Meeting their match: The mounting adversities confronting sporting organisations | Travel Security Special Edition 2024

The global sports market, valued at over USD 500 billion, has always attracted the world’s elite athletes, major institutional investment and international publicity. However, there is a flip side to the lucrative industry. The substantial incomes that professional sportspeople earn has made them and their families attractive targets to increasingly sophisticated criminal actors, while the major public attention and media coverage that athletes, teams and events draw, generate significant security concerns during matches and large events. As the sports industry continues to grow, there must be greater collaboration between sporting organisations, athletes, law enforcement agencies and private security firms. Security issues aside, the spotlight that sports personalities and teams find themselves in also creates the potential for public outcry when they are perceived to respond inappropriately to polarising societal debates. As such, there is an increasing need for greater awareness and adaptation to societal issues that can negatively impact the reputational integrity of sporting brands.

The gloves are off: Violent criminals target European footballers

One of the most alarming patterns to develop in recent years has been the surge in violent robberies targeting top-tier European footballers, carried out by sophisticated crime syndicates. Since 2019, there have been over 20 incidents against players in European leagues. For example, in July 2023, criminals attacked Paris Saint-Germain player Gianluigi Donnarumma and his partner in their Paris apartment. They tied the couple up briefly, then fled with valuables worth nearly USD 550,000. Similarly, in August 2022, assailants held Barcelona player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his family at gunpoint at his home outside Barcelona, causing Aubameyang light injuries. The assailants fled with jewellery and other valuables after accessing the family safe.

The trend is fuelled by various factors, including the lucrative earnings of the athletes; the well-publicised nature of team schedules, which indicates when homes are likely to be unoccupied; and the rapidly expanding online presence of footballers who unwittingly showcase their valuable possessions on social media. While some security experts have criticised certain players for neglecting to invest in robust security systems – ranging from cutting-edge CCTV setups to personal security teams, guard dogs, and panic rooms – there are instances where footballers and clubs have poured substantial resources into fortifying player security. Yet despite these efforts, the robberies have continued. The fact that many of these cases remain unsolved points to a high level of professionalism, often involving criminals who specifically travel to countries like the UK from other parts of Europe or Latin America with the singular aim of executing meticulously planned heists. With few suspects arrested, players and clubs across the board will need to take greater security precautions in the future, such as further upgrades to security systems and greater awareness of the dangers associated with publicising the details of their private life on social media.

Hitting below the belt: Families in the crosshairs

There have been multiple incidents in the past year where sportspeople's or match officials' families have faced kidnappings, attacks, or death threats. In October 2023, the Colombian rebel group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) kidnapped Luis Manuel Díaz and Cilenis Marulanda, parents of Liverpool football player Luis Díaz, in La Guajira State, Colombia. While Marulanda was swiftly released, Manuel Díaz was held hostage for nearly two weeks before he was released, reportedly without a ransom being paid. In another incident, in March 2023, unidentified assailants fired upon a supermarket owned by Lionel Messi’s parents-in-law in Rosario, Argentina, and left threatening messages aimed at the footballer. However, it is not just players' families in danger; relatives of match officials face threats too, especially those officiating high-profile matches. In April 2023, after the contact details of referee Kevin Clancy, who officiated the Scottish Premier League match between Celtic and Rangers, were leaked online, his family received death threats. These events underscore the need for team management and sports authorities to ensure security measures cover not only players and referees, but their families too.

Blind-sided at sporting events

The high-profile nature of sporting events and the massive crowds they attract pose significant challenges for event security teams. These gatherings present opportunities for petty crimes like mugging and bag snatching, as well as far more serious incidents, including targeted assaults on sports teams by rival supporters or terror attacks such as the 2013 Boston marathon bombing. Such incidents have prompted global reforms in sports event security, although certain inherent security threats remain due to the extensive publicity, large crowds, and expansive geographical areas these events encompass. A recent incident in October 2023 underscored this when football fans from French Ligue 1 team Marseille threw stones at the Lyon team bus as it entered the Marseille stadium, shattering the vehicle’s windows and causing injuries to the Lyon team manager. Liverpool Football Club encountered a similar incident in April 2023, when a brick was thrown at the team bus as it left the Etihad Stadium, the home ground of Manchester City.

Political events and public sentiment also directly feed into the safety of sporting events and matches. In response to increased levels of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, heightened security measures were implemented ahead of the New York Marathon in November 2023. Despite the absence of credible threats and incident-free conclusion of the marathon, event organisers worldwide must consistently reassess their security protocols and preparations to align with current global security concerns. For example, in November 2023, the Swedish ice hockey team chose to travel to Finland for the Euro Hockey Tour while dressed in civilian clothing to avoid being easily identified. This followed the attack in Brussels in October, in which an Islamic State inspired assailant opened fired in Boulevard d'Ypres, Brussels, killing two Swedish nationals who were wearing football jerseys ahead of a Euro 2024 qualifier football match between Sweden and Belgium.

Toeing the line on social issues

It is not just concerns about physical safety that sports organisations need to take into consideration, but also reputational concerns around the public backlash when they are perceived to fall afoul in relation to contentious social issues, such as gender and racial equality. Whether protests against police brutality in the National Football League (NFL) in the US, criticism of Arsenal’s women’s team for lack of diversity, or various controversies surrounding the use of rainbow colours in laces or armbands during matches, the sports field is not insulated from broader social debates.

As public awareness of these concerns grows and the call for greater social responsibility in sports intensifies, teams and sports personalities can ill-afford to attract significant negative media attention. Such adverse publicity can have severe commercial ramifications for teams, particularly if the public outcry reaches a level where sponsors decide to cut ties with the organisation. It underscores the need for sports organisations to develop clear policies on social issues to avoid scandals and effectively address sensitive public matters that compel clubs and teams to react.