UEFA and EU conference

UEFA and EU conference on safety and security scheduled for Vienna

Thursday 8 September sees the tenth joint UEFA-EU Conference on Security take place at the NH hotel in Vienna, Austria.

The annual meeting will be attended by representatives of European police and governmental agencies, security officers of UEFA and national football associations, security officers of the clubs taking part in this season’s UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League group stages, and National Football Information Points (NFIP).

Hosted by UEFA and the pan-European Think Tank of Football Safety and Security Experts, this is the second such meeting of safety and security experts before the beginning of the European football season. The objective is simple – to share best practice and guidelines in relation to safety and security at European football matches, to listen to the opinions of key stakeholders, such as supporters and stadium representative bodies, and to facilitate good contacts between the safety officers of the clubs in order to assist in information exchange.

The full programme begins on Thursday with a welcome from the conference host, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, the Minister of the Interior for Austria. This is followed by keynote speeches from Kenny Scott, UEFA Safety and Security advisor, on the strategies of national associations and clubs, and by David Bohannan, the chair of the pan-European Think Tank of Football Safety and Security Experts, on the EU perspective.

Later in the morning, keynote speeches will be delivered by Daniela Wurbs, Football Supporters Europe, Piara Powar, Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), Ben Veenbrink, UEFA Stadium Construction and Management Panel, and John Beattie, Chair of the European Stadium and Safety Management Association (ESSMA).

After lunch, there will be a round of workshops for all club security officers to meet and exchange information with their counterparts from their respective UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League group matches.

The one-day session will close with speeches from Michael van Praag, UEFA Executive Committee member and chair of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee, Jo Vanhecke, vice-chair of the Council of Europe Standing Committee on Spectator Violence, and finally Frantisek Laurinec, chair of the UEFA Stadium and Security Committee.