Major international events, such as sporting tournaments, cultural/social/religious events and conferences present policing and security challenges. Host countries are faced with the challenge of organizing a smooth-running and successful event while keeping participants and spectators safe.
The security, safety and service challenges that host countries face are both criminal and crowd protection related: terrorism, crowd management, cyber threats, human trafficking, sports integrity, public safety, and many others.
Funded by the government of Qatar, Project Stadia has established a centre of excellence to help member countries plan and implement security and safety arrangements when hosting major international events, including sporting events.
Project Stadia comprises three main elements:
A state-of-the-art capabilities team
Specific groups address the needs of host countries on a range of topics such as international police cooperation; sport safety and security; sport legislation; cybersecurity and communications. Observation and debriefing programmes bring lessons learned to host countries.
An international network of experts
This network comprises some 400 major event security experts from 70 countries who provide expertise and facilitate support and cooperation on major international event policing and security. In addition, certified training programmes and workshops are provided to host countries.
A worldwide information hub
The Stadia Knowledge Management System (SKMS) provides a comprehensive knowledge repository on security in major sporting events, populated by the information generated through many of our activities.
It acts as an online networking platform for experts in the field to share, discuss, publish and analyze the evolving aspects of major event safety and security.
The Joint Task Force
INTERPOL’s Project Stadia supports its member countries with its expertise and expert networks to address the challenges of a member country planning to host a major international event. The JTF coordinates – via Project Stadia – all of INTERPOL´s support to major events. The purpose is to make this process easier for member countries by providing one point of contact within the entire organization that acts as the gateway to all of our services.
The INTERPOL JTF is deployed to assist host member countries in their preparation, coordination, and implementation of security measures for major events. The JTF was formed to consolidate all of INTERPOL’s capabilities and services into a single point of entry through Project Stadia. Stadia manages the JTF by:
• Ensuring that host member countries know the breadth of INTERPOL capabilities and services well before the event, often many months or over a year ahead
• Providing workshops, expert groups, and certified training to host country law enforcement commanders
• Assisting the host country with the development of an operational International Police Cooperation Centre (IPCC)
• Contributing to IPCC intelligence and operational command centre briefings
• Ensuring the accurate and thorough reporting of JTF activities before, during and after the event
The JTF was first implemented at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The concept was used again for the 2023 Asian Football Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Paris activities included:
• Coordination of all INTERPOL assets to deliver a comprehensive intelligence package to law enforcement officials in Paris
• Immediate availability of INTERPOL capabilities (for example, counter-terrorism intelligence and facial recognition database searches) to respond to any request
• Nine officers onsite during the Games provided intelligence and assistance, in addition to 10 INTERPOL units which provided virtual intelligence prior to the Games and immediate access to INTERPOL databases and information during the Games
• Contributions to daily intelligence activities, with a strong focus on cyber aspects, and operational briefings
• Daily reporting and lessons identified
The JTF was also operational at the G20 in Brazil (November 2024).
Legacy of learning
Project Stadia was set up to contribute to policing and security arrangements for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar.
Since then, Project Stadia has run international expert groups, delivered certified training, and created a global knowledge-sharing programme to help all INTERPOL member countries build their capacity during the full planning lifecycle of a major event.
The project was extended for a further two years to bring its expertise to the preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
This will build a lasting legacy of learning, and will support future host countries across the world in creating the environment for safe and secure major events.
Activities
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