Introduction Major Sporting Events (MSEs) are not just athletic competitions but also collective celebrations of human achievements and a source of pride for those who participate in them or host them. In recent years, the range of countries which have been prepared to organize an MSE has extended across all continents. Satellite-supported live television has broadened the number of spectators to hundreds of millions of people who watch and enjoy not just the MSE itself but also related events. This allows an organizing country or city to place itself, as it were, on the mental map of global audiences. This, in turn, can bring increased tourism, new or improved infrastructure, foreign investments as well as other benefits to those countries which manage to successfully showcase a major sporting event.
However, there is a downside to the opportunity to present itself to the world by organizing an MSE. If the organization is below the standards expected by athletes and the public, this might project a negative image of the country to the world. There are also external factors which can harm the image of an MSE and the way it will be remembered – its legacy. This could be prompted by a breakdown in security caused by an external threat: a terrorist assault or a criminal cyberattack, to name but two major risks. With this in mind, the Guide on the Security of Major Sporting Events: Promoting Sustainable Security and Legacies contains an exhaustive analysis of all elements for consideration by key decision-makers when it comes to security at MSEs. Consistent with the relatively recent democratization of the access to organize and host MSEs outside traditional regions, this Guide is published in a context where the net is cast wider for those cities and countries looking to host MSEs. Intercultural and cross-regional complexities and particularities are dissected, providing a systemic overview of the main considerations for key decision-makers for the security elements of MSEs. After setting out the broad context, the Guide offers an in-depth analysis of the political, social and financial dimensions of MSEs. After all, no country is immune to present-day security threats, and there are many threats to the security of society that cannot, and should not, be addressed in isolation. But when it comes to MSE security, “one size does not fit all.”1 Every event will face a unique threat environment and differing capacities and approaches to manage those threats, and these will be influenced by the political, social and economic conditions in which the MSE is taking place. There are also differences in the security uncertainties for different types of events, which we will explore in more detail in these sections below.
1
Horizon 2020 PASAG, 2017, EU, 2018
Guide on the Security of Major Sporting Events
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