Crowd and Safety Management - Essay Example

Crowd and Safety Management Contents Contents Review of the Stadiums 3 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 10 CROWD AND SAFETY MANAGMENT Introduction 'Sports' is a word which is now widely known by each and every individual in this world. This word has increasingly gain popularity among all the classes of this society. There are different kinds of sports in this world these days which are being practiced as forms of entertainment. From the roman era these sports were started being used in different forms and are still practiced to date. From the very beginning of the sports a sense of security and crowd management was necessary and these measures of safety were also carried out in the Roman era. However nowadays with the developing world come new problems which should be addressed. The sports being played today are made as safe as possible for the people. The measures of safety are of such importance that some states are implementing reforms in order to ensure safety and security while these sports are being played. Similarly this article would further provide a report on all the aspects of security and safety in the stadiums. Review of the Stadiums Cricket is one of the sports which are being played widely in the world these days. Due to its increasing popularity, it is necessary that some measures be introduced to ensure security and safety in the stadiums. Lords is one of the grounds which is quite famous for cricket and is based in England. Thomas Lord is known to be the founder of this stadium. This stadium has a huge history and is considered one of the biggest stadiums in the cricketing world. This ground is not only being used for international matches these days but another form of cricket i.e. county is also being played here. The boards which manage this stadium are the board of England & Wales also known as the ECB. Similarly to ensure the status of a ground with such a stature the board has taken some important measures. As the increasing cases of Hooliganism are happening these days the board is very careful in determining the policies for this stadium. The board has maintained strict rules if their policies are not followed by. Safety in the stadium is ensured by not letting any fan to enter the premises of the ground without the ticket. The ticket factor has been playing a major role in the industry of sports and thus the board of cricket is monitoring this issue very closely. Legislations in the United Kingdom have been introduced which do not allow any unauthorized personnel to sell tickets of a sporting event without the consent of the concerned authority. Similarly the cricketing board has carried out steps to ensure that ticket touting does not take place. The board has tried to improve its internal system of selling the tickets so that fans directly contact the concerned authorities and do not go for any other middle person. This makes sure that the people who come in the stadium are known and remove any chance of mishap in the stadium. Similarly the cricketing board also reserves the right to remove any one from the ground of Lords if he/she does not obey the instructions given to them. This removes the threats of hooligans in the stadium. For e.g. if a person is trying to create an irritating environment for others he may be kicked out before any mishap occurs in the stadium. The board does not allow any unauthorized person from entering the area where the cricketers play i.e. the ground where they are playing. The amount of alcohol bought into the stadium is also closely reviewed. All the actions taken by the board members are through the way of setting up check points wherever necessary. These check points are given special instructions by the board members to check every fan which comes into the arena. There are strict rules on the amount of alcohol brought into the ground. There is a certain quantity maintained by the board members for the amount of alcohol brought into the cricket ground. And if any person is found with an amount of alcohol more then specified he would be charged accordingly. The cricketing board has also restricted people to use their mobile phones in certain areas to ensure safety and prevent any hazard to people. The use of cameras inside the stadium is prohibited by the cricketing board too, because of the security concerns. However some people are allowed to take photographs if they have the permission of the Chief Executive of the board. The use of fireworks inside the stadium is also prohibited by the board because some mishaps have already occurred in other stadiums around the world. Like in India a firework let out by a fan created havoc all over the stadium. Thus to avoid any kind of disturbance in the stadium the board has prohibited fans from carrying fireworks in the stadium. The board has strict rules in accordance to the use of cigarettes in the stadium. The crowd is not allowed to smoke inside the premises of the stadium to avoid any accident. Thus this shows that the cricketing board is taking up enough measures to control the crowd and manage the safety structure of the stadium. After the legislations are introduced by the government, the stadium managers are more careful of handling the health issues of the crowd. There have been medical emergencies set up inside the stadium so that if any fan faced by the problem can be treated there and then only. The problems faced by the boards in managing the crowd are unique and so the strategies which would solve these problems should be devised properly by the board members. In the recent years there has been a lot of hype in the government agencies to ensure proper care of the crowd in sporting events. And to make this possible the government has also introduced legislations which is forcing the stadiums to manage the crowd peacefully and stably. Another common sport which is being played widely these days is known as soccer. To practice this sport many stadiums have been developed all over the world. One such stadium is the Old Trafford Stadium which can be found in Manchester. This stadium is known to be the perfect stadium for playing. Many players describe their feelings by saying 'there's no better place to play than Old Trafford'. This stadium is widely known for its structure, quality and the safety it provides to its fans. It is said by many fans of different countries too that the Old Trafford is made in a wonderful way. However the major issue of security like every other stadium is taken as important in this stadium too. The authorities have made strict measures to ensure that the crowd gets a safe and sound environment while watching the match. The security provided in this arena is such that the fans praise it to till date. There is staff organized in a manner that wherever scuffles take place this staff can come up immediately and break this scuffle. The security staff in this stadium is maintained to such a level that the opponent fans are separated from the other fans. This avoids any brawls taking place between the fans of different clubs. Similarly these fans are also taken care off in the end of the game as when the game ends both the sides of fans are not left instantaneously. The security management in the stadium allows the home side fans to leave first and then the away fans. This again avoids any fights taking place between the fans. Even though the stadium has the capacity to store more then 60,000 fans it has strict security systems to ensure safety. Control rooms are organized in the stadium which monitors the overall progress of people in the stadium. This control room has screens which have been directly linked with the cameras fitted in the ground. These cameras possess the ability to catch out any person in the crowd closely. One incident which involved a criminal in this stadium was handled perfectly by the security management as the criminal was spotted clearly by the security agents standing in the stadium. A whole medical team is organized in the stadium which is on standby for if any mishap occurs. However this stadium has also undergone some events which were an attempt to ruin its image. Fans of different clubs fought outside the ground and it turned out to be lethal. However quick action was taken by the security agents in the stadium and the scuffles were stopped between the fans. Similarly after these events took place the fans were asked if they liked the security arrangements or not and most replied positively. This showed that the security arrangements of the stadium were even then considered good. This is because of the quick action that the security agencies took. Like the cricketing board the football managers have also taken out strict measures to ensure that ticket touting does not take place in their sport. They are enhancing their ticketing abilities to ensure that the fans are getting tickets from reliable and authentic sources. Like the cricketing board the football authorities also have some strict rules against alcohol and beer found in the premises of the stadium. Smoking is widely discouraged inside the premises of the stadium by the football authorities. All items which are found to be against the policies of the stadium are confiscated and not returned to the owner. However like all major sports, football also suffers some blows. As the demand for sporting events is increasing more and more people are coming to watch these events. This on the other hand increases the number of fans coming out on the road to watch a particular match. This leads to congestion and traffic jams while a match is taking place and some fans even have to miss their match for this sole reason. While on the contrary the board has not taken any such innovative measure to ensure that the crowd reaches the spot of the match safely. In response to this a committee has given out some points which should be carried out by the boards to ensure proper care of the fans. This committee sought out some factors for the boards to follow. If these factors are pondered on by the boards they might come out with a solution for their fans and increase the fan rate over in the matches. Safety in these two stadiums is being monitored closely by the respective authorities. By implementing the legislation of now allowing tickets being sold from unauthorized authorities has allowed to decrease the amount of hooligans found in the particular stadium. Both the stadiums have Special Forces posted in regard to any mishap during the games. The control rooms established in these stadiums allow the officials to check the whole stadium. It provides the officials with adequate time to reach any spot which they may consider as weak. And this has happened before in the football matches when the officials reached the right spot of the incident on the right time. The stadiums have check posts through out its territory. With the use of special technologies both these stadiums keep a check on the materials brought in by the fans. Nowadays both the stadiums are having special stewards trained for the purpose of security. These stewards have the rights to eject any spectator who is creating problems. With the help of these stewards the respective stadium authorities keep a check on the stadium performance. These stewards ensure that the crowd is following the rules and regulations created by the respective authorities. A licensing act introduced in the UK forced out all the stewards who were not of particular use to the stadium or who did not keep a thorough check on the spectators. It also ensured that the stewards that would be provided with jobs by the authorities would be specially trained for the purpose of checking these spectators. These stewards nowadays are posted on every side of the stadium so that any ugly incident can be avoided. Even if someone breaks the ground regulations the stewards have the right to make the respective spectator leave the ground. However both these stadiums have different perspectives on the issue of crowd and safety management. The cricket board does not have to be particular about this issue as most of the ugly incidents have only occurred in the sport of soccer. The stadium of Lords does not separate the fans of one side to the other like in the Old Trafford which separates the fans of different clubs. The Old Trafford has special transport system arranged for its fan while on the other side Lords has no such system of transport for the fans that are coming to watch the match. Similarly there are special coaches arranged by the football authority themselves for the fans to arrive at the arena. The fans in Lords are not sent in a arranged manner like that in the Old Trafford. But the over all system of both these stadiums is quite satisfactory and praised by the spectators. In the recent years there has been a growing debate on the health and safety factors in the sports industry. The stadiums and the management is taking strong measures these days to ensure that the crowd is safe and without any risk to their health. The crowd is provided with an environment in which they can easily breathe and enjoy. Like in the Old Trafford Stadium the temperature of the stands is maintained through a system which keeps the temperature regular. This helps the crowd in having an atmosphere of ease. As the use of cigarettes and alcohol is discouraged in all forms of sports the crowd is provided with a great comfort. This is because if one person gets intoxicated he might force other people to join him in playing a foul game. Above all the legislations enforced by the government has played a major role in instructing the governing bodies to take strict measures of safety and health for the crowd. The system however has not improved drastically but changes are being made by the governing bodies to ensure a safe and sound environment. Like an incident which took place in Cardiff lead many fans to suffer. The fans were left bedazzled and angry when the police officials failed to manage them. The security staff was supposed to take the fans to the stadium but as the show by the security was poorly organized, it lead to a jam between the buses and the fans got late. This made many fans to get angry over the police officials but because of the patience shown by the fans a scuffle was avoided between the groups. This shows that the sporting events and crowd is still not properly organized as it should be. This congestion can also lead to health factors among the crowd. But recently the legislations introduced in the House of Commons have made an impact on the sporting industry. It has lead many management officials to be more conscious while organizing a show. The licensing act 2003 makes the organizers to ask for license when organizing any large sporting event. These legislations have forced the management officials to re organize the whole set up of their stadium. They have made the management officials the sole people responsible for any untoward incident during the game. This makes the management officials more responsible while doing the task. Check points are made up by these management officials to ensure security of the crowd. Prohibited items are removed from the crowd while they are being checked at these points. Conclusion There is still a long way for the sporting industry to achieve the landmark of safety and health, but these legislations introduced have surely made the management official realize their duty towards the crowd. The crowd now is provided with a more organized environment and it is expected that sooner all these arrangements would further improve. Bibliography GREAT BRITAIN. (2003). Licensing Act 2003: Chapter 17. London, Stationery Office. GREAT BRITAIN. (2008). Ticket touting: second report of Session 2007-08. London, Stationery Office. LARMAN ASSOCIATES LIMITED. (1976). Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, a self-teaching text. London (Tavistock House North, Tavistock Sq., WC1H 9HX), Larman Associates Ltd. SOUTH AFRICA, NGOEPE, B. M., & SEMENYA, I. A. M. (2002). Final report Commission of Inquiry into the Ellis Park Stadium Soccer Disaster of 11 April 2001. South Africa, South African Government Information. http://www.info.gov.za/otherdocs/2002/finalellispark.pdf. STEVENS, A., & GLENDINNING, M. (2007). Sports security and safety: evolving strategies for a changing world. London, Sport Business Group. GREAT BRITAIN. (2007). Lords reason for insisting on their amendments and for disagreeing toCommons amendment in lieu to the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill. London, Stationery Office. (2005). Existing stadiums: Old Trafford, Villa Park, St James' Park, Hampden Park, Millennium Stadium, Wimbledon. NEW CIVIL ENGINEER. 18-21. HARRIS, G. E., & JONES, D. M. (1996). Three tiers for the double champions: Old Trafford - a stadium for the 21st century. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. 74, 297-302. FROSDICK, S., & CHALMERS, J. (2005). Safety and security at sports grounds. London, Paragon Publishing. WHEATLEY, J. (1972). Report of the inquiry into crowd safety at sports grounds. London, H.M.S.O. Read More