Project Safe Stadium launched in Brazil

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has teamed up with the Government to launch a venture which aims to enhance the experience of attending games and wider sporting events.

Projeto Estádio Seguro, or Project Safe Stadium, will run for an initial five-year term and has been forged through a cooperation agreement between the CBF, Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) and Ministry of Sports.

The overriding objective is to bring more security to stadiums through increased monitoring and cross-referencing of fan data. CBF president, Ednaldo Rodrigues, said: “This agreement reinforces our commitment to developing Brazilian football, with the awareness that it must be a tool at the service of society and enhance the positive experience through Projeto Estádio Seguro, which is already operating at the Maracanã. We want to work so that clubs from all divisions can join.”

Rodrigues said the venture is also important as a means of strengthening Brazil’s bid to host the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Brazil is competing against rival proposals from South Africa; along with joint bids from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany; and the United States and Mexico.

Projeto Estádio Seguro will seek to offer match organisers the most advanced stadium crowd control systems in the country. Part of the program has already been operating on a pilot basis since the end of last year at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. 

This involves the use of technology that identifies fans with open warrants or some judicial restriction. The device is activated when a ticket is read. If the system identifies a wanted fan, the electronic turnstile is locked.

Rodrigues said: “This agreement will allow the sharing of important data to improve and implement fundamental public security policies for the entire society. CBF is committed to this initiative. I am sure that all presidents of clubs, federations, stadium managers are as well.

“Racism has no place in the game, nor has violence or crime. The criminal fan can be sure that they will be identified and punished.”

Under the agreement, the two ministries and the CBF intend to facilitate the sharing of data in order to increase security in sports stadia and curb the practice of ticket scalping, among other measures. 

It will be up to the MJSP and the CBF and its affiliated entities that wish to act in this partnership, which is optional, to encourage the exchange of information, join efforts and mobilise their organisations to enact the project.

The MJSP will not allocate federal resources to the project, with the Government to instead offer clubs technical assistance for the implementation and integration of systems. The goal is for Projeto Estádio Seguro to come into operation later this year, initially for games in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and B.

“This platform can be used by other sports, it is an agreement for the entire world of sport,” said the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino. “This is because it simply allows systems dialogue, in which tickets with CPF (Brazil’s taxpayer registry) information will allow consultation of the public security database, in which we have, for example, open arrest warrants.

“There were some tests that showed the effectiveness of this system in executing warrants. It will also be possible to make stadium removal sanctions effective, because we will have a national database. This means that, almost in real time, it is possible to identify threats and improve the effectiveness of the police.”

Minister of Sport, André Fufuca, added: “We at the Ministry of Sports will work tirelessly so that today’s agenda is taken not only to the biggest stadiums in Brazil, but to small and medium-sized stadiums, where football also takes place and where there must also be public safety.”