Security in stadiums during a match

Verified 11 August 2023 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)

Do you want to know how safety in stadiums is guaranteed during a sporting event?

Here are the measures (collective or individual) put in place to prevent acts of violence.

The collective prohibition measure is a travel ban.

In the event of a risk to public security, the prefect or the interior minister may forbid team fans from going to the stadium to watch a game.

The measure prohibits you from traveling between multiple locations anywhere in France, or to locations defined in the department, to support your team.

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France as a whole

The ban may apply to several towns or departments throughout France.

Your presence at airports, ports or train stations may also be prohibited.

The travel ban throughout France is a measure taken by the Minister of the Interior. It takes the form of a decree.

The ban relates to a specific match with a risk of violence between the groups of supporters involved.

The order sets out the grounds for the prohibition.

Department

The ban on travel within the same department is a measure taken by the prefect (the police prefect, in Paris). It takes the form of a decree.

The ban may concern access to certain areas (downtown, around the stadium) or to the stadium where the match takes place.

The prefect can also supervise the sale of tickets to attend a match and/or impose a means of transport and an itinerary to the stadium.

The ban relates to a specific match with a risk of violence between the groups of supporters involved.

The order sets out the grounds for the prohibition.

FYI  

a supporters' association, whose members have committed repeated offenses in connection with sporting events, may be dissolved by decree of the minister of the interior.

The individual prohibition measure corresponds to a stadium prohibition.

The prefect or judge may forbid you from entering a stadium or from going to its surroundings if you risk disrupting security.

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Administrative prohibition

The stadium administrative ban can be taken against you if you threaten to disturb public order, by any of the following:

  • Your behavior during matches
  • Acts of violence, racism committed during a match
  • Your membership in a group of supporters dissolved or suspended by the prefect for acts of violence and/or racism

You may be administratively banned at the stadium even if you have never been convicted by the court.

The measure is taken by the prefect (the police prefect, in Paris) for a period of . It takes the form of a decree. This is not a punishment in the strict sense, but a preventive measure.

The decree specifies the scope of the ban (level of competition, teams concerned...).

The ban may also require you to respond to police or gendarmerie summonses at games you are not allowed to attend.

Presentations to law enforcement may also be required at certain matches played abroad.

The administrative stadium ban may last 2 years maximum.

If you have already been banned from the stadium within the previous 3 years, the new measure may last up to 3 years.

Judicial Prohibition

The measure is a criminal sanction imposed by a court. It's a additional penalty in addition to a prison term or a fine.

The judicial stadium ban can be taken against you if you have been convicted of one of the following offenses:

  • Violence during a match even outside a stadium
  • Introducing alcoholic beverages or entering a stadium while intoxicated
  • Incitement to hatred (even without racist motives) or violence, wearing racist badges during a match
  • Introduction or use of smoke bombs, carrying a weapon or throwing any object that can be used as a weapon (stick, projectile...) in a stadium
  • Land invasion
  • Participation in a group of supporters dissolved or suspended by the prefect

The court specifies the scope of the prohibition (level of competition, teams involved...).

You must respond to police or gendarmerie summonses at games that are forbidden to you.

Presentations to law enforcement may also be required at certain matches played abroad.

Judicial prohibition of stadium may last 5 years maximum.

FYI  

a supporters' association, whose members have committed repeated offenses in connection with sporting events, may be dissolved by decree of the minister of the interior.

Security screening of spectators at the entrance of a stadium by private security guards is permitted as soon as the audience reaches 300 people.

These controls may take the following forms:

  • Visual inspection of bags spectators (the security guard looks at the contents of the bag without taking out what is in it; he can do a more thorough search with the person's consent)
  • Safety pat down. The agent touches the person through his clothes. This palpation must be done with the spectator's consent and by a person of the same sex.

These controls make it possible in particular to avoid the introduction of alcoholic beverages, projectiles or even fireworks into the stadiums.

Please note

The use of certain pyrotechnic devices (smoke jars, stroboscopes and hand torches) in stadiums not covered by fans may, subject to conditions, be authorized. The request must be addressed by the club and the owner of the stadium concerned to the prefect of department or, in Paris and in the mouths of the Rhône, to the prefect of police. This possibility shall be tested until 2 March 2025.

The organizer of sporting events must put an end to spectator misconduct.

In particular, it must refuse, if opening a temporary beverage outlet, to serve the intoxicated. If you enter the stadium drunk, you may be fined €7,500.

If you are trying to access the stadium by force, you risk a fine of €1500.

If you try to enter the playground, without legitimate reason, during the preparation of the match, its unfolding or the restoration of the field after the match, you risk a fine of €1500.

The organizer must intervene in cases of incitement to racism, xenophobia, hatred or violence. For example, by playing an audio or visual message in the stadium to stop the behaviors.

If you insert, wear, display symbols or insignia in a stadium that incite hatred or discrimination, you risk 1 year in prison and €15,000of fine.

The organizer must also report acts of violence, intimidation and threats to the authorities.

The police or gendarmerie can help organizers fulfill these obligations.

An arbitrator shall have a public service mission. If you threaten him with violence or commit acts of violence against him, you risk up to 3 years in prison and €45,000 of fine.

If acts of violence result in incapacity for work for more than 8 days, you risk up to 5 years in prison and €75,000 of fine.

If acts of violence result in mutilation or permanent disability, you risk up to 15 years in prison and €150,000of fine.

You may also be sentenced to repair damage caused.

Dismissed sportsmen also risk disciplinary sanctions imposed by the federations (which can go as far as the final exclusion).

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