Control Risks in Stadiums: Preparing for the Worst Case Scenario

The recent Indonesian football stadium crush of 125 people has shocked sports fans the world over but has also highlighted the significance of stadium security management at a time at a time when all eyes will be on the 2022 World Cup.

Douglas Cochrane, Associate Director Security Design Consultant for Control Risks’ Sports Practice team asks what stadium security measures should be in place to stop incidents like the one in Indonesia from occurring and provides his step by step guidance to help improve the safety and security measures within sport stadiums.

On 1^st October 2022, 135 people were killed at the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster in Indonesia; another 583 were injured. This is the second deadliest in the history of football worldwide, trailing only the 1964 Estadio Nacional disaster in Peru which killed 328. While there were many failings that day, the use of tear gas in direct contradiction of FIFA guidelines was a significant contributing factor. The stadium was also poorly designed, with insufficient exit capacity and exits locked shut. The resulting panic caused crowd crushes and asphyxiation. Sadly, the events in Seoul on 29^th October 2022, resulting in 156 crowd crush-related deaths, again highlighted the extreme risk of poorly managed crowds in close urban environments.

Fortunately, in the UK, the approach and guidance to sporting events and stadium design is more mature with stadium safety and security mandated by law (Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975, Safety of Sports Grounds (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, Fire Safety and Safety of Places of Sport Art 1987). There’s also a significant amount of detailed guidance available (The Green Guide, 6^th Edition 2018 and the British Standard BS EN 13200-1:2019 Spectator facilities series) to brief stadium owners and operators on the intricacies of safe and secure venue operation.

Even with well-designed and operationally sound stadiums, safety concerns remain an ever-present issue. At the Euro 2020 Final on 11^th July 2021, approximately 2,000 ticketless fans caused widespread chaos having entered the stadium by breaching entry points and emergency fire doors. While there were no fatalities that day, there were a significant number of near misses as explained in The Baroness Casey Review.

The key to safe and secure sporting events is a combination of risk management, planning, stadium design and operations. The key principles can be summarised as:

1. Calculating safe capacity. Overcapacity in stadiums is a significant risk and has led to many disasters over the years. FIFA therefore recommends a five-step process to calculating safe capacity. Holding Capacity, Entry Capacity, Exit Capacity, Emergency Evacuation Capacity, the lowest of which equals the maximum safe capacity of the stadium.
2. Management responsibility. Stadium ground management (usually the owner), sports ground management company or lessee should take full responsibility for the safety of all persons inside a stadium. The management must demonstrate an awareness of safety and security and promote a safety culture from the very top. Conducting regular risk assessments is a key management responsibility. This should not be seen as a burden but as a practical and achievable mitigation strategy to ensure risk is kept to an acceptable level.
3. Operational security. If a sporting event requires police presence, ensuring lines of responsibility between stadium management, employed stewards and the police is vital to good operational security. The police should be consulted well in advance of any event and a ‘Statement of Intent’ written to record lines responsibilities.
4. Crowd disorder and anti-social behaviour plan. All stadiums, in consultation with the police and in unison with the stadium-specific risk assessment should have a ‘Crowd Disorder and Anti-social Behaviour Plan’. This should identify crowd disorder scenarios and their management responses.
5. Event management plan. Each event should have a detailed Event Management Plan detailing all operational aspects of the event including: ticketing strategies, stewarding plan, medical plan, fire safety plan etc.
6. Stadium design. Stadium design needs to consider many factors. Of paramount importance is designing stadiums to avoid crowd crushes. Amongst many other things good design incorporates passageways of sufficient width, doors opening in the correct direction and with the correct hardware; careful consideration and mitigation of trips, slips and falling hazards.

The risk assessment is vital for safety and security and must be conducted for all events. The risk assessment should document the following and should be conducted by suitably qualified individuals:

1. Identify risks to which all people at the stadium or around the stadium may be exposed to.
2. Evaluate the risks and the mitigation measures and decide whether the residual risks are acceptable or not. If not, review what additional controls are required to make the risks tolerable.
3. Record the findings and implement the mitigation plans.
4. Continually assess and review the control measures for adequacy and effectiveness. Dynamically adapt as required.
5. The ultimate risk owner should sign off and take ownership of all risks.

As part of pre-event planning, contingency plans should also be developed to identify specific circumstances that might affect public safety or disrupt normal operations. As explained in the ‘Green Guide,’ contingency plans should cover:

1. Management, safety officers, deputies and relevant stewards should have a full working knowledge of all contingency plans.
2. All other staff, including those with no safety responsibilities, should be aware of the procedures within the contingency plans.
3. Contingency plans should be coordinated with local emergency services.
4. Plans should be regularly tested with both desktop and live exercise.
5. Regular review and update of plans following any incidents with a log created of all incidents.
6. Following each review, the plans should be presented to senior management for review and approval.
7. Temporary sports grounds and irregular events should test their plans prior to each event.
8. Contingency planning should include procedures for dealing with disruptive incidents that may affect business continuity.

In conclusion, stadium safety and security rely not only on safe and secure stadium design but also continual operational planning and risk assessment. Stadiums must adapt to changing circumstances and the latest intelligence. All event planning should be carefully coordinated between local authorities and emergency departments.

For detailed further guidance the following are recommended:

• FIFA Football Stadium Guidelines, 2022
• Green Guide, 6^th Edition 2018
• BS EN 13200-1:2019 Spectator facilities. General characteristics for spectator viewing area