MINISTERS are set to consider banning football fans caught using flares from matches.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced plans to consult on the measure after a meeting with top Scottish clubs and the police on Tuesday.
She said the Scottish Government would launch a consultation on whether Football Banning Orders should be extended to include people using pyrotechnics at games.
Pyro displays at games are divisive among fans, with many considering them part of the atmosphere while others complain that flares are dangerous and make it hard to see the game.
Football bosses are also split on whether fans should be banned from setting off flares at games.
The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) last week called for greater use of Football Banning Orders to deter people from using pyrotechnics.
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But Scottish Football Association (SFA) chief executive Ian Maxwell has insisted he did not want to see people banned from using flares at games, telling BBC Sport Scotland: “You would absolutely never want to get to that stage and we need to look at the steps that we can take to avoid that.”
Tuesday’s meeting involved the SPFL, the SFA, Rangers, Celtic, Hibernian and Aberdeen football clubs as well as supporters’ associations, the police, prosecutors. Glasgow and Edinburgh city councils and the local authority umbrella organisation Cosla also attended.
Constance said: “We must all do everything possible, individually and collectively, to rid football of dangerous and harmful behaviours.
We will publish a public consultation on Football Banning Orders legislation and how they can be effectively used to address disorder, in particular the reckless and illegal use of pyrotechnics at matches, and work closely with our partners to develop the consultation and consider next steps.”
