the build-up to the London Olympics, the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act, which was passed by the UK parliament in

The security of sport events will have significant economic impacts and legacies 2006, was understood by some civil liberties groups as potentially empowering event authorities to enter private premises to seize private property, and also restricting freedom of speech on Olympic-related issues. One key issue here, as with most new legislation, related to the ways in which the new laws were to be interpreted and implemented by the police and other security forces. As a consequence, the arising legacy issues in this instance concerned how future events might be secured


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The heavy security presence at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa led to a 60 to 70 per cent drop in reported crime in some urban locations

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through similar policing and legislation, and also how any practices that were criminalised during the event may be penalised in future by the criminal justice system. One potential legacy aspect of sport events involves the additional legal restrictions that are introduced to protect sponsor branding. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), for example, requires Olympic hosts to provide this protection on top of existing legal provisions that safeguard brands and copyright-holders. UK legislation for London 2012 set out a range of provisions to protect the IOC and its Olympic sponsors that would, if breached, result in civil and criminal prosecution. Sometimes, attempts to secure these interests can have results that do not promote positive public relations for the event. At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, more than 1,000 Dutch fans entering one stadium were told to remove their trousers, as their clothing bore the insignia of a beer company (Bavaria) that was not sponsoring the event. At cricket tournaments, similar brand protection is in place. One family at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa was ejected from a stadium after opening a soft drink produced by the main marketrival of a tournament sponsor, according to some reports.

Public effects The hosting of sport events may have significant longterm effects on public understanding of security issues and provisions. Public experience of heightened security may promote acceptance of similar measures when future events are hosted. Event security might help to significantly reduce urban crime, giving many citizens more secure everyday experiences that they might seek to maintain in future. For example, at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, intense security led to a drop in reported crime by 60 to 70 per cent in some urban locations, with subsequent reports indicating that many South Africans were keen to strengthen everyday policing in order to obtain similar results in future. This point leads to a broader legacy issue, regarding the opportunities provided by hosting the event for building new partnerships between security providers and citizens, particularly at local level. It would be fair to say that this opportunity is not always taken, in part because there is relatively little focus on the security legacy of hosting such events. For example, prior to the 2012 football European Championships in Poland and Ukraine, Polish police informed local football fans that they would be adopting a friendly, open and smiling approach towards visiting supporters, with an emphasis on being careful to avoid provoking any flashpoints or negative interaction with visitors. To the disappointment of local fans, rather than building on this new approach, the police stated that they would then revert back to their old, ‘direct’ methods in dealing with football supporters when the next football season started. Such an approach suggests that a potentially productive security legacy for the event might have been missed. It should also be noted that the security experience at sport events is not the same for all social groups. There

is a danger that relations between security forces and some community members, particularly marginalised ones, may be adversely affected. This may be the case, for example, when poor communities are forcibly evicted, as occurred in Delhi; or when particular ethnic or religious groups are prevented from gathering or demonstrating, as occurred in Beijing; or when groups of young local people are prevented from moving freely in areas near to event facilities. In such cases, again, the opportunity to build more positive long-term relationships with these groups as a form of security legacy has not been taken by those responsible for event security.

Hitting the radar It should be evident that the security legacies of sport events must be recognised and taken seriously by all relevant stakeholders. The six main security legacies that I have highlighted relate to factors that have the potential to influence and have an impact on future methods of security used at sport events. Currently, security legacies fly under the radar of most evaluations that are conducted on the impact of sport events. However, like other legacies, it is possible to measure and track security impacts after the event – for example, by using methods such as surveys, interviews, and fieldwork, as well as through modelling techniques for examining economic and social behaviour. In turn, putting security legacies on the ‘legacy list’ for events would also facilitate the empowerment of event stakeholders, including civic and national publics, to look carefully at the effectiveness of security impositions, their potential weaknesses and negative impacts, and their value for money. This would also enable stakeholders to explore security legacies that may have been missed, or that should be capitalised on more fully than might otherwise be the case. Professor Richard Giulianotti is Professor of sociology at Loughborough University References 1

Armstrong, G. and Giulianotti, R. From Another Angle: police

surveillance and football supporters, in Norris, C., Armstrong G. and Moran, J. (eds) Surveillance, CCTV & Social Control, GowerAshgate, Aldershot, 1998, pp113-135 2

Giulianotti, R. and Klauser F K. Sport Mega-Events, Security and

Risk Management: Towards an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda in Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 2010, volume 34, no 1, pp49-61 3

Houlihan, B. and Giulianotti, R. Politics and the London 2012

Olympics: The (In)Security Games in International Affairs, 2012, volume 88, no 3, pp791-717 4

Klauser, F K. Spatial Articulations of Surveillance at the FIFA

World Cup 2006 in Germany in Aas, FK., Oppen, G H. and Lomell, M H. (eds) Technologies of Insecurity, Routeledge, London, 2008, pp61-80 5

Samatas, M. Surveillances in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008: A

Comparison of the Olympic Surveillance Modalities and Legacies in Two Different Olympic Host Regimes in Urban Studies, 2011, volume 48, pp3347-3366


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Interview

HE Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee The Qatar Olympic Committee and the ICSS launched the Save the Dream initiative in 2012, aiming to protect the core values of sport and raise awareness of the consequences of sport-result manipulation

Why is Save the Dream so important for Qatar, and what are you trying to accomplish? Save the Dream is a new initiative of the Qatari Olympic Committee (QOC) jointly with the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS). It is addressed at schools and young sportspersons. What we are trying to do is to protect the belief in fundamental sporting values within global youth. The growing number of cases of sportresults manipulation is affecting not only sport in terms of business and its basic rules, but can seriously undermine young people’s trust in sporting bodies and their passion for sport. Such a phenomenon could therefore strongly endanger the power of sport as a unique instrument for human development. We have to fight that. What can the QOC and the ICSS do that schools cannot? The initiative will see the establishment of a panel composed of well-known active and retired athletes from various sports and regions of the world, as well as a multidisciplinary team composed of experts in education, media and communication, sport management and sport

We will all be happy to see sport experiencing fewer cases of fraud integrity to support them. This is something that most schools cannot do by themselves. Education systems will play a vital role in the process at an early age, but it will extend to the family, schools, universities and the work environment: the effort will be made at all levels where it is possible to change mentalities and attitudes for all communities. How will Save the Dream initiatives be rolled out in practice? We intend to educate children and everyone living in Qatar about Save the Dream through local sport programmes, such as the Schools Olympic Programmes that has been going for six years now, in addition to other Sport for All

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events that are held annually. The same concept will be applied to other countries through local community sport programmes to make people aware of the Save the Dream project, and to involve more sportsmen and sportswomen who are local role models to protect sport integrity. Is the focus on promoting positive values or on awareness of illicit behaviour? We must defend and promote positive values. But the phenomenon of match-fixing and doping is so complex and threatening that it has to be dealt with from every possible angle. Education is important; public awareness campaigns in various environments are also necessary. Our youth and our people in general should be aware of the high risks of all illegal behaviours and ways of cheating. Role models among well-known athletes who managed to achieve success within the frame of fair play and respect for others have a very important role to play. Alessandro del Piero is leading the team of sportspeople, and football is the most popular sport in the world, but which other sport sectors do you have in mind? Basketball, handball, cycling and volleyball come to mind, but we will be involved with any sport that will reach the youth population of the world, and any sport that has champions that people look up to as role models. There will be no limit. In three years’ time, what would you like to have accomplished? Worldwide recognition of what Save the Dream is truly all about; to have people from every country aware of what this project represents; and to have people from all countries involved in the project, to support and unite in our cause of promoting fair play and protecting the integrity of sport. Ultimately, what will success look like? We will all be happy to see sport experiencing fewer cases of fraud, doping, cheating, money laundering, match-fixing and so on. This would mean that we would have achieved some success, and that our efforts were not worthless. This will also motivate more young people to take up sport, knowing that if they have a chance to be among the best, they will not see their chances ruined by cheats and unfair practices.

Looking ahead….

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cultura/Corbis

Vol 1 | No 2

In recent months, the world of sport has been shaken to the core by the revelations of match-fixing in Europe; the Lance Armstrong scandal; sport in Australia being plunged into crisis; and the role of Asian criminal syndicates in match-fixing and illegal gambling. The increasing and pervasive subversion of sporting events – whether at local, national or international fixture levels – threatens to undermine its integrity, and threatens the bedrock of passion and support from the spectators and fans. As soon as the followers of sport feel that they can no longer trust in an outcome that is based on the pure merits, skills and the impartial adjudication and judgement of referees and officials, sport – and with it a global industry worth billions of dollars – will implode, with far-reaching social, economic and political consequences. In the forthcoming edition of the ICSS Journal, we explore the issue of the subversion of sport and the role of organised crime in undermining the integrity of sport. This will consider a range of interventionist initiatives by law enforcement agencies, governments and sports federations. The issue will also consider the influence of intelligence and information sharing, as well as the merits of establishing a database of dangerous and disruptive individuals (DDI) that can be universally accessed by law enforcement agents and sports security integrity practitioners in the fight to prevent and mitigate not only corruption, but unethical behaviours across all major sports.