Tougher sanctions for hooligans enacted

Violent spectators could face a five-year ban on match attendance under tougher new sanctions passed by the Slovenian National Assembly almost a year after several players and a coach were injured by a stun grenade in a violent incident at a football match, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The reform police tasks and powers law allows police officers to impose the ban on violent spectators whom it believes may become repeat offenders. These also cover the use of pyrotechnics and explosives.

The ban may also refer to getting near a sporting facility, and fines in the event of non-compliance to this measure will also be higher, amounting to between €2,000 and €5,000.

Previously, when stopping and IDing a person on suspicion of hooliganism, police officers had to explain the reasons for the measure, and now they will be able to do this later if the circumstances prevented them from doing so immediately.

The amendments were prompted by an incident during a Slovenian premier league match in Murska Sobota in February 2024 as the ultras supporting the away team, Maribor, hurled a stun grenade where the home team players were warming up, injuring several of them as well as a coach and a ball boy.

"We don't want stands to become urban battlegrounds for one group of ultras or another. This is unacceptable, so we as society are obliged to take action," Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said in presenting the bill, which was passed on 30 January by 50 votes in favour and eight against.

While the coalition parties supported the bill, which also entails several other other changes, including solutions pertaining to restraining orders, the opposition raised objections.

The Democratic Party (SDS) argued that not only hooligans but also the organisers of sporting events and sports organisations were to blame for violence, and New Slovenia (NSi) said the police already had sufficient powers to perform their tasks.