CNIL shows France’s PSG Football Club a yellow card

The CNIL, France’s DP Authority, has ordered Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (PSG Football), one of France’s leading soccer clubs, to properly manage its file for excluding spectators from the stadium. There is a legal framework for excluding spectators from sports grounds covering reasons and the period of a ban. Reasons to justify exclusion include failure to pay and non-compliance with ticketing rules. On 7 November 2013, PSG Football received the CNIL’s authorization to establish an exclusion management system and on 30 January 2014, received another CNIL authorization to add names to the system.

However, when the CNIL made spot checks in October and November 2014, the inspectors found that the club had, in part, disregarded the legal framework with the result that some people were excluded for at least twice the length of time of their ban.

Therefore, on 10 June 2015, the President of the CNIL issued PSG Football with a formal public notice to respect the exclusion rules. This process draws the attention of other sports organisations to their legal duties, and the public’s attention to the exclusion rules so that they become aware of their rights.

The CNIL made it clear that this process is not a sanction, stating that if the club corrected its procedures within one month, the CNIL would advertise the closing of the case. But if the club did not remedy the problem within one month, the CNIL would take formal legal action which could lead to a sanction.

By 6th August, eight weeks after the CNIL’s public notice to PSG Football and one day before the team’s first league match of the season, there has been no public announcement about PSG Football’s response nor that the CNIL has closed the case.

See Bird & Bird’s International Enforcement Bulletin and the CNIL article.