Thoughts about the current issues of sports policing

Abstract

The present study investigated the causes of football hooliganism and the preliminaries, the tragic events and stadium disasters of the last few decades, which called the attention of those involved in securing these events to the fact that the existing practices had to be changed and that the creation of new legal norms was necessary. The paper showcases the significant statements in Taylor’s reports, which were adapted in the practice of securing events in Hungary, too. Taylor established that there was not one method for the management of crowd behaviour that could provide complete safety and, instead of focusing on the policing issue, he moved towards an ‘integrated’, ‘holistic’ approach. He realised that it was both impractical and impossible to stop football fans solely by criminal law measures and thought that communication with the clubs and fans, as well as with the media should be developed. All his proposals have now been implemented. Those securing sports events have been trying to ensure order as a basic value of society ever since his ideas were published.