For many football supporters, the so-called football law – and the associated stadium ban – are well known. If a supporter violates certain rules within the stadium or in the immediate vicinity of the stadium, there is a risk that he will no longer be allowed access to a stadium for a certain period and that he will have to pay a fine in addition.
The applicable law is the law of 21 December 1998 regarding safety at football matches. The law imposes obligations on supporters as well as on competition organizers and the umbrella sports federation.
We have bundled the information relevant to football supporters on the following link. The prohibited actions, possible sanctions and procedure are discussed:
the Football Act and the stadium ban
How an administrative stadium ban is imposed
The regime under the Football Act is administrative, not criminal. A report is drawn up, usually by the police or by the stewards, and it goes to the administration responsible for football safety. That authority can impose an administrative fine and a stadium ban, separately or together. Because the procedure is administrative, it runs even where the public prosecutor decides not to prosecute, and it moves considerably faster than a criminal case.
Before a decision is taken, the person concerned is informed of the facts alleged and is given the opportunity to put a defence. That step is the most important one in the whole procedure and it is the one most often wasted. The reply is the moment to contest the facts, to explain the context, to produce evidence and to raise anything that reduces the seriousness of what happened. Once the decision is issued, the discussion becomes much narrower.
Contesting the decision
A decision imposing a stadium ban or a fine can be challenged before the court, and the challenge has to be brought within a short period that starts when the decision is notified. Read the notification carefully, because it states that period and the way the appeal has to be lodged. A late appeal is not examined, whatever its merits. The text of the Football Act can be consulted through the consolidated Belgian legislation database.
What can be argued differs from case to case. Identification of the person is often the weak point, since a file may rest on camera images and the statement of a steward. The qualification of the facts is a second angle, because not every incident inside or around a stadium falls within the acts the legislation covers. Proportionality is the third, in particular where the length of the ban does not match the seriousness of the conduct or the personal situation of the person concerned.
The civil stadium ban is something else
Alongside the administrative regime, a club can refuse access to its own ground on a contractual basis. A ticket or a season card is a contract, and the club can attach conditions to it and end it. Such a ban does not come from the administration and it is not challenged in the same way. That discussion runs against the club, on the basis of the contract and of the internal rules of the club.
A person can therefore face two measures at the same time, imposed by different bodies, each with its own procedure and its own deadline. A criminal prosecution can run alongside both. Answering one and ignoring the others is a common and expensive mistake.
What to do when a notification arrives
Note the date of the notification straight away, because every deadline runs from it, and keep the envelope. Ask for a copy of the file, including the report and any images, so that the defence rests on what is actually in it. Write down your own account of the events while you still remember the detail, and collect the names of the people who were with you. Do not make a statement on the substance before you have seen the file.