Legal status of football should be clearer / Reconciling data protection and security at football games: a winning draw

 

In the own-initiative report drafted by Ivo BELET (EPP-ED, BE), the European Parliament supports the sports governing bodies - especially UEFA - in their efforts to improve self-regulation, for the benefit of the entire football sector. Football rules and procedures need to be guided by good governance principles such as transparency, representativeness and accountability.

 

EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering said: "By adopting these reports the European Parliament contributes to combating violence and hooliganism in football and to intensifying the fight against racism and xenophobia in this popular sport. We ask for stricter sanctions against any kind of discriminatory acts and to strengthen the coordination of preventive measures and sanctions concerning hooligans. We must eliminate violence from football and keep it a safe and enjoyable activity for all."

 

The report looks into governance in sport, employment rules, the economic importance of media rights and support for local young talent, underlining the social and cultural role of football and football clubs. The report highlights the need for action to combat crime, corruption, violence, racism and doping.

 

 

The Belet report calls on the European Commission to draw up an "action plan" for European sport in general and football in particular. Parliament wants the Commission to specify under which conditions legitimate and adequate self-regulation is supported.

 

Parliament backs the UEFA club licensing system, which aims to ensure a level playing field for clubs and contribute to their financial stability. MEPs are calling on UEFA to further develop this system in order to guarantee financial transparency and proper management.

 

 

In order to assure that clubs are not penalised if a player is injured during a match for the national team, Parliament wants UEFA and FIFA together with the European clubs and leagues to reach an agreement on a system of collective insurance to be put into place

 

Parliament also support the collective selling of TV-rights, and points out that it is vital for professional football, that the revenues from television rights is distributed in a fair way that ensures solidarity between professional and amateur games. MEPs welcome a public debate on the issues, and ask the Commission to do an investigation into whether this model should be adopted across Europe for both pan-European and domestic competitions.

 

 

The social and democratic role of football is important, and Parliament calls on Member states and football governing bodies to actively promote the role of fans who support the principle of fair play, by supporting the creation of Supporters Trusts which could be involved in the ownership and management of the clubs, and though the appointment of a football ombudsman.

 

 

MEPs also back measures to promote young local talent, such as the UEFA "home-grown players" rule, that requires a minimum of own-educated players per team (four players in the 2006-2007 season, six in 2007-2008), but wants to assure that the home-grown player initiative does not lead to child trafficking.

 

With regard to clubs which are giving contracts to children below 16 years of age, the Parliament insists that immigration law must always be respected in relation to the recruitment of young foreign talent. The EP calls on the football governing bodies and the clubs to engage in the fight against human trafficking by subscribing to a European Charter for Solidarity in football, and to create a solidarity fund to finance prevention programmes in countries most affected by human trafficking.

 

Young players, says the EP, must be given the opportunity for a general education and vocational training, in parallel with their club and training activity, so that they do not entirely depend on the clubs.

 

Action is also needed to prevent the social exclusion of young people who were ultimately not given contracts by clubs.

 

Finally, with regard to racism, the Commission, the Member States and all those involved in professional football are asked to step up the fight against racism and xenophobia, inside and outside stadiums. UEFA and national football associations and leagues should apply disciplinary rules in a firm and co-ordinated manner, without neglecting the financial situations of clubs, say MEPs.

 

A proposal to play the European Hymn and raise the EU flag before finals in the Champions League and in the European Championship was withdrawn before the vote.

 

 

 

Parliament also gave its support for an Austrian initiative to improve police security at football matches. However, security can never be ensured at the expense of data protection rights, warned MEPs. The original decision by the Council in 2002 called for the establishment of national football information points in each Member State, "responsible for co-ordinating and facilitating police information exchange", in connection with international football matches. Members widely agreed to reinforce the role of national information points as the contact point for the exchange of police information in connexion with violence in international football matches but required that any transfer of personal data must be protected by existing privacy laws and can never be used for other purposes.

 

MEPs adopted few non-binding amendments to the current revision of a Council decision from 2002, on which they back the need for national football information points to have access to personal data on particular supporters who pose a risk or high risk to the security of the match. Yet this data should be exchanged "in accordance with the domestic and international laws applicable", among the national football information points and the police.

 

Furthermore, "such data shall be handled exclusively in connection with football matches and may not be used for any other activities", MEPs emphasised. As the rapporteur Giusto CATANIA (GUE/NGL, IT) said in his explanatory statement, "it is essential to prevent abuses in the treatment of law-abiding citizens who, simply because they are football supporters, run the risk of being classified as potential criminals and, at the same time, to avoid a situation where offences committed inside or around football stadiums are treated merely as the product of over-excitement on the part of supporters and thus effectively 'decriminalised'".

 

The revision of the national information points is an initiative proposed by Austria to the Council, which called for greater efficiency through the production and circulation of "regular generic and/or thematic national football disorder assessments." Austria and Switzerland are due to jointly host the UEFA European Championship in 2008.

 

In recent years, football matches - especially those with an international dimension - have attracted an ever growing number of supporters and have, at the same time, developed into a major international entertainment and sporting business. Due to the competitive atmosphere of a match, there have frequently been violent clashes between rival fans or clashes with the police. The exchange of relevant information aims to help national police forces combat such violence and maintain law and order when a football event takes place.