Michael Roberts, Programme Manager, INTERPOL Project Stadia
Channel: INTERPOL
Date: 2017-11-01

Securing major sporting events

Major international sporting events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup tournaments present many policing and 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 from disorder and violence to cyberattacks and even terrorism.

Host countries and event owners are faced with the challenge of providing a smooth-running and successful event while keeping event participants and spectators safe and secure.

With its global network of experts, INTERPOL is ideally placed to serve as a centralized hub for research, design, planning, coordination and training to help meet this challenge, within a structure that assures high standards and quality.
Centre of excellence

Established by INTERPOL in 2012 and funded by Qatar, the aim of Project Stadia is to create a Centre of Excellence to help INTERPOL member countries in planning and executing policing and security preparations for major sporting events.

The 10-year project will contribute to policing and security arrangements for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar and will leave a lasting legacy for the world’s law enforcement community.

By bringing together good practices, successes and lessons learnt from member countries which have successfully hosted major international sporting events, the project can help future hosts strengthen their own preparations with the latest knowledge and expertise.
Expert groups

Project Stadia organizes annual expert group meetings on the key themes of legislation, physical security and cybersecurity.

These meetings bring together global experts from law enforcement, event organizing committees, government, the private sector, academia and civil society to explore state-of-the-art research and analysis and develop independent recommendations for planning and executing security arrangements for major international sporting events.
Security observation and debriefing programmes

Every country which hosts a major sporting event wants it to be trouble-free and successful. Every event holds many valuable lessons not only for the host country, but for all those who will host major events in the future.

To capture good practices and lessons learned before, during and after major international sporting events, Project Stadia conducts observation and debriefing programmes with designated security officials from both the public sector and private sector who have direct responsibilities for policing and security operations.
Training

Project Stadia works with recognized academic institutions to identify training needs and develop training curricula, along with an international accreditation programme, for law enforcement in this area. 
Conferences

Drawing on its global network of experts, Project Stadia delivers international conferences which bring together thought leaders in the field of major international sporting event policing and security to share their experiences and enable member countries to learn from their counterparts.

From 7 to 8 November 2017, under the aegis of Project Stadia, Doha will host the 1st Major Event Safety and Security Conference, co-organized by INTERPOL and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy in Qatar.

The agenda for the conference will include a review of the global threat environment and implications for future major events, planning implications for recent and upcoming major event host nations, and event critical infrastructure resilience.

The event will be attended by senior Qatari and INTERPOL officials, as well as senior representatives worldwide from government agencies, law enforcement, international, academic, and key private sector organizations.

For further information regarding the conference and registration details please contact stadia@interpol.int
Partnerships

Project Stadia continues to develop strategic partnerships with key international organizations to help promote security for major international sporting events, assist in the development of good practices and provide assurance of quality and standards to member countries.
Stadia knowledge management system

The learning accrued from the range of activities described above is consolidated and shared among all INTERPOL member countries via a state-of-the-art web-based knowledge management system with two components:

    A comprehensive knowledge repository of good practices in all aspects of sporting event security, which all member countries can contribute to and benefit from;
    An online collaborative platform where experts in the field can share, discuss, analyse and publish information on the evolving aspects of major sporting event security.