Stadium Riots and Their Impact on the Sporting Community in Al-Qadisiyah Province

Abstract

Stadium riots are considered one of the most prominent challenges facing sports in Iraq in general and Al-Qadisiyah Province in particular. This phenomenon is not limited to disturbing security and public order during sporting events, but extends to disrupting sporting activities, creating an unsafe environment for fans and players, and negatively affecting the reputation of local sports and youth development efforts. As Al-Qadisiyah Province is one of the active provinces in sports, hosting a number of popular clubs and sporting events, some matches—especially football matches—have witnessed riots and collective violence among fans or toward officiating staff, which required the intervention of security forces and the imposition of penalties by the specialized sports federations. From here stems the importance of this research in addressing the phenomenon from a legal-sporting perspective; as it seeks to clarify the legal framework governing sporting events, and analyze the punitive and organizational procedures followed in confronting riots, as well as monitoring the effects of the phenomenon on sports security in the province and proposing ways to reduce it