​​​Presentation of the country's main government and sports institutions: 

• Ministry of Education and Culture
• Ministry of Internal Affairs
• Ministry of Justice

Independent sports safety bodies:

National independent authority competent for sports venues safety licensing and inspection? No

Main sports in the country:

• Football
• Athletics (track and field)
• Gymnastics, Ice hockey
• Floorball
• Basketball
• Volleyball

National Olympic Committee

Main sports federations and leagues:

• Ice hockey
• Football
• Floorball
• Volleyball
• Basketball

National football authorities:

• Football Association of Finland

Relevant good practices in the S4 domain:

Finnish FA, National Police Board and Helsinki Police Department (NFIP) has arranged annual “Safety and Security seminar” already 21 times. All possible third parties are invited to this seminar (clubs, supporters, stadiums, private security, local police, Rescue services etc.) Total amount of participants is close to 200 every year.

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

• UEFA Super cup final 10.8.2022 in Helsinki. Arrangements, planning, preparation and execution of major events is in good level in Finland. In addition, the co-operation with private and public parties is functional
• Ice hockey World championships 13.5.-29.5.2022, Helsinki and Tampere. Legacy is the same as mentioned above with Super Cup. Ice hockey World Championships have taken place in Finland also in 2003, 2012 and 2013
• 2005 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Legacy again the same, but in this even we recognised that the weather can cause major problems in the sports which are organised outdoors. A big thunderstorm interrupted the event when power line went down from the whole stadium
• 2012 EAA European Athletics Championships.
• 2009 UEFA Women’s Football Championships.

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

• Ice hockey World Championships 2023
• Possibly 2025 UEFA Women’s Football Championships, together with other Nordic countries.

The country's main sports competitions

• Ice hockey league “Liiga”
• Football league “Veikkausliiga”
• Basketball league “Korisliiga”
• Volleyball league “Mestaruusliiga”
• Floorbal league “F-liiga”

National supporter organisations or National team supporter organisations:

In football, we have only one official supporter organisation, “SMJK” (Suomen Maajoukkueen Kannattajat, the supporters of the Finnish national team). They represent national team’s supporters in the meetings with FA and authorities.

In basketball, our men’s national team is very popular and their supporters travel in big numbers to away matches. Their name is “Suomen Koripallomaajoukkueen kannattajat” . In the European Championships 2022 there was about 5000 Finnish supporters in Prague, where Finland played their group stage matches.

In addition, our men’s volleyball national team is very popular and their supporter group travels to away matches in big numbers.

All these supporter groups have good reputation internationally when they have been abroad with their teams. SMJK was presented “The best FIFA fan award” in 2022 FIFA Gala.

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

• list of main laws and regulations
  • Criminal Code 39/1889
  • Police Act 872/2011
  • Assembly Act 530/1999
  • Private Security Act 1085/2015
  • Coercive Maesures Act 806/2011
  • Public Order Act 612/2003
  • Rescue Act 379/2011
  • Alcohol Act 1102/2017

• share of safety and security responsibilities (inside/outside of sports venues)
  • Assembly Act 530/1999
  • Private Security Act 1085/2015
  • Public Order Act 612/2003
  • Alcohol Act 1102/2017
• stewarding/ private security
  • Private Security Act 1085/2015
  • Public Order Act 612/2003
• sports venues safety regulations, licensing, certification and inspection
  • Assembly Act 530/1999
  • Rescue Act 379/2011
• sport-related hate speech, racism and other types of discrimination
  • Criminal Code 39/1889
• pyrotechnics and other forbidden items
  • Criminal Code 39/1889
  • Assembly Act 530/1999
  • Public Order Act 612/2003
• customer service and role of supporters and local communities
  • Assembly Act 530/1999
  • Police Act 872/2011
• social-educational preventative measures / projects
  • alcohol/drug policy
    • Alcohol Act 1102/2017
    • Criminal Code 39/1889
  • specific sport-related misbehaviours typified as crimes
    • Criminal Act 39/1889
    • Public Order Act 612/2003
  • specific sport-related misbehaviours typified as misdemeanours
    • Public Order Act 612/2003
  • exclusion policy (banning orders / exit bans)
    • In Finland, we have no direct legislation for banning orders nor exit bans. We have ongoing discussions at the political level should we need special legislation concerning this issue.
  • Measures taken / envisaged by States to meet the objectives of the Convention
    • There were some changes made to Assembly Act and the Police Board of Finland made an order (POL-2022-41425) to meet the objectives of the Convention.

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

These same changes in Assembly Act and the new Police Board order allow us to meet the Convention’s objectives

Existence of a national strategy on safety, security and service

See above

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

See above

Major risks and trends on sport-related violence and disorder

Like all around Europe, young men are coming to football and ice hockey matches and make disturbances. They are not football enthusiasts and just want to make trouble and get in to fights.

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

In February  2020, in the preseason, football team HJK Helsinki arranged a friendly match with Swedish team Hammarby, in Helsinki. It was minus 10 degrees Celsius outdoor and the match was played in the indoor hall far away from the Helsinki city centre. There were about 200 away supporters coming to match but all the service HJK provided for the away supporters was two outhouse toilets. Away supporters had to stand outside the hall almost an hour because the doors were locked. They obviously got very frustrated and almost broke the doors of the hall and finally they left the hall and made disorder there. If HJK had provided better service at the hall there would have not been any kind of problems. Police had to intervene to minimise the damage.

Please provide a graph of the evolution of total incidents over the last 10 years