Football
Banning Orders, imposed to prevent violence or disorder at regulated matches,
bar individuals from attending games for a minimum of three and a maximum of 10
years.
The
existing legislation will be extended to cover online hate offences after Prime
Minister Boris Johnson vowed to toughen measures in July in the wake of racist
abuse aimed at England’s Black players following defeat in the Euro 2020 final.
“This
summer we saw the beautiful game marred by disgraceful racism from online
trolls, who hid behind their keyboards and abused our footballers,” Patel
was quoted as saying by British media.
“Those
responsible for appalling racist abuse online must be punished. The changes to
the law I am announcing will make sure they are banned from attending football
matches.”
The
new law will be brought forward early in the new year, British media reported,
in the form of an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
According
to government statistics, there were 1,359 football banning orders in force
across England and Wales as of Aug 1.
