Football fan enjoyment trumps stadium security, says Justice Min.

Minister Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice wants football matches to be more public-friendly and has made arrangement with municipalities, the police, the Public Prosecutor and football association KNVB to achieve this. Van der Steur wants football to be more "festive" again, and believes that well-meaning football fans should not be made to suffer because of groups of hooligans, the minister wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of parliament, on Thursday. The measures should lead to combination arrangements, club cards and intensive access checks at stadiums are no longer needed by 2020. But to manage this, problem supporters must be kept away from football, the minister wrote. A test project involving these new measures will be started with six football clubs next year. The idea is to gain experience with measures in the areas of a more personal approach to rioters, hospitality and security measures. According to the Minister, the events surrounding the first competition round in the Premier League early this month, once again show the importance of a proper balance between open and public-friendly football and the safety measures inevitably needed.