Cracking down on hooligans

Last year's Lugano-Zurich Lions ice hockey match was one of several sporting events marred by unruly fans Keystone Archive

The Swiss government has decided to set up a national anti-hooligan task force to combat the increasing level of violence at sporting events.

The Swiss Olympic association, in conjunction with the Federal Office for Sport, was due to hammer out details of the new “Commission against Violence at Sporting Events” on Wednesday.

“We had bad experiences both at football and ice hockey matches last year and now we are organising a group to cover all sports in Switzerland,” Heinz Keller, director of the Federal Office for Sport, told swissinfo.

The move follows a series of high-level discussions over the past 12 months among representatives of the government, sports federations and the police, initiated by the Swiss sports minister, Samuel Schmid.

The situation came to a head in April last year after a series of violent confrontations at football and ice hockey stadiums across the country.

Violent clashes

The final straw for the government proved to be the notorious Lugano-Zurich Lions ice hockey play-off final on April 8, when more than 800,000 television viewers saw the winning side pelted with items thrown by Lugano fans. Previous meetings between the two sides had also been marred by violent clashes.

The following day, football fans fought outside Basel’s stadium, leaving five people hospitalised. Last weekend police had to intervene once again after fighting broke out between some 30 Lugano and Young Boys Bern football supporters in Bellinzona.

Schmid demanded an immediate security crackdown, including tougher checks and a ban on alcohol at games. He wanted new measures drafted to combat hooliganism over the long term, and warned that Swiss chances of hosting the 2008 European football championships were being put at risk.

The commission against violence task force, to be headed by the Swiss Olympic association, is being set up to coordinate a national response to stadium violence, and is likely to include members from the association, the ice hockey and football federations and security experts.

The group is expected to consider a series of anti-hooligan measures such as imposing stadium bans on hooligans, banning foreign hooligans from entering Switzerland, training for security personnel and using surveillance cameras inside stadiums.

A team of experts from the Swiss justice ministry and the Federal Office for Sport will be established next month to examine the legal issues surrounding the possible introduction of some of these measures and to establish whether new laws are necessary.

Preventive measures

Keller said the aim was to draw up a series of preventive measures that could be accessed and implemented by the country’s 81 sports federations.

Some clubs have already taken steps to curb the violent excesses of some of their fans. This season, FC Basel became the first Swiss football club to issue special security ID passes to supporters to weed out a hard core of between 100 and 200 persistent troublemakers.

Stewards, private security guards and specialist anti-hooligan police also accompany fans to away matches as part of the club’s “zero tolerance” policy.

FC Basel acted after incurring more than SFr80,000 ($47,000) in fines this season alone for damaging the game’s reputation.

The club’s general manager, Werner Schneeberger, admitted it was time action was taken on a national level.

“All activities that will reduce the violence in the stadium and of course outside the stadiums, in the streets and on trains are welcome. Football’s image will only increase as soon as the violence is reduced,” he said.

Allan Guggenbühl, a psychologist and director of the Institute of Conflict Management in Zurich, believes the root of the problem lies in the shift towards a more multi-cultural and heterogeneous Swiss society.

He said the change had led to some adolescents experiencing feelings of frustration and anger. For them, sports events offered the perfect opportunity for letting off steam.

“What we have now is a phenomenon where groups of adolescents are coming to sports events just to be violent or to fight and this is a new development for our country.”

by Adam Beaumont