Coalition party VVD wants police to charge football clubs for intervening in riots

The VVD wants the police to charge football clubs money if cops need to intervene in supporter violence, MP Ingrid Michon said in a motion. And football clubs that don’t take sufficient measures to prevent riots and other supporter violence should lose their professional license, the liberal MP told the Telegraaf.

The motion contains a long list of proposals to tackle troublemakers in and around football stadiums. It includes better access control, more camera surveillance, and mandatory agreements with the municipality, police, and prosecutor ahead of high-risk matches. “If more police deployment is subsequently required because things get out of hand, then the club has failed,” Michon said. “Then the costs of that extra deployment should be passed on.”

She wants to include the quantity and quality of surveillance cameras in the requirements for a club’s professional license. The same should apply to the quantity and level of training of stewards and security guards in the stadium.

Michon thinks that clubs should take more responsibility than they do now. She wants to require them to invest in access control equipment and perform more identity checks at the gate. Longer queues are no argument against this, she said. “Then you just come to the stadium a bit earlier. There are always arguments not to do something. I say: just do it.”

A big part of the VVD MP’s approach is a licensing requirement per match so that mayors can enforce measures for each match, such as preventive frisking, limiting the number of spectators, or requiring a certain number of security guards. She also wants clubs to meet with the local mayor, police, and prosecutor ahead of high-risk matches to agree upon police deployment and other measures. Charging the clubs for extra police deployment will “stimulate” them to take their responsibility seriously, she believes.