A prominent Liverpool journalist has launched a scathing critique of the way football fans in the UK are policed.
Gareth Roberts, of Liverpool-based Spirit of Shankly and the Late Challenge Podcast, made his comments at an event organised by the Liverpool Centre of Cultural, Social and Political Studies (LCCSPS).
His words came days before FIFA President Gianni Infantino was forced to apologise in an interview with Sky News for comments he made about English football fans at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The focus of the LCCSPS event, organised by Dr Jan Ludvigsen, was to see if the rights of football fans have been upheld since the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final, which was marred by French police mistreatment of fans.
Mr Roberts said: “If you’re a football fan, you’re treated differently to a rugby fan, a race goer, a cricket fan, whatever it might be.”
“If you’re a football fan, you’ll soon find yourself in the dock if you’ve done something daft.”
Mr Roberts also argued that a racegoer might be let off more lightly for offences, and that this links back to class issues.
Mr Roberts believes that police concerns around the introduction of safe standing in football grounds were completely unfounded.
Concerns about the human rights of fans were also raised by Mr Roberts, who said that UEFA could intervene to encourage better treatment of fans, but they choose not to.
There is a piece of international law, the Saint-Denis Convention, signed in 2016, which is designed to make sporting events more welcoming for fans, through three key pillars: safety, security and service.
Dr Ludvigsen, the event organiser said: “The fans’ human rights need to be prioritised.”
