Hooliganism moves

Press, 1 July 1985, Page 21

Hooliganism moves

NZPA-Reuter London The British Government, shamed by the Brussels soccer riot which killed 38 people, has unveiled legislation aimed at stamping out football hooliganism. The bill will ban alcohol at soccer grounds and on trains and buses taking fans to matches. Offenders will face up to three months jail and fines of about $3OOO.

The Home Secretary, Leon Brittan, said the bill signalled the Government’s determination “to do everything possible to remove this stain from a great British game.”

The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, accepted that British fans were to blame for the riot

before the European Cup final between Liverpool and the Italian side, Juventus, in Brussels in May. The disaster, caused when fans were crushed after a wall collapsed as Liverpool fans attacked Juventus supporters, provoked widespread revulsion and an international ban on English clubs. “We are putting forward tough but fair measures which go to the heart of the problem of drunken behaviour and hooliganism at football grounds,” said Mr Brittan, the Minister in Charge of Public Order. Opposition politicians have endorsed action against hooligans so the bill should pass swiftly through Parliament to become law

before the new soccer season starts in mid-August. It provides: • Fines up to £lOO ($276) for drunkenness at football grounds. • Fines up to £4OO ($1104) and three months imprisonment for sale or possession of alcohol at grounds or on buses and coaches travelling to matches. • Fines up to £lOOO ($2760) on those who permit alcohol on trains or buses taking fans to games. The Police Federation, voice of the nation’s policemen, said the bill did not go far enough and urged that all fans arrested for violent offences be automatically jailed.