COUNTRY PRESENTATION

Name: Belgium

Population: 11,763.650 inhabitants

Capital: Brussels

Date of accession to the Council of Europe: 1949

State of signature/ratification
Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events, 2016

Date of Signature: 29/11/2016

Date of Ratification: 09/09/2024

Date of entry into force: 01/11/2024

Coordination Arrangements

Presentation of the country's main government and sports institutions

Independent sports safety bodies

  • There is no independent stadium certification body. However, clubs must fulfil several obligations in terms of Safety. Henceforth, the Federal Public Service Home Affairs carries on controls regularly to ensure that stadiums comply with the standards in force regarding:
    • Building standards
    • Ticketing
    • Stewarding
    • CCTV

Main Sports/Sport Activities

Main sports in the country (by number of members)

  • Football
  • Tennis
  • Cycling
  • Gymnastics
  • Hockey

National Olympic Committee

  • The Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (BOIC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC), that represents the Olympic Movement and its values in the country. Like the 205 other NOCs, the BOIC is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

National football authorities

Major Sports Events

Last major sports events organised since 2000 and key elements of their legacy

  • UEFA EURO 2000 was co-organised with the Netherlands; and football law of 1998 as a legacy to tackle negative fan behaviour and ensure safety, security and service in stadiums.
  • 2019 : European Hockey Championship Men and Women (Antwerp)

Future major sports events organised and/or co-organised within the next 5 years

  • 2026 : Men's FIH Hockey World Cup, co-organised with The Netherlands in Wavre (B) and Amstelveen (NL)

The country's main sports competitions

  • Jupiler Pro League (1st division of football)
  • Challenger Pro League (2nd  division of football)
  • Formula 1 Grand Prix  - Spa-Francorchamps
  • Ronde Van Vlanderen (cycling race across Flanders)
  • Athletics Diamond League Memorial Van Damme – Brussels

Supporter Organisations

National supporter organisations or National team supporter organisations

  • Belgian Supporters
  • 1895 Belgian Fan Club (National team fan club)

 

  •  

Legal Framework

National legal framework on sports safety and security, including specific legal provisions on:

List of main laws and regulations

National / local coordination bodies

National:

Local :

  • There is a legal requirement in the football act (art 9) for clubs in football's two highest divisions to hold multi-agency local meetings. In practice, and primarily with regard to the stadium, the main goal is to discuss on safety/security/service issues. This safety and security council is chaired by the football club's head of safety and includes a number of partners such as the SLO, the emergency services and the police, representatives of community projects and any other stakeholders concerned by the subject of the meeting (supporters, local residents, etc.).

Share of safety and security responsibilities (inside/outside of sports venues)

  • Responsibility for safety inside the stadium lies with the appointed safety officer. The police should only intervene when there is a serious threat of disorder and the club isn’t able to manage the problem on its own. Outside the stadium, the local authorities are responsible for maintaining public safety and tranquillity.

Stewarding/ private security

Sports venues safety regulations, licensing, certification and inspection

Sport-related hate speech, racism and other types of discrimination

  • Football Act (Art. 10 § 1 ): The organisers of a national or international football match or a football match involving at least one team from the third national division shall take at least the following measures: to make supporters aware of the ban on acts of racism and xenophobia,

According to Football Act - Art. 23, 23bis § 1 and 2,  It is forbidden: 

  • alone or in a group, to incite in the stadium to hate or wound  against one or more persons.
  • alone or in a group, within the perimeter in connection with of a football match, to incite to hate or wound towards one or more persons.
  • alone or in a group on the territory of the Belgian kingdom, to incite to, hate or wound towards one or more persons in connection with a football match.

Pyrotechnics and other forbidden items

  • According to Art. 23ter of the Football Act, it is forbidden to: introduce, attempt to introduce, be in possession of or use pyrotechnic objects intended to produce light, smoke or noise in the stadium or within its perimeter.
  • use pyrotechnic objects on the territory of the Kingdom in connection with a football match.
  • facilitate the use of the pyrotechnic objects.

The foregoing provisions do not apply to the organiser who uses pyrotechnic objects after receiving the positive opinion of the emergency services and the administrative and police authorities or services.

Football Act (Art. 10 § 1): The organisers of a national or international football match or a football match involving at least one team from the third national division shall take at least the following measures: To make supporters aware of the ban on pyrotechnics; not to encourage the use of pyrotechnics by supporters and to develop and implement concrete actions to discourage the use of pyrotechnic devices.

Customer service and role of supporters and local communities

  • In 2018, the Football Act made it mandatory for clubs in the two highest national divisions to appoint a supporter liaison officer (SLO), defined as the person responsible for ensuring communication between the club, supporters and the administrative authority;
  •  

Social-educational preventative measures / projects

  • Several projects are funded by Royal decree from the Minister of Home affairs. They’re aimed to be preventative and informative towards supporters. Moreover, the Royal Belgian Football Association and the Pro League elaborate preventative, social-educational and informative projects towards supporter (racism, online hate speech).

We can highlight the following projects:

  • of the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) concerning the e-learning and digitalisation of the basic training of football stewards.
  • The Burns Foundation's project, in cooperation with the Football Unit for structural perception, targeted awareness and support for clubs in the approach to pyrotechnic objects in Belgian football. With this project, the Burns Foundation, will focus on raising awareness among clubs and fans of the dangers of pyrotechnic objects in Belgian football. The project targets three priority action points:
    • An in-depth examination and analysis of the problem of pyrotechnic objects in Belgian professional football. The following aspects in particular are presented:
      • Recorded offences involving pyrotechnic objects;
      • The general scale of the incidents;
      • The fraudulent introduction of pyrotechnic objects into the stadium;
      • Victimisation, damage and impact on the match.
    • The development and implementation of a prevention and awareness campaign with two pilot clubs. This will lead to a customised scenario for all football clubs, with targeted prevention and awareness actions concerning pyrotechnic objects.
    • The development and management of a monitoring tool to structurally identify victimisation and the consequences, both physical and material, of the use of pyrotechnic objects.

Alcohol/drug policy

  • The KAA Gent project “Keep the stadium clean” involves regular preventive as well as administrative and judicial actions to keep drugs out of the stadium. This involves  action where fans were checked at the entrance for possession of drugs.

Specific sport-related misbehaviours typified as misdemeanours

  • Assault and battery
  • Rebellion
  • Drug-related offences
  • Indecent assault
  • Possession of prohibited weapons
  • Match-fixing
  • Money laundering

Exclusion policy (banning orders / exit bans)

  • Administrative stadium bans imposed by the Ministry of Home affairs on the basis of administrative procedures for offences on articles 20 to 23quater of the Football Act. Depending on this law, these vary from three months to ten years. It should be noted that an administrative stadium ban may be accompanied by a perimeter ban for the same duration as the stadium ban.

In administrative matters, fines may be imposed in addition to stadium bans. These range from two hundred and fifty euros to five thousand euros. The law also provides for official warnings.

  • Civil stadium bans for failure to comply with the stadium's internal regulations, for which the procedures are initiated by the football clubs and the sanctions imposed by the Royal Belgian Football Association’s national civil exclusion chamber.

In order to better meet the requirements of the Service pillar, efforts should be continued in terms of fan hospitality at football matches. If necessary, related initiatives could be implemented following the ratification of the Saint-Denis Convention by the Belgian Kingdom. In short and medium terms, information and awareness campaigns on the Service pillar aimed at the private and institutional stakeholders could be launched.

  • Judicial stadium bans imposed by the criminal courts for offences committed in connection with football.

Measures taken / envisaged by States to meet the objectives of the Convention

  • In order to better meet the requirements of the Service pillar, efforts should be continued in terms of fan hospitality at football matches. If necessary, related initiatives could be implemented following the ratification of the Saint-Denis Convention by the Belgian Kingdom. In short and medium terms, information and awareness campaigns on the Service pillar aimed at the private and institutional stakeholders could be launched.

 

National Strategies/Policies

Existence of specific safety, security and/or service public policies

The key institutional and private actors involved in football match safety policy are working together to make football accessible and safe for all supporters. Those multi-agency bodies  such as The Pro League, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), the FPS Home Affairs, the police and the professional clubs all share the same message of zero tolerance towards the minority of troublemakers who disrupt the positive course of football matches.

In addition, the football-related violence has an impact on the cost to society (police deployment) and does considerable damage to the image of Belgian football.

Consequently, people who nevertheless persist in believing that a football stadium should be a place where everything should be tolerated for one reason or another can no longer have a place in football stadiums or, in some cases, in the surrounding area.

Existence of a national strategy on safety, security and service

Since the football Act came into force in 1998, the Belgian policy on safety and security at football matches has always pursued the same objective          

  • guarantee and reinforce the safety and security of spectators, both inside and outside stadiums. The regulations relating to safety and security policies concern both:
    • the fight against negative behaviour by supporters, including organised group violence as well as various forms of incivilities and other isolated misbehaviour.

The scope of the Football Act has been gradually extended over the years, so that it can now be applied to misbehaviour by supporters at football matches up to the fifth national division.

    •  
    • checking the conformity of the infrastructure, to protect the physical safety of others, but also with the aim of providing a welcoming environment for the football experience as a whole.
  • compliance with a series of obligations by the organisers of football matches, particularly in terms of stewarding, ticketing (management of safety capacities) and video surveillance.

Regarding the strategic guidelines for police services, the principles set out in the Saint-Denis Convention of intelligence gathering, continuous risk assessment, risk-based deployment, proportionate intervention, dialogue with fans and the gathering of evidence for prosecution are included in the Belgian relevant regulations.

In the context of event management in the field of public order, the general guidelines are set out in the Ministerial Circulars CP4 and OOP41 which also emphasise the principles of dialogue and consultation between all the partners involved, as well as coordination (coordination meetings are recommended, in particular for high-risk events).

The concepts of information management, police risk analysis and multidisciplinary risk analysis are also fully developed in these circulars.

The police approach during the event is focussed on :

  • -     a legitimate action that encourages dialogue and de-escalation;
  • -     a police deployment that is proportionate to the risk and implemented gradually;
  • -     an appropriate supervision of risk groups;
  • -     a well-considered, targeted and, where necessary, limited intervention, in order to limit the damage and any escalation as far as possible.

Police also have to pay particular attention to the burden of proof when offences and misdemeanours are being committed in violation of the Belgian Football Act.

Links to Circulars related to police approach :

Existence of regional/ local strategies on safety, security and service

The Article 5 of the Football Act provides for an integrated approach at local level. Organisers of football matches in the higher divisions are required to conclude an agreement on their obligations with the emergency services, the authorities or the administrative and police services. This is a form of contract setting out in concrete and operational terms the tasks and responsibilities of the signatories to the protocol.

Multi-agency coordination meetings are usually taking place at the local level to prepare events. In addition, several stakeholders are working on an integrated way within the Command Room inside the stadium.

Major Risks and Incidents

Major risks and trends on sport-related violence and disorder

For the season 2024/2025 :

The top five football law offences are listed below in descending order. It should be noted that one official police report may include multiple offences, which explains why the total percentage exceeds 100%.

1. Inciting hatred or wound

These offences inside stadiums were recorded in 40% of the official police reports for the 2024/2025 season.

2. Pyrotechnic material

Pyrotechnic-related offences were reported in 31% of the police reports, placing this category in second position.

3. Throwing or projecting objects

This type of offence accounted for 25% of the official police reports, ranking third.

4. Failure to follow instructions from security personnel

This category represented 20% of the police reports, remaining relatively stable compared to previous observations.

5. Attempt to evade identification

In 13% of the cases, police reports were drawn up for introducing, possessing, or using objects intended to evade identification within the stadium.

Last major incidents which seem relevant and enlightening on the need to adopt an integrated approach to safety, security and service

  • Regular massive, coordinated use of pyrotechnics at the beginning of the match
  • increasing use of balaclavas to commit offences in the stadium
  • Hate speech
  • Limited and permanent interruptions to matches by the projection of pyrotechnic devices onto the pitch.

Graph of the evolution of total incidents over the last 10 years

 

Last updated on May 2026