Euro 24 and possession of Class A drugs drives rise in football-related arrests
There was a 14 per cent increase in football-related arrests during the 2023/24 season, driven by an increase in arrests for the possession of Class A drugs and arrests during the Euro 2024 tournament.
Latest Home Office figures said there were 2,584 football-related arrests during the season, up by 320 on 2023/24.
Of the arrests, 281 were related to Euro 2024 in Germany and 344 for the possession of Class A drugs.
Possession of Class A drugs became a Schedule 1 offence in November 2022 during the 2022/23 season, and arrests made in England and Wales for offences committed in England and Wales relating to overseas tournaments have only been included since the 2022/23 season.
“Therefore, the increase in arrests relating to these is likely to be due in part to enhanced and improved recording and reporting of these as football-related arrests,” said the Home Office.
Data taken on August 1 this year showed there were a total of 2,172 football banning orders in force in England and Wales, an increase of 34 per cent compared with the previous year (1,624). Within the 2023/24 football season, 825 new banning orders were issued, an increase of 21 per cent compared with the 2022/23 season.
Incidents were reported at 1,341 football matches in England and Wales during the 2023/24 football season. This was down by 12 per cent compared with 1,516 matches in the previous season.