It is not as if Bulgarias laws against football hooliganism are inadequate; the real problem appears to be that administrators of sports facilities and the police are not up to the job of keeping hooligans under control.
As so often happens in Bulgaria, the latest flare-up of violence among fans has led to calls for new legislation. Sadly, many in this country cannot seem to get away from the mindset that problems can be legislated out of existence.
Consider, in detail, the provisions of the Public Order During Sports Events Bill, approved by Parliament in 2004.
The definition of hooliganism included in the act covers acts of violence before, during and after sports events; the throwing of bottles, bombs, smoke bombs, flares and other objects in the stands and onto the pitch; swearing or chanting offensive slogans and songs at the referee, the other team or its fans; breaking police lines and the provocation of racial, national, religious or sexual hatred.
The act provides for three types of penalties. Authorities have the right to jail convicted offenders for 10 to 15 days, sentence them to fines of between 200 and 500 leva or sentence them to community service.
The act allows authorities to fine the owners of a sports facility, the organisers of the event and the teams involved. If organisers are found to have failed to provide adequate security, they can be fined between 5000 and 10 000 leva. The owners of the facility and the teams may face fines between 7000 and 14 000 leva.
Police must complete their investigation into any alleged offence within 24 hours and pass it on the courts, which have a further 24 hours to issue a verdict.
The legislation provides for a register of offenders, and gives police the right to deny any registered offenders access to games, although it must be noted here that it has not been clear how police on duty at the gates to a sports event are supposed to be able to recognise offenders by sight.
Given that the law did not legislate the problem away, there have been serious incidents after it was approved.
In August 2005, offenders were fined after serious clashes at a match after police attempted to take action against drunk and disorderly fans. A few weeks later, at a CSKA-Levski match, 70 people were arrested, 20 of whom were fined, after attempted police action against fans setting off fireworks led to a general melee during which several fans and police were injured. At the same of this second incident, police were alleged to have used excessive force, an allegation that they rejected.
It is not as if the problem has not been raised with successive interior ministers. The minister at the time the legislation was approved, Georgi Petkanov, could not explain in detail how some aspects of it were intended to work in practice; his successor, Roumen Petkov, growled in 2005 that the CSKA-Levski brawl had evidenced conduct and vandalism unacceptable in a democratic state, but, as was obvious from the episode this past weekend, current minister Mihail Mikov has inherited a situation where administrators and police neither plan nor cope with problems very well.
Given that the law gives a fairly clear understanding of what constitutes hooliganism at sports events, given that those involved with sports administration and law enforcement may reasonably be expected to anticipate trouble, it would seem to be time not only apply the law to its fullest extent, but to improve co-ordination and planning well before the time. Penalising administrators and police who fail in their duties could also serve well against a problem that could smear Bulgarias image, and raise concerns about its future capacity to host international football events, a capacity that is already under question.
