The Central Information Point for Sports Operations (ZIS), which is part of the LZPD NRW, ensures that the police station responsible for an event venue has all the background information known to the police in order to ensure the safety of spectators in and around event venues such as stadiums or squares, as well as on arrival and departure routes, with the appropriate deployment of personnel.
The ZIS achieves this goal both at home and abroad through constant, close contact and exchange with the venue authorities, the state information centers for sports operations (LIS) established in each federal state, the sports information center at the Federal Police Headquarters Potsdam (BPolP-IS) and the international partner services. As many events involve international and national soccer matches with international participation, the CIS maintains particularly close contact with the National Football Information Points (NFIP), which are uniformly designated in Europe.
The ZIS also contributes its experience and current findings to national and European committees in order to make the exchange of information, as an essential part of planning police deployment concepts, even more efficient, to harmonize police procedures and to define and establish security standards.
Task areas
The field of activity of the CIS focuses on the exchange of information. It is active nationally and internationally in a variety of ways.
Tasks in Germany:
- Collection, evaluation, processing and management of event-related information at sporting events, in particular soccer matches, such as: ticket sales figures, number and classification of home and visiting fans, travel routes
- Exchange of information with the state information centers, the sports operations information center of the Federal Police Headquarters and scene experts (SKB) of the police forces in Germany
- Coordination of SKBs at international club and cup matches in Germany and abroad
- Preparation and complete/timely forwarding of relevant advance information and comprehensive documentation of the course of sporting events, in particular soccer matches
- Inquiries, data maintenance, quality assurance and legal framework of the "Violent Offenders in Sport File"
- Preparation of the "Annual report on soccer"
- Participation in committees and advice on projects to improve security at sporting events
Tasks abroad:
- Constant contact with the partner offices (National Football Information Point, NFIP for short) abroad
- Collection, evaluation, processing and management of event-related information on the respective sporting events
- Mutual operational support for foreign police authorities at international soccer matches, in particular soccer matches involving the German national team
- Coordination and management of the SKB-TEAM Germany at international matches of the German national team
- Participation in and updating of the European handbook with recommendations for international cooperation and measures to prevent and combat violence and disturbances in connection with soccer matches with an international dimension
SKB Team Germany
The aim of the SKB-TEAM Germany is to prevent incidents of violence at German national team soccer matches in Germany and abroad by providing information, advice and intervention.
International matches of the German national soccer team at home and abroad repeatedly attract people from the German disruptive scenes who are willing to use violence and who are involved in sometimes considerable violent riots, especially abroad. For this reason, German scene experts (SKB) under the direction of the Central Information Point for Sports Operations (ZIS) also support foreign police authorities in soccer operations on request. The deployment of experienced SKBs has proven to be particularly effective over many years.
A specially selected team of SKBs was successfully deployed for the 2005 Confederations Cup and the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany, helping to ensure that both major soccer events were largely peaceful.
After the 2006 World Cup, the state and federal police forces agreed to set up a new, permanent SKB TEAM Germany.
The TEAM consists of 14 experienced police officers from different federal states, who in their entirety cover the main fan scenes (especially with regard to their disruptive clientele) in Germany.
ZIS annual reports on football
The Central Information Office for Sports Operations (ZIS) publishes an annual soccer report at the end of each season.