Ticketless football fans face criminal charges under new stadium law after Euro 2020 final chaos
A new law making it an offense to attend a football match without a ticket comes into force this weekend in England and Wales, just ahead of the Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday.
The legislation follows a review by Baroness Louise Casey, which highlighted that lives were put at risk when thousands of ticketless fans descended on Wembley during the Euro 2020 final.
Offenders will now face heavy penalties, including a five-year football banning order and a fine of up to £1,000.
Baroness Casey’s findings had previously criticized weak enforcement for stadium breaches and specifically called for the criminalization of “tailgating” (the act of entering the turnstile directly behind a legitimate ticket holder).
Police Minister Sarah Jones stressed the importance of the new measures. Speaking to the Press Association he said: “This is a new law and of course the police are planning how it will be implemented.”
He added that this gives officers “more arsenal” to “deter and then respond to people disrespecting paying fans by trying to get in without paying.”
Ms Jones continued: “This is something I don’t think any party can object to; it can’t be right that some people pay and some don’t and people are put at risk, endangered, while people follow behind. So we need to have an appropriate response and I think a £1,000 fine or a five-year football ban would be a great deterrent.”
Previously, there were no legal penalties for attending a football match without a ticket.
The new Football Match Trespass Act also expands its scope, making it illegal to knowingly attempt to enter a match by using fake tickets, passes or accreditation documents, or by falsely claiming to be stadium or game staff.
The impetus for this legislation stems from an independent review of the European Championship final at Wembley on 11 July 2021.
Baroness Casey’s findings highlighted more than 20 “bad misses” that could have led to serious injury or death as ticketless people tried to get into England’s match against Italy and in some cases succeeded.
Nearly 100,000 people went to Wembley for the final, nearly 2,000 entered without tickets and there were 17 mass breaches of the gates in the 90 minutes from kick-off to the penalty shoot-out.
Further concerns about fan safety and stadium access have emerged following problems faced by Liverpool fans at their Champions League final against Real Madrid in Paris in 2022.
In this instance, despite initial attempts to blame Liverpool fans, such as denying entry to legitimate ticket holders and police using pepper spray and tear gas, officials were found to be at fault for significant issues around the Stade de France.
The new rules will come into force when Manchester City play Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at 4.30pm on Sunday.
