Swiss strengthen anti-hooliganism cooperation

Security is tight at the Euro 2016 football tournament in France Keystone

Switzerland has announced its intention of enhancing its cooperation with other countries to stamp out violence at sporting events. Last month, police confirmed that 780 hooligans would be banned from travelling to the Euro 2016 football tournament in France.

On Friday, the Swiss cabinet approved an update to the European Convention on Spectator Violence and Misbehaviour at Sports Events and in particular at Football Matches. The revision will go to parliament for ratification by the end of this year.

The convention was originally drawn up after 39 people died during violence at a 1985 football match between Liverpool and Juventus at the Heysel stadium in Belgium. Switzerland was one of 42 countries that signed up to the measures aimed at preventing a similar tragedy.

The updated version is to improve international cooperation on identifying potential problems ahead of sporting events and improving services for fans both inside and outside of stadia. The changes will also increase regulation of each countries’ National Football Information Point, which coordinate intelligence sharing.

The Swiss government said the changes would not affect current national legislation.

There has already been some hooligan related problems at Euro 2016, although Swiss fans were not involved. In the early hours of Friday morning, French police used tear gas and arrested two England fans in Marseilles.

The Euro 2016 tournament gets underway on Friday, with the final taking place on July 10.