Sport Mega-Events, Security and COVID-19: Securing the Football World [Paperback]

Setting the Scene,??1. The Dynamic Nexus between Sport, Mega-Events and Security: A Socio-Historical Sketch,??2. The Meanings and (Re)productions of Security,??3. Between Retrospective and Futuristic Processes of Security: Extending the Troika of Security,??4. Policing, Policy and Fan Networks,??5. Pandemic Threats, COVID-19 and Euro 2020s Postponement: Ready, Set, Postponed,??6. Redesigning, Re-Imagining and Delivering Euro 2020 in a Pandemic,??7. Conclusions: Uncertainty, Legacy and New Threats

This book examines contemporary issues of security at sports mega-events (SMEs). It focuses on the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2020) - subsequently postponed to 2021 - the third biggest SME in the global sporting calendar and a unique multi-city, multi-country event that took place in the eye of the COVID-19 storm.

This book examines contemporary issues of security at sports mega-events (SMEs). It focuses on the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2020) - subsequently postponed to 2021 - the third biggest SME in the global sporting calendar and a unique multi-city, multi-country event that took place in the eye of the COVID-19 storm. 

Drawing on stakeholder interviews, policy documents, media sources and existing research, the book explores the constructions, meanings, and perceptions of security in the efforts to secure this football mega-event. It argues that Euro 2020 is a powerful case through which to better understand wider security governance and security-related processes in present-day societies, which are increasingly preoccupied with notions of security, safety and risk. It assesses the precautionary logic and transnational knowledge transfer processes that guide security constructions surrounding SMEs in an uncertain and threat-conscious world, and captures the dramatic moments in which COVID-19 transitioned into a security threat with severe ils6