Sports governing bodies and organising committees remain reluctant to allocate sufficient budget to security, despite the increased threat of terrorist attack and crowd-related security issues, it is claimed.
A poll of delegates to the inaugural International Sports Security Summit revealed that even though security has risen to the top of sports agenda, organisers often have to be pressured into translating their stated concerns over security into allocating cash to instigate leading-edge security programmes. Inadequate budgets were the single most pressing concern for the security specialists, event managers, police and security force officers who attended the London conference. They also listed operational sensitivities between police forces and other security groups, lack of clarity over responsibility for security and the need to improve co-ordination between stakeholders as major issues. Research carried out by SportBusiness Group underscores estimates, which put global spend on sports security at more than $2billion in the last year. While the massive spend on the Olympic Games will have boosted the figure, it remains clear evidence of the increasing importance of security issues within event management, conference organisers say.
What they say
Conference speaker Ben Van Deventer, Director of the South African Police Service who has been responsible for security at events including the Cricket World Cup and Rugby World Cup, said:
“The findings of the poll don’t surprise me. It is often the case that while organisers say they understand the paramount importance of ensuring security at their events, they are not quite so willing to translate their concern into a cash commitment. That is not to suggest that they are in any way lacking in concern or their duty of care. It is simply that the real cost of planning, adopting and instigating leading-edge security solutions can come of something of a surprise and there is often resistance.” Nigel Rushman, managing director of accreditation and event services company Rushmans, which presented the conference agreed: “The security industry is evolving quickly and exciting new technologies such as the use of biometric finger printing and iris scans are now available. These have the potential to revolutionise accreditation and access control, which are the very cornerstones of effective security. But the problem is that as soon as organisers are aware of the cost they trend to back away and specify less advanced systems. While the cost of technology will inevitably come down, the reality is that by the time that happens, terrorists and others who are a security risk are likely to have caught up.”
Terror risk
The two-day International Sports Security Summit attracted 160 delegates from 21 countries to London’s Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. The poll showed that terrorism was seen as the greatest security risk facing sports events, ahead of hooliganism and disturbance caused by the late arrival of spectators. Many delegates highlighted the difficulty of achieving the balancing act between achieving the required high level of security while maintaining the traditional exuberant atmosphere of sports events. The organisers are currently in discussion about venues for the 2005 event.
