This week, the Bulgarian Parliament revoked the European Convention on Spectator Violence and Misbehaviour at Sports and ratified the new Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events. The new convention contains entirely new and clearer goals, aimed at providing safe and welcoming environment at football matches and other sporting events, not just at controlling violence. It also contains measures to counter a much wider range of risks such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, weaknesses in sports infrastructure and more.

Bulgaria was one of the first to sign this convention in 2016. Now it has become one of the first 11 to ratify it. The ratification bill has been adopted with complete consensus by all political parties represented in parliament, which is something rare for the current National Assembly.

A working group has been set up to prepare a completely new Law on the Protection of Public Order in Conducting Sports Events. The group includes MPs from all parliamentary parties and experts from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Interior. Strong impression makes the fact that the new legislative regulation coincides with the moment when the Ministry of Interior is reporting successes in combating football hooliganism. New legal measures introduced a year ago to counteract this phenomenon, such as sanctioning violators with community service, or a fine of up to EUR 500 for cursing at sport events, etc., have largely contributed to this. Statistics show a nearly two-fold reduction in the use of pyrotechnics at sporting events. The number of compulsory administrative measures imposed has also increased almost two-fold.

At this backdrop, it can be said that the latest efforts aimed at updating the legislation are aimed not so much at changing but at optimizing the safety measures at sporting events and integrating them into a new international legal framework. One of the advantages of ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events is that Bulgaria will not only be an observer, but a direct participant in decision-making in this area, starting in 2020.

Editor: Stoimen Pavlov

English: Alexander Markov