Bio-power , surveillance and State of Exception within the Italian football stadia: The fans’ card case

• In Event: Comparative Perspectives on Policing and Surveillance

Abstract

Law n 401/1989 was the first Italian State direct intervention to deal with the soccer-spectator violence; since 1989 the Italian State has dealt with the problem adopting emergency legislation and numerous ministerial directives.
This presentation aims to briefly explain the development of this legislation and in particularly will illustrate the Tessera del Tifoso (the Fans Identity Card- FIC) instituted in 2009 to cut down soccer related violence. The card must be presented when the fan buy the soccer match ticket and at the entrance to the stadium . The interpretational framework adopted is informed by the works of Michel Focault and Giorgio Agamben focusing on the concepts of Bio-power; Sovereignty and State of Exception. The presentation will explore the progressive securitization of the Italian soccer stadium which reached its apex with the introduction of the FIC. The analysis will try to highlight the extent of the surveillance that fans undergo to watch a soccer match and its implications for the Italian soccer fans’ civil liberties .

Author

• Alberto Testa, Brunel University