Green light on sports decree: those who assault referees risk up to 16 years in prison

Anyone who assaults a referee, causing grievous bodily harm, risks imprisonment of up to 16 years. This is provided for in the decree law on Sport, approved on 20 June by the Council of Ministers, which amends Article 583-quater of the Criminal Code, an article that provides for cases of personal injury caused to an officer or agent of the judicial police or public security in the act or due to the performance of duties. The government amendment extends the same punishment to anyone who causes injury to a referee or other persons responsible for the technical regularity of sporting events.

Article 583-quater of the Criminal Code, prior to the provision approved on 20 June by the Government, only stipulated: 'In the case of personal injury caused to an officer or agent of the judicial police or public security in the act or due to the performance of his duties, imprisonment from two to five years shall be applied. In the case of serious or severe injuries, the penalty is imprisonment of four to ten years and eight to sixteen years respectively'. Rules also apply to 'personnel exercising a health or social-health profession and to anyone who performs auxiliary activities functional to it'.

In fact, the security decree bis (53/2019) approved by the yellow-green government of Giuseppe Conte had already brought the cases closer together, extending the daspo (ban on access to venues where sports events are held) to those who commit one of the acts (bodily harm) provided for in Article 583-quater of the penal code against referees. In this context, the regulation passed on 20 June by the government aims to rationalise and reorganise the discipline, inserting within the penal code the provision extending the penalties already provided for those who cause injuries to public safety officers and health personnel also to those who cause injuries to a referee or other persons responsible for the technical regularity of sporting events.