Policing football-related violence in the Czech Republic: the football clubs’ quest for profit and security

Abstract

AbstractBased on semi-structured interviews with security managers of the Czech football clubs, we addressed their role in countering football-­related violence as part of the complex ‘counter-hooligan’ apparatus. We explored how their strategies responded to challenges and dilemmas resulting from the specific configuration of this apparatus, dominated by the idea of the football clubs’ primary responsibility for maintaining security and public order inside stadiums. Primarily, this idea was reflected in the police withdrawal from the stadiums and disciplinary penalties imposed on clubs by the football association. However, without a corresponding shift in the public agencies’ approach to controlling and punishing incidents of football-related violence, the clubs were not able to exclude the problematic minority from their stadiums. Consequently, they employed different informal and sometimes controversial practices, including the deployment of ‘private’ riot squads, and expressed support even for indiscriminate and unpopular measures, such as fan card schemes and biometric identification.Keywords: Football-related violencefootball clubspolicingsecurity measuresdisciplinary penaltystewarding AcknowledgmentsThe author would like to thank the interviewees from the football clubs for their time and honesty in answering the questions and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and help in improving the manuscript.Disclosure statementThe author reports there are no competing interests to declare.Personal interviewsSecurity manager 1: Bartys, Robert [security manager of FC Fastav Zlín, owner of a private security company B.D.SAFE, s.r.o.] 2018. Personal interview conducted on March 2, 2018, in Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic.Security manager 2: Černík, Martin [secretary of FC Hradec Králové]. 2019. Personal interview conducted on July 10, 2019, in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.Security manager 3: Jirků, Stanislav [security manager of FC Vysočina Jihlava]. 2018. Personal interview conducted on March 16, 2018, in Jihlava, Czech Republic.Security manager 4: Mück, Miroslav [security manager of FK Dukla Praha]. 2019. Personal interview conducted on July 11, 2019, in Prague, Czech Republic.Security manager 5: Prask, Josef [security manager of AC Sparta Praha]. 2018. Personal interview conducted on February 1, 2018, in Prague, Czech Republic.Security manager 6: Trepeš, Jiří [organisational and operations director of SK Slavia Praha]. 2018. Personal interview conducted on March 21, 2018, in Prague, Czech Republic.Security manager 7: Zapletal, Milan [security and technical manager of SK Sigma Olomouc]. 2018. Personal interview conducted on February 16, 2018, in Olomouc. Czech Republic.Notes1 Throughout the text, we use the adjective ‘counter-hooligan’ as a synonym for ‘countering football-related violence’. As the terms ‘hooliganism’ and ‘hooligan’ are contested (see Frosdick and Marsh Citation2005, 27-29; Pearson Citation2014, 80-82; Tsoukala, Pearson, and Coenen 2016, 3), we always use the term in brackets but do not refrain from using it entirely due to its common usage by researchers and difficult substitutability.2 The quote refers to the typical verbal manifestations of Czech supporters in the inter-war period insulting the referee by shouting that he is either a ‘carrot’ or a ‘fog’, thus ironically implying his bad sight (Pelc Citation2022, 174).3 Since 2017, the updated deal between the football associations and the police has enabled the clubs to arrange with the police for a preventive deployment of their officers inside stadiums or at the stadium entrances based on a prior written agreement of both parties (PČR, FAČR and LFA 2017).4 In the Czech Republic, there are four options for imposing football banning orders – by a court following an intentional criminal offence committed in direct relation to a sports event, by an administrative authority (city) following a misdemeanour, by a football club based on a violation of the stadium visiting rules or by the football association following a misbehaviour of a person who is also a member of the FA.5 In March 2014, the match of Baník Ostrava with Sparta Praha was accompanied by widespread riots in response to the throwing of flares from away fans sector among the spectators. The event became known as the ‘War of Bazaly’ [name of the stadium in Ostrava] and provoked a strong media and political response.Additional informationFundingThis research was supported by Masaryk University under the Specific University Research Grant [MUNI/A/1279/2022].