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FOOTBALL

Booze ban set for risky football matches

Alcohol will be banned in the stands at “high-risk” football and ice hockey matches in Switzerland starting next season, although VIP sections will be excluded.

Booze ban set for risky football matches
Photo: Amarhgil

The decision was officially made public on Tuesday by the conference of cantonal justice and police department directors.

The new zero-tolerance rules will take effect starting in June 2013 for the first football matches in the Super League, the conference said in a statement.

The action follows an agreement in February by the cantons to ratchet up measures against violence in Swiss sports stadiums, particularly those fueled by booze.

The cantons of Saint Gallen and Appenzell-Inner-Rhoden already have the power to ban the consumption of alcohol at football and hockey games where security is an issue.

Parliaments in Lucerne, Uri, Neuchâtel and Zurich have already passed the needed legislation while other cantons are in the process of doing so.

A system of green, yellow and red warnings will be used to identify matches of low, medium and high security risk with evaluations made as soon as fixtures are available.

For low-risk games, electronic checks of spectators will be made at turnstile entry points to stadiums to ensure that identified “hooligans” are not allowed in.

A Swiss database contains the names of more than 1,000 people who are banned from sports stadiums because of past behaviour.

The conference said access to stadiums of intoxicated supporters will be “systematically refused”.

The police and justice department directors noted that alcohol is a “determining factor” in violence that occurs in sports stadiums, accounting for the overwhelming majority of physical altercations.

The conference defended the continued sale of alcohol in VIP sections even for high-risk matches because this has “never caused a problem”.

It also offers guidelines on transporting fans, requiring special trains or buses for fans of visiting teams in high-risk matches.

Stadiums use fixed video surveillance cameras as a standard security measure but portable cameras will also be used for medium- and high-risk games.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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