Football hooligan stadium bans on the rise

Authorities imposed 962 stadium bans against unruly fans last football season, with over 400 being told they are not welcome for two seasons. Evidence from the annual 2014-2015 season meeting of the Central Information Point for Football Hooliganism (CIV) showed that the number of stadium bans has risen through the combined efforts the police, prosecution and Dutch football association KNVB to welcome a safer football experience, police said in a statement on Thursday. Of the total police deployment to football events during the 2014-2015 season, 49 percent went to an Eredivisie match, a decline of four percent when compared to last year. However, there was a 16 percent increase in police presence required at First Division games. This has prompted four First Division football clubs from Limburg to increase commitments to combating hooliganism, police said. Authorities in the Eastern Netherlands have undertaken a number of steps to provide insight into notorious and violent offenders as well as public nuisance hecklers. These steps have resulted in dozens of stadium bans and have provided insight into target groups of people and criminal networks. Of the 808 football-related offence suspects, 49 percent were suspected of public violence and nine percent for insulting official or public authorities.