The home of Adelaide United Football Club, Adelaide’s Coopers Stadium, has adopted facial recognition technology to enhance the stadium’s security and ability to identify any persons of interest.
The new technology, which came into effect from 1 March, is in line with a move made by Melbourne’s AAMI Park and Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, which both introduced facial recognition last year.
The technology was first employed over the weekend on March 9 during the A-League Pride Cup match between Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory.
To reflect the introduction of the technology, Adelaide Venue Management (AVM), which manages and operates Coopers Stadium, updated venue conditions of entry and signage at the stadium.
AVM boss Martin Radcliff said the update to Coopers Stadium brings it inline with other interstate venues.
“We constantly review and update our match day operations and delivery – we want all fans, no matter who they support, to have a positive, fun, and safe day out,” he said.
Introducing facial recognition technology comes on the back of last year’s successful FIFA Women’s World Cup games at the venue, which saw $53 million invested in upgrading the stadium and more than 65,000 supporters through the gates during the five sold-out games.
Adelaide United CEO Nathan Kosmina has welcomed the enhanced security measures in time for this season.
“We frequently engage with our members and fans regarding stadium security to understand how we can best continue to provide a safe and family-friendly environment for everyone attending our A-League matches,” he said.
“This increased security investment, coupled with the state government’s $53 million upgrades ahead of last year’s hugely successful FIFA Women’s World Cup, underscores AVM and Adelaide United’s commitment to ensuring the safety of fans as a priority, while fostering an electrifying atmosphere at what is the best football stadium in Australia.”