MPs are calling for a specific law to punish people who enter football stadia without tickets.
The House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee has made the recommendation following the unrest seen at the finals of Euro 2020 at Wembley Stadium.
Following the match between England and Italy in July 2021 after COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted, it was estimated that 2,000 fans stormed Wembley without tickets.
Dame Louise Casey’s review from the time found “a horde of 6,000 or more ticketless fans, many of whom were no more than mindless thugs” tried to gain entry – and some could have been killed.
Now, MPs on the CMS committee want action taken to prevent such scenes from taking place again.
The committee’s chair, Dame Caroline Dineage – who will be speaking to Sky News at around 8am this morning – said: “Tailgating and other forms of unauthorised entry into grounds are an increasing problem at high-profile matches, putting safety at risk from overcrowding.
“Those involved should know that they will face consequences and the government should back legislation to ensure they can be banned.”
The committee wants the government to back a bill proposed by Labour MP Kevin Brennan – the Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill – which is due for a provisional vote in the house in February.
As well as the creation of new laws, the report released today also calls for expanded trials on safe standing, police and clubs to take the use of Class A drugs at sports events more seriously, steps to monitor and tackle anti-social behaviour and discrimination, and for measures to ensure stadia are accessible to all.
It also calls for the creation of guidelines on the role of stewards – as well as calling for an “appropriate wage” to be set.
The CMS committee’s review also looked into the 2022 Champions League final in Paris, where Liverpool fans were refused entry to the stadium despite having tickets for the match.
Rather than fan behaviour being at fault, this was found to be due to the actions of police and match organisers.
The committee described the treatment of Liverpool fans by French authorities as “disgraceful”, with the approach worsened by attempts to blame the fans for the disruption.
MPs added that the attitude of foreign police forces towards British fans was a significant factor.
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Dame Caroline said: “At big games in Europe, too often the attitude of foreign police to British fans leads to unacceptable treatment of innocent supporters.
“The government needs to work with overseas counterparts to bolster the role of British police travelling with teams and collaboration with local forces.”
