The Federation Council on December 24 approved the law on the introduction of a “fan passport” (FAN ID) in Russia, adopted by the State Duma a week earlier. Now the document will go to the president for signature. Fan associations immediately announced their refusal to issue a new document and their readiness to fight against additional restrictions.
On the eve of the approval of the law, which MK-Sport has already described in detail, the relevant departments of the Federation Council staff gave their conclusions. They noted that the law complies with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, is consistent with the system of federal legislation and is recommended for approval. The speaker was the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Mokhmad Akhmadov and the amendments to the Federal Law “On Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation” were approved by the senators. Now the document must be signed by the President and published. It will enter into force on June 1, 2022.about:blank
The first to respond was the St. Petersburg association Landscrona. An official statement appeared in the official Instagram account of Zenit fans, which said that the movement of Zenit fans, represented by absolutely the entire fan asset, had decided to refuse to issue a “FAN ID”.
“We are against this unreasonable measure. These innovations, promoted by the substitution of concepts of comfort and safety, are opaque, repressive and redundant. These rules of the game run counter to the interests of fans and football in general … The imposed “FAN ID” turns our life, love and emotions into decoration. “
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“In connection with the punitive policy of intimidation and de-individualization of the“ soul and heart ”of football, namely you and me, the fans, we declare that we have unanimously decided not to issue a FAN ID, also at any sporting event held using“ scam-idi “our banners will not be present, be they flags or banners,” the statement said, among other things. Later, however, the post with this statement was deleted, but instead a new one appeared, in which the G-7 Ultras wrote that they did not refuse their words, but were going to release a general statement together with other fan associations.
Other famous fans also expressed their opinion. Sergey Shilov , the creator of the original blog about the life of Samara fans “Spirit of the Province” wrote:
“I won’t be doing a FAN ID. I did not apply for a FAN ID during the World Cup. My memories were connected with completely different stadiums, with other people nearby, who, too, had already forgotten 90% of the last time they were on the ball. Naturally, I do not call for anything, each generation has its own youth, its own frenzy and its own nostalgia. “
The first deputy head of the Duma committee on international affairs, Olympic champion Svetlana Zhurova, reacted to the fans’ statements .
“The FAN ID has not yet been adopted to be discarded. The law only regulates the fact that it can be introduced. And then the government of the Russian Federation will decide whether to enter the FAN ID or not. At the moment, the law does not directly interpret that in the domestic football championship we immediately have a FAN ID, ” Zhurova said in an interview with RBC. She also compared the statement of unwillingness to comply with the law with the behavior of some compatriots who do not comply with the traffic rules in Russia, but, as soon as they get abroad, become law-abiding.
“In connection with the introduction of FAN ID, there may be problems with the attendance of football. Not everyone is ready to go through these extra chores with filling out all kinds of paperwork, obtaining a fan passport. Someone will react with understanding, someone, like Zenit fans, will ignore it. I do not have a clear position here: I am more against than for. So far, I do not see any advantages of introducing this passport. After all, no one really explained what it was for, “for his part, RFU Honorary President Vyacheslav Koloskov supported the fans’ protest in an interview with SE .
“There is, of course, no definite answer. Questionable decision. If we consider this project from the point of view of introducing some restrictions to ensure security, since we live in difficult times, maybe this is correct. But, on the other hand, we all know that in all stadiums, cameras have been hanging on almost every seat for a long time. You can calculate anyone. But this still infringes on the rights of the fans. And for these reasons, many do not even want to issue these passports and are going to ignore the visit, “the former midfielder of the Russian national team Alexander Mostovoy also expressed his concerns in an interview with RT .
One way or another, but the law on the introduction of a “fan passport” has already been passed. And now Russian fans need to decide whether they will confine themselves to statements in their Instagram accounts or will actually fight this innovation. The history of European football has examples of one and the other. From the latter, one can recall how similar measures were introduced in Italy and Turkey – with similar laws, but different results.
In Turkey, since the season 2014/2015, PassoligCard has been operating – a symbiosis of FAN ID and a bank card, introduced in pursuance of the Law 6222 “On the prevention of violence and unrest at sports facilities.” You have to pay for the card, and the price varies depending on the club. There is an option and “just a fan”.
The introduction of Passilig initially provoked violent protests – attendance at football matches fell by more than half. But gradually Turkish fans have come to terms and today this document, along with a QR code, is mandatory for entry to the stadium. By the way, in the Russian Premier League and the RFU several years ago, the issue of introducing the same cards in an alliance with some well-known banks was discussed, but for various reasons it did not work out to bring the matter to an end.
A different story happened in Italy, where Tessera del tifoso was introduced starting from the 2010/2011 season. And this also sparked massive protests. Which ultimately led to the fact that in 2017, the issuance of a “fan passport” began to be of a recommendatory nature. At the same time, the presence of such a card is still mandatory when purchasing tickets for visiting some categories of matches.
Now Russian fans have a choice – either to accept, like their Turkish counterparts, or to protest and get the law softened, as the Italian tiffozi did.
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