Sports event security

• Event protection: “protection of shows, exhibitions, conferences, competitions and sports events” (Law 2518/1997, art. 1 §1δ).
• Team escort: “escort of sports teams for their safe movement” (art. 1 §1ζ) — from the hotel to the ground and back.
• Planning: studies and planning of measures for these activities (art. 1 §1η).
• The state: these activities do not affect the competences of the state authorities (art. 1 §4).
• Staff: every guard holds a category A or B work licence (art. 3 §1) and wears the badge and carries the ID card (art. 6 §1).

Large professional events may be subject to additional rules, where the police and the competent authorities lead. This guide does not cover them; it is about the guard’s work at any sports event, from a local tournament to a match with stands.

• Gate per sector: the ticket shows gate and sector; signs outside the ground lead there before the spectator reaches a queue.
• Open early: gates open well before kick-off, so entry is not squeezed into the last minutes.
• Ticket that does not match: the spectator is sent to the right gate or the box office; nobody “just slips through”.
• Bag checks: only as the organiser’s condition of entry, which the spectator accepts or refuses. If they refuse, they do not enter; the guard does not search beyond those conditions and uses no force.

The law requires security companies and their staff not to infringe citizens’ constitutionally protected rights (Law 2518/1997, art. 4 §1στ and §2α). How to run a bag check properly, and what happens if someone refuses, is covered in bag checks. The general logic of queues and accreditation is in event security.

• Separate flows from the start: each side’s fans arrive, enter and sit without crossing paths.
• Buffer zone: empty seats or an aisle kept empty, with guards who watch both sides.
• No moves without a decision: a spectator in the wrong sector is moved only as the person in charge decides, never through another sector on an improvised route.
• Logging: every flare-up in the buffer zone is logged with time and place and reported to the control point at once.

A guard must not use the title “police officer” or any words that could lead the public to believe they represent a police authority (Law 2518/1997, art. 4 §2γ). In the stands this matters: people need to know who is who.

• Start and finish: this is where most people gather; a separate athletes’ zone, a logged bag drop, a meeting point for lost children.
• The course: guards stand where the organiser’s plan puts them, inform pedestrians and drivers and report every problem; stopping traffic is not the guard’s decision.
• Accreditation: athletes, coaches, officials, press and volunteers, each with access only to their own zones.
• Equipment and nights: at multi-day tournaments, equipment rooms and changing rooms are locked and patrolled after play ends.

How many guards you need depends on the points to cover and the hours; the logic is in how many security guards do I need.

• Ambulance route: from the road to the field of play and the stands, marked on the plan; no vehicle and no stand parked on it.
• Gates and keys: the gate guard knows to open for an ambulance or the fire service without asking.
• Escort: one guard waits for the ambulance at the entrance and leads it to the spot.
• Emergency exits: clear and unlocked while the public is in, checked on every patrol.

What the guard does in the first minutes of a serious incident — whom to call, how to protect people, how to escalate — is covered in the first 10 minutes of a crisis.

• Before the end: all exits open and guards take up positions where the flow narrows.
• Order of leaving: if the plan has one sector leave first, the order and who gives the signal are fixed in advance.
• Joint control point: organiser, head of security and, where present, police and emergency services, with one decision log.
• Team escort: the team leaves by a separate exit, at an agreed time and on an agreed route.

If the guard sees a crime in the act, they have the right any citizen has to arrest the offender (art. 275 §1, Code of Criminal Procedure) — no more; the person arrested is taken without delay to the prosecutor (art. 279 §1). In practice the guard calls the police at once and hands over; never holds, never questions. If attacked, the limits of self-defence apply (art. 22, Criminal Code); see use of force and self-defence. In a real incident, the police decide.

Every serious incident also gets its own incident report. OVIT records patrols, incidents and reports on the Guardly platform, in one live picture the organiser sees too. Ask for a proposal for your event.