Russian President Vladimir Putin "signed into law Tuesday legislation that would ban convicted hooligans from sports events for at least six months and up to seven years," according to R-SPORT.
The so-called Fan Law, which is aimed squarely at keeping the 2018 World Cup in Russia safe from hooligans, "will come into effect" on Jan. 19. Under the new law, "if someone serving a stadium ban is found at a sports event, he or she can be fined up to 25,000 rubles ($770) or detained for 15 days." Police and sports federations "will be required to keep lists of violators, while stadium owners must install CCTV systems to identify troublemakers." Federal sports ministry data shows that there "were more than 14,000 offenses committed at Russian sporting events over the last three years" (R-SPORT, 7/23).
MATCH-FIXING: R-SPORT also reported Putin signed into law on Wednesday a bill that "toughens the maximum punishment for match-fixing to seven years in prison." The law "makes it an offense for athletes, coaches and sports officials from betting on their own sports and couples possible prison time with a maximum 1 million ruble ($30,000) fine for those convicted." Match-fixing "is thought to be common in Russian football." The governor of one of the World Cup host cities, Kaliningrad, last month "admitted asking his local football team to drop points because promotion would mean the club swallowing extra state subsidies" (R-SPORT, 7/24).
