Assessing Event Risk

Categorization of Event Risk

To properly assess, manage and control risk, event managers must have the ability to identify the hazards and possible impact of these threats. Most event managers in North America have established security measures to prevent sport-related terrorism, while managers in Europe and Asia-Pacific have implemented safety measures to protect against hooliganism and crowd disorder, respectively. Organized-political terror has been defined as politically motivated actions, involving preparation and rehearsal, to cause psychological and/or physical harm to a group of people. An example of this form of sport-related terrorism occurred during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games when a man detonated a bomb at Olympic Centennial Park, resulting in one death and 111 injured spectators. Organized-social terror has been described as socially motivated behavior, involving premeditated and impulsive acts, to damage an opposing team's reputation and/or harm its members. For example, a 2007 international match between Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew and English Premier League club West Ham United was marred by a melee between club supporters.

Spontaneous terror is often a form of crowd disorder characterized by disorganized individuals or groups impulsively reacting, out of disagreement, with violence against people (e.g., athlete, official and/or another spectator) or property (e.g., inside and outside the venue). This psychological and physical harm is often related to one of the following sport-related conditions: clash between traditional rivals; a team or athlete unexpectedly winning or losing a competition; or an athlete or spectator disagreeing with an official's decision. This form of sport-related terrorism typically involves the use of verbal assaults, throwing projectiles, disrupting play, fighting, vandalism, and/or rioting. One of the most infamous examples of spontaneous terror occurred at the end of the fourth quarter of a 2003 National Basketball Association (NBA) competition. It concluded with members of the Indiana Pacers team fighting on the court and in the stands with the opposing team and their supporters, respectively. This incident was fueled by their traditional rivalry with the Detroit Pistons, in addition to Detroit supporters throwing projectiles and verbally assaulting members of the Indiana team.

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