On June 8, University College Aspira was host to esteemed individuals in the fields of sport and security who participated in the round table discussion “Security at big sporting events – ahead of the Euro 2016 in France and the Olympic Games in Brasil”. Participants included prof. Mirko Bilandžić, PhD, from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, an expert on national security and terrorism and security director of the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka 2016; Mr Mate Laušić, Lieutenant General, retired, an expert on terrorism and security who was chief of security for the Zagreb University Games in 1987, the European Basketball Championship and Eurosong, and who is currently security assistant director of the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka 2016; Mr Slobodan Marendić, chief of Police Administration Splitsko-dalmatinska; Mr Jovan Pejčić, PhD, an expert in sport marketing who was the marketing director of the World University Championship in Handball and Judo held in Novi Sad and a member of the organising committee of the summer University Games in Belgrade in 2009, to mention only some of the highlights of his rich career; and prof. Izet Rađo, PhD, from the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education of the University of Sarajevo, acting as the vice-president of the Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the president of the Wrestling association. The discussion was presided over by Mr Zdravko Reić, journalist for the Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper. After an overview of terrorist attacks that occurred in sports, prof. Bilandžić ascertained that today we are living in an “era of terrorism” and a situation in which the Euro in France is under a direct terrorist threat. During the Euro, we will have the opportunity to see the strictest security measures in the world, as nothing can be left to chance. Although high threat levels are involved, prof. Bilandžić personally believes that terrorist attacks will not occur. However, General Laušić added that he would not bet on agreeing with him. He also said how security measures changed over time and how high-risk matches in Croatia used to be protected by only a dozen police officers, while hundreds of people are involved nowadays. In order to understand how the criminal mind works, we have to think like criminals and act according to the 3P principle – Plan, Predict and Proceed, Laušić added and said we are aware that terrorists are an intellectual elite and that their every move is carefully planned. Prof. Izet Rađo concluded that out of the last seven Olympic Games that he was involved in, the upcoming ones are really special, as the Olympic Committee has already been informed about direct terrorist threats received from ISIL in Rio. It is therefore that security services are giving their maximum. Police chief Marendić agreed with General Laušić in not being sure that these two big sporting events will be free from complications, but believes that security services are doing everything possible to prevent negative events. Mr Pejćić, PhD, talked about the influence of the media and terrorists and their interwovenness, as well as about the security aspects of any event being extremely important elements of planning.
To conclude, although terrorism is the “main topic” of the upcoming big sporting events, the speakers concluded that more people die from being struck by lightning each year than from terrorist attacks and that, equally, the media can be guilty for promoting terrorist acts, as publicity is an important reason for terrorists to organise attacks. On the other hand, people need to be kept informed and security aspects need to be met, making this a double-edged sword. Finally, all participants concluded that a threat did exist and that terrorists often attack those parts of the system that are not protected, and that this part will certainly be protected well. For France, the strikes and floods that it is currently dealing with may be greater threats than terrorism.