Art. 45 questions: Security concerns about the PEC stadium and football related incidents

After remote controlled smokeboms went off in our local football stadium during the IJsselderby almost all political parties represented in the city council of Zwolle came together to ask the Mayor questions about the ongoing incidents surrounding the stadium and the club. GroenLinks, CDA, CU, D66, PvdD, PvdA, VOLT, VVD and SP asked the following questions:

Questions:

Translated questions:

There have been regular incidents in and around the PEC stadium. People manage to smuggle smoke bombs, fireworks, balaclavas and banners into the stadium, people climb over fences and there are violent incidents at away matches. Following several of these incidents, the club promised improvement.

On Sunday 17 Sept, remote-controlled smoke bombs went off in the PEC stadium’s away box. Several people suffered respiratory problems, some of whom had to go to hospital. These kind of actions are clearly thought out well in advance and could have ended much more seriously. Smoke bombs were also set off in the ‘harde kern’ section, after people were able to put on balaclavas under a large tarpaulin. All this despite intensified checks on entry.

The mayor also had to take extra measures in the city to ensure the safety, fortunately it remained relatively calm there. Football should act as a connecting factor and be a celebration for young and old, but because of these incidents, it does not seem to be. Time and again, a small group manages to smuggle things into the stadium and now even hide them in advance.

Several members of the municipal council have serious concerns and would like to ask the following questions.

1. Have there been recent discussions with the PEC board about the escalating issues and, if so, what were the outcomes?
2. Do you agree with the petitioners that it is important that the various supporters’ associations speak out publicly about the events?
3. How is it possible that the stadium is still not secure and things can get into the stadium that do not belong there? Is this being further investigated and acted upon?
4. In the opinion of the Mayor, has the PEC board adequately responded to the recent excesses and what does the Mayor expect after the incident with the smoke bombs?
5. What additional measures can the Mayor take to ensure the safety around the stadium and in the city?
6. What additional measures can the Mayor take against subversive texts and slogans raised against the police?
7. Is the Mayor in talks with the public prosecutor about administrative and criminal measures against rioters, and what actions/investigative measures, if any, are being considered?

Credits:

All linked documents (even those of which I saved a copy on my web server for the sake of accessibility) are not licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License but kept their original license.

Image used at top of blog is: Soccer ball by Shawn Rossi and is licensed under CC BY 2.0