Over 1,000 English football hooligans have had to hand in their passports ahead of the World Cup in Russia to prevent them from attending, diminishing fears of a repeat of the clashes with Russian rivals at the Euro 2016 finals. The British government issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the Football Banning Orders Authority (FBOA) - part of the Home Office - ordered 1,312 banned individuals who hold a passport to surrender it to police last week.
The latest figures released on Wednesday show that forces in England and Wales have accounted for 1,254 passports. Some 10,000 England fans are due to travel to Russia for the tournament which gets underway on Thursday. "This (the 1,254) represents 96% of the people currently subject to football banning orders who hold a passport," read the statement. "Police will continue to root out the small number of outstanding passports throughout the tournament."
Police will keep the passports until the World Cup final on July 15 regardless of whether England have already been knocked out or not. Nick Hurd, the Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, expressed his satisfaction that the football fans in Russia would not have their trip ruined by "thugs".
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.