Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-18-Speech-4-257"
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"en.20000518.11.4-257"2
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"Mr President, I must declare an interest because I am a Class I soccer referee and very active in that and have been involved in football at many levels for 18 years. This resolution looks at the security and safety arrangements ahead of Euro 2000 so that decent football-loving supporters from across Europe can go to, watch and come away from football games this summer without fear or concern for their safety: a fairly apt thing to call for considering the recent events in Copenhagen.
Most Members will find this motion uncontentious. However, I do understand that there are some queries about the question of the suitability of the Charleroi stadium and its ability to safely host the England versus Germany game on 17 June. These I will tackle now because I believe these points are what people want to hear about.
I thank the BBC Watchdog Programme for providing me with details of the findings of a renowned British sports stadia expert, Dr Jim Dickey. He found, after just a brief examination of the temporary structure above the north stand in Charleroi, that there were too many seats in the rows, the stand is too steep, the safety barriers are too low, the exits from the stand are too narrow and the stairways at the back of the stand are too wide. This stand, like all the others, will be full to capacity on 17 June. Meanwhile, a few miles up the road, the King Baudouin stadium, Belgium's national stadium, and now probably one of the safest stadia in all of Europe, will lie empty that day.
I understand the regional pride of many members from Belgium and I do not question that much time is being spent by the organisers of Euro 2000 looking into the safety and security aspects of the competition. But surely, common sense should prevail and the future of this particular fixture at its current venue should be actively re-examined.
I do hope that Members will support this motion, because this is something we can actually change for the better. Why not look at an event beforehand and not worry about the consequences of the bad actions of a few violent people after such a football event."@en1
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