“In recent years, we have faced unprecedented challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which required an immediate review and adaptation of our practices in managing the safety of sporting events. However, it is with deep concern that I observe how the good practices acquired during that critical period are starting to crumble.”
Thus Ferruccio Taroni, national president of Andes, opened the works of the national conference of the National Association of Security Delegates, which took place on 18 and 19 June in Benevento. “It is now essential – continued Taroni – that all parties involved in the event management process, from institutions to local authorities, from the police force to event organizers, collaborate with renewed commitment. We must work together to structure increasingly effective and linear working models, with the final objective of guaranteeing safety in every sporting event. Recently, we have seen a disturbing increase in incidents of stadium violence nationwide. This trend requires us to raise our guard and strengthen our security strategies to effectively respond to the increasingly diverse needs of modern fans. The post-pandemic world we live in Today presents challenges that we cannot ignore.”
The conference, moderated by Corriere dello Sport journalist Fabio Massimo Splendore and sponsored by Coni, FIGC, the Italian Rugby Federation and the four major national football leagues, addressed multiple topics relating to the world of safety in the world of sport in particular. Daniele Gui, former director of Emergency Surgery at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, presented the European Safe Stadium project, while Andrea Bigliardi, from Dallmeier, presented the latest innovations in video surveillance. Matteo Galdelli, from the International Infrastructure and Bid office, instead addressed the topic of national team matches in Lega Pro stadiums, while Luciano Russo, head of the third series delegates commission, opened a question time precisely on the Lega Pro topic.
The speech by lawyer Lina Musumarra, who presented the current regulatory framework for the classification of sports workers in the different sectors, was widely followed. Marco Sansoni, expert in global events, brought to the table his experience at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Novella Cappelletti, director of Paysage, spoke about the Move City Sport project, while the safety of the turf in many stadiums of the world and in the USA was the topic of Francesco Dotto, president of GrAssMed.
On the second day, the speech by Francesco Davalli, member of the Andes technical commission, on the updates concerning the figure of the Event Management Delegate. The new types of access control to sporting events was the topic addressed by Maurizio Viozzi, of Vi.Bi Srl. Francesco Furno focused on two UNI standards which frame particular unregulated professional activities, which concern service operators auxiliaries to safety, and which represent a starting point for having requirements for Event Management Delegates in the future also in non-football activities.
