2024-04-12 09:32:49
After the series of excesses during the eternal derby, a new Law on safety and security during sports events will be on the agenda in the parliament. GERB MPs Krasen Kralev and Manoil Manev submitted the draft law, stating in their reasons that the current, more general Law for the Protection of Public Order does not make progress in the fight against anti-social behavior and frequent incidents are observed during football matches.
Kralev and Manev emphasize that the project foresees clearer obligations for the hosts of sports events, a coordination commission with the participation of four ministries and the State Customs Service, as well as stricter penalties.
“Despite the current legal regulation through the Law on the Preservation of Public Order in the Conduct of Sports Events and the numerous by-laws (regulations, regulations, instructions) in the field of safeguarding the security of sports facilities, for the preservation of public order during sports events and other no great progress and results can be reported in the fight against anti-social events within the meaning of the Law. effective from 01.02.2020. The Convention considers public bodies and independent sports organizations as parties that must prevent and control violence and bad behavior of spectators at sports events,” the reasons state.
The creation of a National Coordination Commission, led by the Minister of the Interior, is also foreseen. Its task will be to develop a National Coordination Plan for implementing an integrated approach to safety, security and service before, during and after the sports events. The National Coordination Commission will enable all parties involved to work together at a strategic level to define and refine a range of stadium safety measures, including national policies on matters such as pyrotechnics, entry checks and controls, counter-terrorism measures , as well as threats related to organized crime (for example, related to counterfeit tickets and the sale of such tickets).
It is also planned to issue an Ordinance, which will clearly regulate the requirements for standards regarding the physical infrastructure, technical equipment and facilities of the sports facilities, as well as for the training and functions of the safety and security personnel during the sports events. A particularly important part of this chapter is the introduction of the method of assessing the risk of violation of safety and security requirements during the sporting event.
The text on the certification of sports facilities is completely new to the Bulgarian legislation: that is, the granting of permission for the use of the sports facilities for holding sports events. In most European countries, national legislation requires sports facilities to be certified by a relevant authority, but this is not present in Bulgaria. According to the new law, a sports facility will be able to be used for a sports event only if the relevant certificate has been issued.
A new subject “stewards” is also introduced, which can be appointed by the organizer of the sports events or the owner, user or concessionaire of the sports facility, as well as hired by private security companies. They perform functions of implementing the regulations regarding the order of safety and security in the sports facility during sports events.
A legal definition of “anti-social behavior” within the meaning of this law has been developed, where it describes any act that is characterized as an anti-social behavior, and Chapter Six lists all coercive administrative measures that are applied to the identified behaviors.