Recognition of security at Slovnaft arena

The traditional meeting of the KHL clubs and the league regarding the topics of security during the matches was held in KHL headquarters in Moscow, Russia. HC Slovan Bratislava security manager Marek Bednarik was represented the club at the meeting and he provided us with some interesting answers regarding the meeting.

Representatives of all KHL clubs were presented at the seminar. The main themes were to evaluate the safety of the stadiums where KHL matches take place, cooperation of KHL management with the clubs, regulations observance and highlighting of the shortcomings of safety with concrete examples (video demos, photos, specific clubs and their errors of non-compliance with the regulations), introduction of new KHL participants, presentation of their preparation for the season 2012/2013 in the field of security and diversity of legal arrangements to ensure visitors’ safety under the KHL regulations.

HC Slovan as a model

At this seminar of security managers, HC Slovan Bratislava was highlighted as a model for best approach to ensure the safety at stadium tribunes and in the stadium surrounding. That is why Mr. Bednarik was requested before the seminar by security chief KHL Andrej Žuravlev to present the security measures in Slovnaft Arena during KHL matches, camera system in the arena and technical implementation of the biometrical control and photographs which were taken at the turnstiles in the entrances to the arena. HC Slovan Bratislava is the only KHL club utilizing such system and it has brought the club many advantages in the field of fully automated protection and identification of unwanted persons before entering the arena.

Safety and security management of KHL highly evaluated the cooperation with the state security forces, the overall organization of security at the matches, KHL regulations observance. Even in Slovnaft arena there were recorded some minor incidents where the fans in two cases threw objects on the ice rink. KHL was interested in a way how the incidents were resolved and the response of organizing agency. "Based on the camera record we have identified the fans who threw objects on the ice rink (in the first case it was the lighter, in the second case the glove) in less than few minutes and then we were able to transfer these persons to the police force for next processing. Thanks to the turnstile security system, these fans were added to the database of unwanted persons and any future entries are automatically denied," explained Mr. Bednarik.

Activity of the organizers was evaluated as fast and professional.

KHL safety officials pointed on these examples the need to upgrade all the KHL stadiums, with quality camera systems that can identify the fans, which do not respect the safety regulations specified by KHL.

Legislation in Slovak republic about the obligations of organizer of sporting events in the Slovak Republic is governed by Act no. 479/2008 Coll. about the organization of public sports events, sporting events and tourist events and on amendments to certain laws.

This act specifies the obligations of the organizers, but also its authority to ensure order and security at the events. Such legislation does not exist in the Russian Federation or in other countries whose clubs participate in KHL!

In Slovak republic is the safety of the event in the hands of the organizers (it is their legal duty), of course under the supervision and in cooperation with the city or the police forces.

"To sum this up, at this seminar presented efforts of KHL management as well as the Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation to move towards the solution of legislation of the duties, but also the rights of the organizers, as it is set out in our law," summarized Marek Bednarik ." The aim of KHL security is the elimination of any violence on stadiums, racism, hooliganism etc. and the legalization of the Act, which would accurately determine responsibilities, but also the rights of KHL match organizer in the Russian Federation, the exchange of information between clubs regarding potential fans or hooligans and prohibit them accessing to the KHL sporting events."

Fetisov and fan clubs

In media there was also presented information about the proposal of Viaceslav Fetisov to cancel the fan sectors of the clubs, which many times cause the greatest provocation. "Hockey is a game for people. Fan groups are the integral parts of the sport. Our aim and the aim of our fan club Loyal to Slovan is to create a "hellish environment" but in a positive spirit. We condemn any vulgarisms, any violence or racism and any unacceptable fan behavior. Sectors for fan club is always specific in their composition and in the atmosphere, too. "Boiler" is a drive engine of the auditorium and somehow the sixth player in our team. It creates a link between the player and the auditorium. I do not think that the idea to prohibit the sector for the fans is a right solution in terms of the effectiveness of safety. Hooligans can always find the way to the stadium or obtain the tickets. It should be noted that in some KHL stadiums the manifestations of hooliganism are frequent, because football hooligans visit also KHL matches "to encourage" their teams. But we don’t have this problem, "said Mark Bednarik.