Islj 2009 3-4 - TMC Asser Instituut

ICAS International Council for Arbitration in Sports
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
IF Island Federations
IOC International Olympic Committee
IRA Irish Republican Army
NAOC Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee
NAVU Netherlands Antilles Soccer Union
NF National Federation
NOC National Olympic Committee
NOC/NSF National Olympic Committee / Netherlands Sports
Federation
ODESUR Sports organization of South America
PLO Palestinian Liberation Organization
UN United Nations
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At Last, a Football Law in the
Netherlands?
by Peter T.M. Coenen*
Introduction
For a long time there has been a discussion about football specific legislation
in the Netherlands. It seems like this legislation will finally
enter into force before the end of 2009. The proposed legislation is
currently awaiting approval from the First Chamber of Parliament in
the Netherlands.
The proposed law has come a long way, since its conception as a
law specifically and exclusively designed to deal with the problem of
football hooliganism. The proposed Football Law is now incorporated
into a much broader piece of legislation, designed to deal with a
myriad of different public order offences. The proposed law, as initiated
by the Dutch cabinet, has been passed by the Second Chamber
of Parliament. The Second Chamber however, has added some possibly
controversial amendments. Approval of the proposed Football
Law by the First Chamber of Parliament is anticipated before the end
of 2009.
This paper will provide an in depth look into the proposed Foot -
ball Law in the Netherlands. This paper will look at how the Dutch
legislature attempts to deal with the problem of football hooliganism.
The Netherlands has been able to look at similar legislation in a number
of other countries and has been able to learn from the difficulties
these countries have encountered with this legislation. The Dutch legislature
has come up with a fairly moderate proposed law, which
avoids a lot of the draconian measures present in comparable laws in
other countries. This paper attempts to give an overview of the Dutch
legislation and show how this proposed law fits in the current array of
measures to combat football hooliganism in the Netherlands. First, a
look will be provided at the history of the proposed Football Law.
Secondly, this paper will look at the actual text of the proposed
Football Law. Finally, this paper will look at how the proposed
Football Law could work within the current framework of measures
to deal with football hooliganism in the Netherlands.
Why a Football Law?
“If there would have been a Football Law in the Netherlands, these
hooligans would have never been able to attend this game.” These are
the words of Onno Jacobs, the financial director of Feyenoord
Rotterdam. Feyenoord had just played a game in the UEFA Cup tournament
in the French city of Nancy against the local team, AS Nancy.
Feyenoord had lost the game, and even worse, the fans of the
Rotterdam team had rioted before and during the game. The game
had to be interrupted for half an hour as fights broke out in the stands
and the police had to restrain the hooligans with tear gas. Feyenoord
fans had already fought with the police in the city centre before the
game.
As a result of the behavior of the fans, Feyenoord was thrown out
of the UEFA Cup tournament. In the weeks leading up to the game,
the team had been worried that hooligans might use this game as an
occasion to misbehave. Approximately 3000 Dutch fans came to
Nancy on the day of the game. Feyenoord had sold 1300 tickets to its
fans through its official channels to registered fans of Feyenoord. This
way Feyenoord ensured they were aware of the identity of these fans.
Through this ticketing system, the Rotterdam club hoped to control
the tickets and see that they did not end up in the hands of known
hooligans.
However, this means also that about 1700 fans were present in
Nancy that either did not have a valid ticket for the game or had gotten
their tickets for the game through other channels. Feyenoord,
even before the game, had received strong indications that known
hooligans wanted to travel to Nancy for the game. There had been
problems at a number of international games previously and the club
was put on notice by UEFA that any more problems would result in
a severe penalty. Feyenoord’s board therefore urged the supporters to
behave in Nancy. Unfortunately this plea could not prevent the outbreak
of serious riots at the match against Nancy. In the aftermath of
the riots in Nancy, it became clear that at least a number of the hooligans
present had stadium bans for the stadiums in the Netherlands.
For the board of Feyenoord, and for a lot of other people it was
clear. The time had come for a Football Law. Feyenoord started an
action on its website, collecting signatures of supporters of a Football
Law. Furthermore, the Rotterdam club put a large advertisement in a
national newspaper, asking for a Football Law. The newspaper- ad was
signed by a lot of famous Dutch people, including current Vice Prime
Minister Wouter Bos.
The result of these riots and the ensuing media coverage, as happens
so often in the aftermath of such a serious incident, was that the
subject of a Football Law in the Netherlands came to the top of the
agenda again of policymakers in the Netherlands. Onno Jacobs urged
the political parties in the Netherlands to act. “In a Football Law, a
reporting duty can be implemented. In that case these hooligans
would have never been able to travel to Nancy.” The theory in this
case is that if a hooligan (or a suspected hooligan) who has misbehaved
in the past at football games, has to report at the local police
station at the time of the games of his favorite club or country, that
hooligan cannot be present at those games and therefore cannot cause
any more disorder.
On May 9, 2008, the Dutch cabinet approved the long-awaited
Football Law. The Football Law was then discussed in the Second
Chamber of Parliament. During the discussions in the second Cham -
ber, the Football Law was amended on a couple of important points.
The amended Football Law was passed by the Second Chamber of
* Peter Coenen currently works for the
University of Lucerne School of Law. He
is a member of the Comparative and
Anglo- American Law department. He
received an LLM degree at the George
Washington University in Washington,
DC and both a Bachelor and Masters of
Law from University of Maastricht.
A RT I C L E S
2009/3-4 59