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Crowd disorder and anti-social behaviour

Crowd disorder and anti-social behaviour have the potential to cause harm or injury at a sports ground.

It relates to behaviour that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person.

A Crowd Disorder and Anti-Social Behaviour Plan should be developed and included in the Operations Manual.

This should be developed following a risk assessment and consultation with the police.  It should set out the procedures for reducing, responding to and dealing with any incidents.

The Plan should:

  • identify the types of crowd disorder and anti-social behaviour that are likely to result in harm or injury to those present at the ground
  • identify which member of the management has responsibility for dealing with matters of crowd disorder and anti-social behaviour at the ground
  • outline the chain of command in relation to these matters and clarify matters of primacy when police are at the ground during an event
  • describe how and when police are to be contacted for any of these matters when they are not in attendance at the ground
  • describe how perpetrators are identified and reported or handed over to the police
  • describe the collection and preservation of evidence and witness identification
  • outline responses to particular types of crowd disorder and anti-social behaviour
  • outline a sliding scale of sanctions (for example, refusal of entry or a long term ban) for dealing with misdemeanours or poor behaviour at grounds where the same fans attend regularly
  • set out the management’s policy regarding the treatment, care and support of those aged under 18 and of adults at risk, including any victims or witnesses
  • set out the management’s policy for ensuring that records are kept of all ejections and detentions – including details of the name, time, location and reason for the ejection or detention, and any subsequent actions taken (for example a ban on a specific individual) – in order to assist the relevant authorities if an offence has been committed
  • ensure that stewards are trained to respond to the needs of disabled spectators in the event of crowd disorder and anti-social behaviour.

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