Government plans to curb football fury

The Ministry of Interior and Administration has pushed through an amended bill on the security of mass events after football hooligans ran riot through Warsaw's Old Town.

The bill will enforce a "stadium ban" meaning police can keep hooligans out of stadiums. On a match day, the police will also have to summon convicted hooligans to local police stations to keep them away from games.

Starting in autumn, tickets issued by football clubs must include the buyers' name, and these will be checked against fans' identity cards so tickets cannot be transferred. Football grounds will also have to have numbered seats. Should a club ignore the regulations, they will not receive a license from the Polish Football Association to enter official matches.

Another bill that is now being discussed in the Sejm, which will have a direct impact on how football hooligans are dealt with, proposes introducing 24-hour courts that will enable instant sentences for brawling hooligans.

"The bill is raising strong opposition from the big law firms and opposition parties. The argument is that it threatens citizens' rights," says the Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro. He has delcared war on football hooligans and in the wake of the recent riot he recommended that the prosecutors' offices submit claims for the temporary arrest of hooligans.

The riot came after a football match between bitter rivals Legia Warszawa and Wisła Kraków in Warsaw. Fifty four people were injured, 100 public transport vehicles were damaged, along with many local shops and restaurants. The commissioner of Warsaw, Mirosław Kochalski, recommended that shopkeepers in the area claim for damages from the culprits and he also suggested closing Legia's stadium by way of punishment.