The Role of the Public Prosecution Service in Protecting the Safety of Citizens Attending Football Sporting Events

Abstract

The article examines violence in football sporting events and analyzes the role of the Public Prosecution Service in protecting spectator safety, especially within the Brazilian framework established by the Statute for the Defense of Supporters. First, the author reconstructs the historical formation of football, emphasizing that violence has accompanied the sport since its origins and intensified in certain contexts with its popularization, professionalization, and commodification. It then addresses the sociological aspects of organized supporter groups, with reference to hooliganism, the aggressive masculinity associated with football, and conflicts between rival groups, highlighting emblematic episodes that occurred in Europe and Brazil. On the legal plane, the article argues that the Public Prosecution Service, based on articles 127 and 129 of the Federal Constitution and on the Supporters’ Statute, plays an essential role in protecting the physical safety of spectators, both through prior oversight of stadium structural, sanitary, and security conditions by means of technical reports, and through the promotion of measures aimed at preventing and repressing violence. The text also advocates the improvement of public policies on football security, especially through the creation of Supporters’ Courts, the registration of organized supporter groups, the prohibition of alcohol sales, image monitoring, and coordinated action among the Public Prosecution Service, the Judiciary, police forces, sports entities, and civil defense bodies.