Policing Soccer
January 25, 2008
Platini said on Thursday, Jan. 24, that the creation of what he called a "European Sports Police" would help curb hooligans on both a continental level and a national level and work in conjunction with the legal authorities.
He also said it could help deal with issues such as money laundering and ground closures due to hooliganism and proposed discussing the idea with French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie before France takes over the rotating EU presidency on July 1.
Ahead of this summer's European soccer championships in Austria and Switzerland, Platini's main priority is to police known hooligans from different countries at the continental level.
EU-wide standards
Police cooperation between the different countries in fact already exists.
In November 2007, the European Commission agreed to part finance a project that would see a specialized police force trained specifically to combat soccer-related violence.
"There is already quite close cooperation between the different police authorities from each country, and that is going to improve as the Euro 2008 approaches," European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said.
An initial 10 million euros ($14.6 million) was set aside from the EU budget next year for the training plan, he said.
Frattini also presented plans being worked on by EU experts to set up common Europe-wide standards on safety and security for sporting events. The measures include travel bans on blacklisted hooligans, joint EU police teams working at stadiums, coaching fans to prevent violence and new financial aid from the EU for training police.
Powerful catalyst
Speaking at the Council of Europe's winter parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on Thursday, Platini expressed fears that soccer's core social and cultural values were being eroded.
"European sport has always been a powerful catalyst for social and cultural integration," he said. But he fears that negative influences have infiltrated the world of soccer.
"Society has passed other scourges on to the world of sport: money-laundering, match-fixing, illegal betting, racism and xenophobia, doping, child trafficking," he lamented.