Police are planning to start seizing passports of banned football fans imminently as they fear many are planning to jet off to US early for the World Cup
Police will be knocking on the doors of known football hooligans in the coming weeks to seize passports to stop them getting to the World Cup.
Brit officers are planning to start seizing passports of football fans under banning orders imminently as they fear many are planning to try and sneak into the US to enjoy the World Cup.
The crackdown is being done months ahead of the first game amid fears by police chiefs that many may try to cheat the system by flying out to America super early so they are there when the tournament begins. It comes amid fears hooligans could slip into America and cause carnage around the country.
A police source exclusively revealed to the Daily Star: “They aren’t taking any chances. Time and time again these idiots try to get to World Cups and every time we stop them.
“They never learn. Because it is further away, police have started the confiscating early.”
The Football Spectators Order from the UK Government came into force on February 21 and covered all those with football banning orders in England and Wales. It gives police powers to completely take away the passports of any individuals subject to a banning order.
There is normally a period in the month leading up to the tournament to hand in their travel documents, It also gives police the power to place bail conditions on individuals requiring them to surrender their passports during a control period.
“Normally we give people a time frame to bring in their passports,” a police insider revealed. “But we are asking people whether they want to do it early and we are keeping a very close eye on where people are travelling to.
“It is notoriously hard to get into America with a crime on your record, but games are also being held in Mexico and Canada and there are fears people may try to travel to these countries then go over the border that way. Officers don’t want to take any chances and especially high level football fans that are known to us, and are known to try their luck, will be targeted in the coming weeks.
“Given where the tournament is being held, it is expected there will be a big lure to getting out there for lots of fans. We are hoping everyone will co-operate and we are trying to be very organised to stop any hiccups in the close weeks leading up to the tournament.
“Football should be enjoyed and we want all of the decent fans to have that. It is important we put in the ground work now.”
Only around 4,000 supporters made the journey to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which saw no arrests for supporters of England or Wales, who had also qualified that year. Across six tournaments in total, there were 55 arrests out of 432,000 fans, with 28 non-violent offences for England fans.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, national lead for football policing, recently backed English fans after comments were made by Fifa president Gianna Infantino who implied England fans are trouble. Referencing concerns about this year’s World Cup in north America and criticism in the build-up to Qatar 2022, Infantino said: “For the first time in history, also, no Brit was arrested during a World Cup.”
To laughter at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, he added: “Imagine. This is something really, really special.”
But Brit forces hit back at the “inaccurate” joke. Chief Constable Roberts said: “For the record, ‘British’ fans behaving at World Cups is the norm, not something special. While these things may be said in jest, it is neither helpful nor accurate to make this sort of comment.”