The abandonment of Tuesday’s Serbia v Albania match after a drone carrying a sectarian flag was flown over the pitch has prompted fears of copycat stunts at football grounds in the UK.
The Football League has written to the Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates unmanned as well as conventional aircraft, asking it for guidance on the usage of drones around football grounds. The Premier League is understood to share the Football League’s concerns and is also in communication with them about the issue.
The former Labour minister Tom Watson, who chairs an all-party parliamentary group on drones, said the incident highlighted the dangers of the unregulated proliferation of the use of unmanned aircraft. He said: “The disruption caused by a lone drone with a cam and flag underscores the need for comprehensive review of drone use and regulation, as the APPG on drones have advocated.” He added: “This is the tip of the iceberg.”
A source close to the committee added: “There is definitely a concern about the potential for disruption. There’s a massive risk of proliferation, not just at football matches.”
The CAA warned that it would prosecute anyone trying to disrupt football matches or any other events in the UK. In a statement it said: “Where an operator breaches the regulations and, where we have sufficient evidence we will take legal action.”
The Belgrade incident is not the first time that a football match has been subject of an aerial stunt. There have been three instances this season in the Football League that have involved drones, including a televised match between Nottingham Forest and Fulham.
Earlier this year disgruntled Manchester United fans hired an aeroplane towing a “Moyes Out” slogan during a match at Old Trafford to express opposition to the team’s then manager David Moyes.
In 2008 the kick-off to a game between Burnley and Ipswich at Turf Moor was delayed after a skydiver landed on the roof to one of the stands.
