Football must be more welcoming and a ‘festive’ occasion, justice minister Ard van der Steur told parliament on Thursday.

In a written briefing, the minister said he has agreed with the Dutch football association, local councils, the police and the public prosecution office on measures to make football more ‘supporter friendly’, Dutch media report.

Van der Steur said the sport must be made more ‘accessible’ to ‘ordinary’ supporters who are often put off by the measures taken against hooligans.

Club card

For instance, supporters should be able to buy tickets to a match without being in possession of a club card. A pilot project to see how this works will be carried out at six clubs next year, during which the entrance controls will also be less strict.

In addition, measures against problem supporters are to be toughened up, with known hooligans having to report at police stations during matches and bans for the whole season rather than one or two matches.

These measures are separate to plans for reduced policing which are being tried out in six local authority areas after the winter break. The experiment comes after three premier division matches earlier this monthy went ahead without police cover because of strike action. All three passed off without incident.