SCOTTISH Labour leadership frontrunner Jim Murphy has promised to ditch controversial laws designed to stamp out religious sectarian abuse at football matches if he becomes First Minister.
The controversial Offensive Behaviour At Football Act was widely scorned by fans after it came into force two years ago, giving police and prosecutors extra powers to crack down on sectarian songs and abuse at matches, as well as threats posted on the internet or through the mail.
But the SNP majority administration at Holyrood saw off a call to repeal the Act. A Labour motion calling for the "flawed" legislation to be dumped was defeated by 68 votes to 50 after a Scottish Parliament debate.
Fans claimed the legislation was responsible for criminalising the harmless activities of ordinary fans and had led to "heavy-handed" policing.
Offences under the Act include sectarian and other offensive chanting and threatening behaviour related to football that is likely to cause public disorder.
Mr Murphy, MP for East Renfrewshire, said: "If I am elected Scottish Labour Party leader and First Minister I will scrap the Football Act right away.
"The law was an attempt to chase headlines rather than actually fix a complex problem. Sectarianism and intolerance goes far beyond 90 minutes on a Saturday or 140 characters in a tweet.
"Instead of fixing the problem, they have created a pointless culture of mistrust between football fans and the police.
"Only when sectarianism in Scotland is seen by future generations to be just as unacceptable as racism and homophobia will we get rid of this stain on Scottish society for good.
"The Football Act is not helping us towards the fair and tolerant Scotland we all want to live in."
The Offensive Behaviour At Football And Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 was forced through by the SNP Government without support from any other party.
Community Safety And Legal Affairs Minister Roseanna Cunningham said there were "welcome indications of success" as a result of the law.
She yesterday told MSPs there had been "decreases in offences of religious hatred and offending under the Act" and insisted: "It is working."
Football fans welcomed Mr Murphy's stance.
Chris Graham of the Rangers' supporters group coalition the Union Of Fans, said: "It is difficult to underestimate the amount of problems there have been with the Act. Its implementation has been virtually impossible and a disaster.
"The problem is how you decide what is offensive to somebody. I would welcome [a move to scrap the law] and I think you would struggle to find a football fan in Scotland who would not welcome it."
Joe O'Rourke, of Fans Against Criminalisation and the Celtic Supporters' Association, also welcomed the pledge, adding: "We need to scrap the legislation, because it was not needed in the first place. There were rules there that already covered anybody who misbehaved at football matches. It was a knee-jerk reaction."
MSP Margaret Mitchell, justice spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said the Act was "deeply flawed" and badly drafted.
Dave Scott, campaign director of the anti-bigotry charity Nil By Mouth, called on Scottish football to fall in line with European football's governing body and introduce strict measures that would punish clubs if their fans were found guilty of unacceptable conduct, including racism and other forms of discriminatory behaviour.
He called on the Scottish Football Association to revisit the "strict liability" proposals pushed by Uefa, which has adopted a zero-tolerance stance.
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