Rights are being eroded. Every club has an element of the undesirable but this isn’t like the 1970s or 1980s

The problem here is the legislation, the SNP government and how they’re attempting to crack a nut.  This is all about perceived trouble. Yes, there is a problem with sectarianism in Scotland not just in football and I completely agree that it should be eradicated.  This is not though the issue here. The facts are people are being criminalised due to the enforcement of the new legislation. I haven’t witnessed any trouble first hand in at least 20 years of going to football or any wholesale violence.

Neither have I seen any fans being incited to commit violence or riot. The legislation is being driven by what they think is the will of the voters.

If this is a perceived problem then rank and file police officers should be able to use their initiative whereby they can determine how best to proceed.

If a police officer thinks something falls foul of the legislation he will instruct or be instructed to arrest.  However if it's “perceived” then that’s problematic. Police are not permitted to use their common sense in these situations.

I was asked to address a meeting recently of nearly 100 fans of which 90% indicated that they are routinely stopped and searched for no apparent reason with only one or two of these individuals actually having come to the attention of the authorities before. These are not football casuals they are not criminals they  are not young teenage boys with a rebellious streak  they are simply football fans enjoying watching and supporting their team, the majority in full time employment from working  and middle class backgrounds.

It would certainly appear that there is surveillance on a lot of innocent people. One wonders the actual costs involved to implement and justify the legislation.                                                                                                                            

While going on holiday with their families, people who have been recognised at football matches by the police are stopped routinely at Glasgow Airpor. I’ve had four cases in the past week and no charges have anything to do with sectarianism. If this is happening to one group of fans at one football club it is most certainly happening at all the others.

It is correct for people who sing sectarian songs or shout sectarian insults to be arrested and processed through the courts. However, what about a person displaying a banner that is not sectarian in anyway? A person simply walking to a football match and being told to provide his name and address to a police officer for no apparent reason?  A person walking down the street with his family and being spoken to by the police as they recognised him at a football match? Where is their right to privacy? Where is the crime?

Innocent people are being criminalised for things which are not criminal, purely because of the interpretation and implementation of the legislation.  Meanwhile Scottish football is on its knees, with lower attendances, falling revenues and ordinary fans are being forced away due to this legislation.

Paul Kavanagh is a leading criminal lawyer and director at Glasgow and Edinburgh based legal firm Gildeas