Ticketless football fans could face £1,000 fines if they gatecrash matches
Ticketless football fans could face £1,000 fines if they gatecrash matches after MPs backed a proposal to criminalise unauthorised entry.
The Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Bill moved closer to becoming law on Friday after MPs voted to give it a second reading without a debate.
According to an explainer from the Home Office, 'tailgating and other forms of unauthorised entry (including attempted entry) poses public order and security problems to matchday operations at stadia and tends to take place at the highest interest sold-out matches, which included the Euro 2020 matches at Wembley Stadium'.
The Euro 2020 tournament – held a year late during the Covid-19 pandemic – ended at the north-west London stadium with Italy beating England 3-2 on penalties.
MPs also agreed on Friday to progress the Controlled Drugs (Procedure for Specification) Bill without a debate, which if passed, would give ministers the power to list substances as class A, B or C using regulations.
Fines for unauthorised entry to football matches would apply when at least one team ranked in the top five tiers of men's domestic football competition – including the Premier League and EFL Championship – the Women's Super League and the Women's Championship, or the men's Cymru Premier league in Wales.
They would also apply when at least one team represented a country or territory.
Linsey Farnsworth, Labour MP for Amber Valley, brought forward the proposal as a private member's Bill, but MPs ran out of time to debate it.
'Currently, detected persons who gain entry without authorisation are likely to be ejected with no legal repercussion, whilst persons detected attempting entry are usually moved on and will often make multiple attempts to gain entry,' the explainer said, adding that rule-breakers would face a maximum fine at level three on the standard scale, which is £1,000.
Courts would also be able to issue offenders with a football banning order for a time-limited period unless they believe 'there are particular circumstances that would make it unjust in all the circumstances to do so'.
Alex McIntyre, Labour MP for Gloucester, brought forward the Controlled Drugs (Procedure for Specification) Bill.
According to explanatory notes, changing the mechanism for listing drugs would 'ensure that new substances can be made subject to control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 more rapidly'.
It said new synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes are 'a significant risk to public health', adding: 'With the rapid development of synthetic drugs, it is vital that any new controls come into force at the earliest opportunity as a matter of public safety.'
The bills must be considered again in the Commons and the Lords before they become law.
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