Riots reminder of inaction on football violence - Long

8.50.00pm GMT Mon 4th Dec 2006

Castlereagh Alliance Councillor, Michael Long

Alliance Party Sports Spokesperson Michael Long has said riots following Saturday's CIS Cup Final match illustrate the difficulty with ongoing inaction by Government to tackle football violence.

The Castlereagh Councillor stated: "These events show the culture of violence which exists among a minority of so-called football supporters.

"It remains unreasonable to expect football authorities to deal with this on their own. We need faster action on the implementation of a similar Football Offences Act to that in existence in England and Wales to enable police and football authorities to move the game away from its association with violence, just as happened in England in the 90s.

"We have to go beyond just tackling sectarian and racist chanting, and deal also with pitch invasions and violence inside grounds in general. Although this would not have helped directly in Saturday, it would help remove the culture of violence associated with the game and would limit the likelihood of such events happening. The local game will be much stronger once people know they can go to watch it in safety."

ENDS