The Secretariat of the Saint-Denis Convention took part, last 20 November, in an international workshop on the prevention of sport-related violence, organized by the Basque Government and its Sports School.
The event was opened by members of the Basque Government responsible for security and sports areas. It was attended by officers of the Basque Police (Ertzaintza) – including stadia security coordinators -, safety officers and supporters’ liaison officers from the Spanish Football Liga clubs.
The historic background of this workshop were the violent clashes that occurred between groups of supporters of Spartak Moscow and Athletic Bilbao, before an Europa League match, last February 2018, in Bilbao city centre, where a regional police officer died.
Besides the presentation made by the Saint-Denis Convention Secretariat on the role of the Council of Europe in preventing and tackling sport-related violence, there was also a presentation by the University of the Basque Country on the findings of a sociological research and a set of recommendations on how to prevent sport-related violence in the region.
Bilbao will be one of the twelve hosting cities of UEFA EURO 2020 and the only one in the Iberian Peninsula.
Further information on the event and both Power Point presentations can be found at the Basque Sports School website
