New drive to combat football hooliganism

Date: 22/02/1996

By Rory Watson

NEW ways of cracking down on football hooligans are being investigated by the European Parliament this week.

The search for effective measures to prevent unruly fans from causing mayhem when they follow their favourite clubs to matches in other countries comes as the top 16 national teams prepare for this summer's European Championships.

The most infamous disaster occurred at the Heysel stadium in Brussels in 1985, when scores of spectators died after clashes between Liverpool and Juventus supporters. But several less-dramatic episodes of increasingly organised violence, especially by English, German and Dutch fans, are recorded every season.

The tendency of extreme right-wing groups to infiltrate the game has been closely monitored by Europe's police forces, but the phenomenon shows no sign of going away.

British Socialist MEP Glyn Ford is clear that the way ahead involves a greater readiness by national authorities to prosecute fans if they misbehave when their teams play away games elsewhere in the EU.

“We have to prosecute people either at home or abroad for their actions and, if necessary, we should change the law so that this can be done. We need to move to a situation where member states' governments have the responsibility to prosecute,” Ford insists.

A keen football supporter, Ford believes that the current policy of placing known troublemakers on a list and restricting their right of free movement to another member state could be a violation of their human rights.

He also argues that the current practice among European police forces of arresting visiting fans who break the law is ineffective. “What you have now is a situation where the fans are arrested, locked up in the local prison, kept there overnight and then deported the following day. You then see the same people at other matches in other EU countries. That does not work,” he said.

The Parliament's civil liberties committee is starting work this week on drawing up a range of measures designed to ensure that the rights of genuine supporters are not infringed, while introducing an effective clamp-down on hooligans.

“Many MEPs have realised that what might at first sight appear a marginal issue is in fact very important in the Union, as there are more international games. The philosophy being followed is to give an effective response to the fight against violence, particularly where it is organised by the extreme right, while encouraging free movement,” said one parliamentary official.

The committee, which hopes to win the full support of the Parliament for its proposals before the summer, intends to examine a range of options for combating the problems.

These will include positive measures such as moves to achieve greater integration of fans in the social side of football clubs' activities, as well as proposing action to deal with the hooligans.

Ford is working closely with German Green MEP Claudia Roth, who is investigating ways of balancing football supporters' human rights against the need to ensure that a minority of trouble makers do not destroy the pleasure of the majority of genuine fans.

The two parliamentarians held informal hearings in London last year to canvass the views of fans, players, clubs and football associations.

To help Roth produce her report, a similar hearing is being planned in Brussels next month.

The MEPs hope that their suggestions will eventually be taken on board by governments, who are conducting their own parallel investigation into ways of combating football hooliganism.