Panasonic’s FacePRO Secures Danish Soccer Stadium

Panasonic’s facial recognition technology will soon be used to safeguard another soccer stadium. The company has announced that Denmark’s Brondby IF football club will be deploying Panasonic cameras and its FacePRO software at its Danish Superliga home site.

Brondby will be the first Danish club to utilize facial recognition, although Panasonic’s tech was previously installed at RWD Molenbeek’s soccer stadium in Belgium. Panasonic has been pushing its server-based system as a security solution for large venues since the platform was announced in the beginning of 2018.  

In Brondby, FacePRO will be used to scan the crowd for individuals on the club’s blacklist, a roster of up to 100 people who have been banned from the stadium. If the algorithm finds a match, the system will alert security personnel to allow them to take action.

For non-blacklisted individuals, the automated tech is expected to speed up the security procedures and reduce wait times for people trying to get into the stadium.

“The system will significantly increase our efficiency in identifying blacklisted persons at our entrance gates, so we can ensure they do not enter the stadium,” said Brondby IF Managing Director Jesper Jorgensen. “We are always trying to optimize our stadium experience for our fans, and ultimately create the best possible fan experience.”

Panasonic’s system will not store any images or data captured in the stadium, with the exception of individuals on the Brondby blacklist. The data on the club’s internal server will not be connected to the internet to further alleviate public fears about privacy or surveillance.

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July 4, 2019 – by Eric Weiss