Wednesday 22 March 2023

MPs, police call for tougher measures against football hooligans

The 2010 football law brought in to clamp down on hooliganism needs to be toughened up, according to a majority of MPs.


MPs say the law needs tougher sanctions for fans who break stadium bans and the fines should be increased.
For example, the maximum ban period should be extended from three months to one year and should cover all stadiums in the country. Fines should also go up to a maximum €7,600, the MPs say.

Mayors criticised

MPs will discuss the effect of the legislation to date with police union officials later on Thursday. ‘The football law should not only be made tougher but should be put into effect better as well,’ Jan Willem van de Pol, from the NPD union told Nos television.
‘The law offers a lot of options but some are rarely used. There is lack of managerial will,’ he said. For example, mayors are reluctant to use emergency provisions so that police officers can weed out known troublemakers, he said.
Last year, an Ajax fan who had been banned from the Arena stadium managed to disrupt the Dutch Cup tie between Ajax and AZ by running onto the pitch and attacking the Alkmaar team’s keeper.

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