Lights and Shadows of the European Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events

The Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events (CETS no. 218/2016), opened for signature on 3 July 2016, entered into force on 1 November 2017. It is too well known how this Convention is an evolution of the previous European Convention on Spectator Violence (ETS no. 120) entered into force in November 1985, whose aims are to prevent and control violence and misbehaviour by spectators, as well as to ensure spectator safety during sports events. The need to update such a Convention arises from the detection of the incapacity of such a regulatory instrument to face the challenges of changes, which occurred in the world in recent decades (among these it is enough to consider the threats of terrorism, as well as the risks of infiltration by organized crime). These changes have strongly affected the organization of sporting events, highlighting the need to go from an approach, focused on the fight against violence, towards an integrated approach, based on the pillars of safety, security and service. Considering the almost total lack of comments by scholars in the Convention, the paper will focus on the key points of the Convention, trying to identify legal issues, which could emerge from an in-depth analysis of the regulatory texts.