INTERPOL Project Stadia
Channel: INTERPOL
Date: 2015-11-20

Major international sporting events such as the Olympics
and FIFA World Cup tournaments present many security
challenges for the host countries. As well as taking place
in large, complex and dispersed locations, such events
can attract a range of criminal activities such as terrorism,
disorderly or violent crowds, cyberattacks and other
large-scale threats. Host countries and governing bodies,
meanwhile, often constrained in their planning by the
need for the event to run smoothly and efficiently, as any
negative exposure could damage their reputations and
put the event at stake.

With its global network of experts in 190 member countries,
INTERPOL is ideally placed to become a centralized hub for
information on sporting event security including research,
design, planning, coordination and evaluation. 

Established by INTERPOL and funded by Qatar, Project
Stadia aims to create a centre of excellence and good
practice platform to help INTERPOL member countries in
planning and executing physical security and cybersecurity
preparations for major sporting events. The 10-year project
will culminate with the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

By bringing together best practices, successes and lessons
learnt from member countries which have successfully
hosted major international sporting events, the project will
equip future hosts with global expertise they can draw on
to enrich their own security preparations.