Legacies of dialogue, risk and securitization: The renewed insecurity of citizenship–state relations in European football fandom

Sociologists of sport have explored how the transformation of European football is characterized by a movement for stronger, democratic and citizen-centred supporter dialogue and governance. Whilst research has analysed mobilizations on citizenship and democracy, it neglects the longer-term, relational–temporal field in which such mobilizations are embedded. We address this gap by investigating and theorizing the regulatory timescape of European football (1985–2025) and, in turn, unpack citizenship–state relations in a novel context, thus contributing to knowledge of contemporary debates on dialogue, risk and securitization. The importance of supporter dialogue and democratic engagement is becoming politically salient but also embedded in more institutionalized forms of social control, through the planning, management, and regulation of high-profile events. Synthesizing the fields of sociology, risk studies, citizen-centred governance, and social movement studies, we critically engage with relevant literature; draw on analyses of policy-documents, press releases, and legal texts; and develop a temporal analysis informed by our prior-empirical work on European football fandom, to unpack the role and outcomes of supporter-based collective action within new legal-regulatory frameworks, and consider what this reveals about the historical and contemporary views of supporters as deviant and risky populations. In doing so, we add conceptual and theoretical value to the study of insecure citizenship–state relations, required for future empirical analyses to unpack the challenges and possibilities of prefiguring a more participatory, and accountable governance of football and its fans.