Soccer fans who run onto the field or use objects like smoke bombs and pyrotechnics at games in England will receive an automatic prohibition from clubs under new measures to tackle augmented anti-social behaviour.
Worries were raised about safety concerns inside stadiums after a series of happenings which spoiled the end of last season in the Premier League and lower leagues.
Among them, Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira ejected an Everton fan who was taunting him during a field invasion at Goodison Park and Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp was hit on head in the face by a Nottingham Forest fan at the end of a playoff game in the second-tier Championship.
“The rise in anti-social behaviour that we saw in stadiums at the end of last season was entirely unacceptable and put people’s safety at risk,” stated Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the Football Association.
“Together, English football has introduced new measures and stronger sanctions to send out a clear message that we will not tolerate this type of illegal and dangerous behaviour.”
The FA did not mention how long any bans would be.
The Football Supporters’ Association has supported the new measures which will come into execution in time for the start of the 2022-23 season.
The prohibitions could be lengthened to accompanying parents or guardians of children who take part in the field invasions, the FA stated.
The governing body mentioned it will also be putting a tougher charging and sanctioning policy for clubs in order to reinforce the measures.
Other measures to be put into force include improved searching of individuals entering grounds, high use of sniffer dogs, and working with social media platforms to quickly eradicate fan videos of illegal behaviour.
