In mid-December 2019, the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the first reading adopted a bill to lift the ban on the retail sale of beer in football matches. Now its authors, a member of the committee on physical education, sports, tourism and youth affairs Dmitry Svishchev and parliamentarian Igor Lebedev want to propose a number of amendments to the document.
One of them will relate to the proceeds of money - the initiators of the bill offer to give the proceeds exclusively to the development of youth sports. According to another, the drink can be sold at all sports competitions, except for youth. At the same time, it was decided to limit the sale of beer and beer drinks with an ethyl alcohol content of more than five percent.
One of the first initiatives with the legalization of beer in the stands was supported by the famous figure skating coach Alexei Mishin. He noted that sales of the drink are very likely to help attract the attention of sponsors.
“I welcome the appearance of beer on football. For clubs, this is an opportunity to make money on advertisers, and for people - a way to get more pleasure from going and watching a match at the stadium. So what I am for. We still had good stadiums after the World Cup in Russia, and when beer was sold at them in 2018, it was only a plus, ”Mishina quotes Match TV.
Former coach of the Russian youth football team Yevgeny Bushmanov also spoke positively about amendments to the bill. According to the expert, an alcoholic drink should be sold in arenas, regardless of the sport.
“In my opinion, permission to sell beer at the stadium is the right initiative, and there is a similar practice all over the world. So it would be logical to legalize sales in competitions in all sports, and not just in football. That would be fair: either everywhere or nowhere, ”Bushmanov said in an interview with RT.
In turn, the ex-mentor of Dynamo Moscow, Sergei Silkin, believes that drinking light alcohol as a whole will not affect the behavior of fans during the matches.
“Abroad, alcohol is sold everywhere at stadiums, and there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, much depends on a person - someone drinks a little, but someone cannot stop. In any case, the issue of ensuring safety in the stands should not be decided with the help of a ban on the sale of beer. You just need to learn how to work with fans, and to identify violators of the order with the help of cameras and bring them to justice, ”said Silkin.
The specialist is sure that the legalization of the drink, on the contrary, will force some to reach the stadiums and help increase attendance.
“Everything needs to be done to attract people to the stands. It is clear that the fans want to have a good time at the stadium. Maybe this is not the best way to attract a viewer, but one of the possible options, ”added Silkin.
The trainer also called the proposal to direct the proceeds from sales to the development of youth sports.
“Any extra money will not hurt. Children's sports now lack financial support, ”the expert concluded.
The former midfielder of St. Petersburg Zenit, Alexei Igonin, also agreed with Silkin’s opinion. According to him, the bill will help Russian sport become less dependent on state aid.
“Russian sport will receive an additional source of income. Because the sport itself must earn, and not only receive subsidies from the state, ”said Igonin.
He also spoke about his own initiative, which he plans to introduce to the State Duma from the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region.
“Together with Zenit we want to propose amendments to the Administrative Code. Their essence is that for fans, the norm of alcohol in the blood will be established - by analogy with the norm for drivers, in ppm. Now law enforcement officials are simply evaluating whether a fan is drunk or not, but if there is such a law for motorists, why not develop it for visitors to sports and other public events? If it already existed, many of the detentions and fines that occurred after the recent Zenit-Spartak match might have been avoided, ”explained Igonin.
The expert emphasized that he does not see a connection at all between the use of beer by the fans and the unrest in the stands.
“Of course, there are always fears that a conflict will begin in the stands, only beer sales have nothing to do with it. In addition, the times when our fans drank a lot, in my opinion, are already over. I see this, because I myself communicate with fans, I go on trips. And before the Zenit home games, for example, there’s no sense in “warming up” at all, because the arena with a roof is warm there, ”he added.
Eduard Latypov, president of the Russia Unites Fans Club, is also confident that legalizing beer will help get rid of the well-known tradition of fans warming up before the match.
“If the drink is of high quality and at an affordable price, then for those who like to watch football under a light cafe, the need to drink alcohol before going to the stadium will lose its meaning,” Latypov told RT.
In his opinion, the inappropriate behavior that ordinary viewers fear is not relevant to drinking beer.
“Our experience has shown that the level of aggression at sporting events or fan zones does not depend on the availability of alcoholic beer. This was confirmed by the fan zones of the 2018 World Cup, where it was sold. When we organized the fan zone in the center of St. Petersburg at the World Hockey Championship, it was there too, and for the entire period of work there has not been a single violation related to intoxication, ”he added.
According to the president of the Fans Club, the key issue in ensuring safety in the stands is not a ban on alcohol, but the competent organization of the competition itself and the entertainment program, for which the relevant services are responsible.