In a statement published yesterday, Ekstraklasa SA informs it has officially addressed the parliamentary commission to change current legislation. Entering the stadium is more difficult nowadays than getting on an airplane.

Yesterday Ekstraklasa SA, Polish league governing body, informed about official request to the Parliamentary Commission of Sports and Tourism to change existing safety regulations in Poland. Primary issue are tickets and identification.

For shorter ticket lines

With current laws entering any stadium within the top two leagues (soon to be extended to lower tiers) is more difficult than almost anywhere on the planet. While the rules were designed against hooligans, they seem to have biggest impact on regular fans who find it more difficult than ever before and more and more often not worth the hustle to even go to games.

As an example, to go to a stadium in Gdansk you first need to visit the new PGE Arena to get a fan card, giving your personal data along with current photo to the club, who are the expected to hold your information in their database and share it with central, national one, which still doesn’t exist despite being long overdue.

Only then you can think of buying a ticket, being searched and monitored before entering the ground. This goes not only for regular fans, but for VIPs as well, contributing to Polish corporate zones being nearly empty.

The way Ekstraklasa want to change things round is limiting the necessary data to just name and ID number. This is supposed to cut procedures and make entry a lot more friendly, allowing for online or postal sale of tickets as well.

Meeting fans’ expectations

Ekstraklasa SA also emphasizes that Poland should be taking example from many European countries, where standing room is allowed inside stadia – Germany, Denmark, Belgium or the Netherlands, to name some. Those would of course be limited to more vocal sections of the crowd who never respect the ban on ‘persistent standing’ anyway.

Similar approach comes with regard to pyrotechnics. Despite extremely harsh punishment (including imprisonment, stadium bans and high fines) supporters aren’t giving up on bringing flares inside stadiums. Even more, they seem to be bringing more materials inside (but smaller, almost impossible to detect, like bangers) just to prove a point. With flares being lit in very dense crowds or under large flags, the risk of someone being hurt rises significantly instead of being minimized.

Ekstraklasa thus appeals for limited approval for pyrotechnics, which would include fans requiring agreement with match organizer, police and fire department before hosting a display