Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard is seeking to crack down on hooligans by proposing a new bill that would ban troublemakers from stadiums, including those who engage in disruptive behavior, participate in fights, or force others to remove their football shirts. The bill aims to strengthen efforts against hooligans at football matches. It was sent out for public consultation by the Justice Minister on Tuesday.
On Friday, the minister met with a wide range of players at the football stadium to discuss efforts against hooligans.
The Danish football scene in the autumn of 2022 was marked by several incidents and scenes of violence before, during, and after matches. This prompted the then Minister of Justice to form a team of experts, which, in September 2022, issued a number of recommendations on how to take a stronger stance against hooligans. Based on these recommendations, Minister of Justice Peter Hommelgaard today submitted a legislative proposal for consultation, which would ensure several things, including the following:
- The list of criminal offenses that could lead to a general ban from attending football matches will be expanded.
- The general ban is a ban on staying at football matches and within an area of up to 500 meters from the place where the football match is being held (3000 meters for away matches), so that this clause enables the police to issue a ban for up to 4 years if a person participates in fights, theft, or forces others to take off their football shirt, for example, at football matches.
- The police can help football club inspectors identify people who have violated club disciplinary rules but do not wish to provide personal data to club inspectors.
- The police will be given the opportunity to make a pre-emptive decision to detain selected sections of spectators after the match to avoid riots.
- People who exhibit disturbing behavior at football matches may be expelled from the venue where the football match is being held. As with the general ban, the expulsion will be enforced within 500 meters of the stadium and no more than 6 hours before and 6 hours after the match has ended.
Justice Minister Peter Humlgaard stated: “With this bill, we are sending a signal to those who cannot know how to behave properly at football matches. I have personally been going to the stadium for many years, and I think the atmosphere is fantastic, but I have also experienced how quickly the mood can change. It should be safe for families with children and other spectators to come to the stadium, not to witness fights, the tearing up of seats, or objects being thrown at police and stewards. We must not tolerate unacceptable behavior, and if further action is deemed necessary from a political standpoint, I am prepared to consider it.“.
The Minister of Justice will meet with the Dialogue Forum on Friday to discuss relevant initiatives.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard met with the Dialogue Forum on Friday to discuss the draft law and other measures that were agreed to be implemented in the autumn.
The Dialogue Forum is an ongoing continuation of the Autumn Expert Team and aims to ensure a sound framework for football match events, continuous monitoring of the development and impact of initiatives implemented in the field of football, and the submission of proposals for new initiatives.
One of the initiatives implemented as a follow-up to the expert team's recommendations is a trial between the West Copenhagen Police and Brøndby IF, which was organized to be considered as part of preventive efforts against young fans. Staff from the local police and Brøndby IF are also taking a training course that will help ensure that staff can better prevent young fans from participating in disturbances. Furthermore, an operational working group has also been formed with participants from the DBU, Divisionsforeningen, football clubs and the police, which is currently looking into how to strengthen efforts against criminal behavior in connection with football matches.
A broad political agreement was reached in October 2022 to strengthen efforts against hooliganism, based on a report by the Dialogue Forum's expert group, which included representatives from the police, the Divisions Union, the DBU, the supporters' community, and Premier League clubs. In this regard, the expert group agreed on a number of measures, four of which require legislative changes.
The amendments to the law currently apply to international football matches and all football matches involving teams from the first and second divisions, including training matches involving these teams, as well as international matches under the auspices of UEFA held in Denmark.
