Football hooligans are an unfortunate consequence of the sport. In the past, hooligans would be banned from entering stadiums when a game was taking place, but with hundreds and thousands of spectators, it is more than likely than one or two will still manage to slip in undetected.
To help combat football hooliganism, the Dutch football association KNVB has announced plans to use technology to help fight against this problem. The technology used will involve keeping the offender’s fingerprints on file, as well as giving them a device with a built-in GPS that will be able to track their location at all times (during games) to ensure that they aren’t anywhere near the stadiums.
In a way you could think of it being similar to those ankle monitors worn by those under house arrest. However in this case, the offender will also need to check in by scanning their fingerprints three times – “You have to identify yourself three times: [once] during the match, and one time before the match and one time after the match,” according to Hans van Kastel, a spokesperson for the KNVB who spoke to VICE Sports.
We’re not sure how effective this system will be, but it is supposed to be more efficient than the current method which involves the offender registering themselves at a police station on match day.