MPs who want to tighten legislation against football hooliganism have the backing of the Dutch football association KNVB and the Premier League.
At a parliamentary hearing held on Thursday the NPB and ACP police unions also supported the idea. However, they also criticised the government, saying that existing powers are not being used to the full.
Each year some six million people attend football matches. Of these millions, just 3,000 individuals epeatedly behave badly, says the KNVB. In line with Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, the KNVB and Premier League want more attention focussed on the 'hardcore' group of troublemakers.
A tightening up of the Football Act would include introducing a single type of stadium ban (there are two at present), the ability to ban hooligans from certain areas, longer sentences (the KNVB wants to see match bans of 10 years), an array of other sanctions and an obligation for hooligans to report to the police during matches, with stiff fines for those who don't.
(nc/tf)
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