UK bars over 1300 rowdy football fans from visiting Qatar for World Cup

From November 10, as many as 1308 ‘disruptive’ football fans in the United Kingdom will be required to hand in their UK passports to the local police until the end of the World Cup in Qatar.

Measures to prevent violent football fans subject to football banning orders in England and Wales from travelling to the World Cup in Qatar came into effect from Friday.

The listed fans face up to 6 months in prison and an unlimited fine if they fail to submit their passport to the authorities or attempt to travel to Qatar and neighbouring countries.

Passports will be returned to individuals after the final match of the tournament. If they wish to travel to other countries during this period, they will need to seek permission to hold on to their passports and will be subject to thorough checks.

As part of a targeted operation at ports, the UK police will also be able to intercept known troublemakers who are likely to cause further disruption to stop them from attending the tournament. If they are caught attempting to travel, they will face a banning order court hearing within 24 hours.

Police officers in the UK and Qatar will gather intelligence during the tournament, with fans causing disruption during the World Cup risking arrest or being handed a football banning order on their return to the UK.

This is part of wider action taken by the British government to crack down on violence and disorder at football matches, which includes extending football banning orders to cover women’s domestic games and football-related online hate crime, and the imminent extension to Class A drug offences at matches.

The police also continue to take action, with over 2,100 arrests made and 516 new football banning orders issued in the 2021 to 2022 season.

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