A NEW Scotland-wide police unit dedicated to tackling sectarianism and other problems at football matches is to be created in the wake of last season's violence centred on the Old Firm.
The National Football Policing Unit will help officers co-ordinate intelligence on potential troublemakers and flashpoints ahead of games and contribute to post-match investigations.
The group, which will be backed by £1.8 million from the Scottish Government, will be announced at tomorrow’s meeting of the Joint Action Group (JAG) on football violence, which was itself set up in March in response to the problem.Last season saw violence at games, touchline brawls, a terror campaign against high-profile supporters of Celtic and an attack on the Parkhead club’s manager Neil Lennon at a game against Hearts in Edinburgh.
After an emergency summit involving ministers, Celtic and Rangers, the Scottish Football Association, the Scottish Premier League and police, the JAG was created to flesh out an eight-point action plan. It meets again tomorrow at Hampden.
Its brief includes finding ways of cutting alcohol-related violence before and after games, minimising sectarian and racist abuse, and tackling football-related domestic violence.
As a result of its work so far, it is understood ministers are now considering a new law to shut down pubs in potential troublespots.
Senior police officers would be able to apply to a court to request restrictions on licensed premises where they anticipated public disorder.
Last month, the Scottish Government tried to push emergency legislation through Holyrood in order to tackle sectarianism and other forms of hate crime at football matches and on the internet.
Ministers wanted the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill to be passed in a fortnight in readiness for the start of the new football season which starts on July 23.
However, there was an outcry that the reforms were not receiving proper scrutiny, and the First Minister announced the bill would be delayed until the end of the year.
It is understood Rangers and Celtic withdrew their support for the timetable after ministers suggested the clubs might be forced to close their stadia temporarily if fans misbehaved.
Some legal experts have also warned that the second half of the bill, which concerns the regulation of hateful material on the internet, is fundamentally flawed as it encroaches on an area reserved to the Westminster Parliament.
The JAG will continue to meet this year as the bill continues at Holyrood.
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