Section 1 Offence of unauthorised entry to designated football matchesI1I2

In the Football (Offences) Act 1991, after section 1 (designated football matches) insert—

“Unauthorised entry

1A

(1)

A person (“P”) commits an offence if—

(a)

P enters, or attempts to enter, premises for the purpose of attending a designated football match, and

(b)

at the time of entry or attempted entry, P does not have a match ticket for the match that P is eligible to use.

(2)

It is a defence to prove that P had lawful authority or lawful excuse for entering, or attempting to enter, the premises.

(3)

It is a defence to prove that—

(a)

P entered, or attempted to enter, the premises through an entry point normally used by spectators,

(b)

at the time of entry or attempted entry, P had something that they reasonably believed was a match ticket for the match, and

(c)

the thing that P had—

(i)

was not a match ticket for the match, or

(ii)

was a match ticket for the match but P was not eligible to use it.

(4)

In this section—

• “match ticket” means a ticket or other thing (whether in physical or electronic form) which authorises a person to enter premises for the purpose of attending a designated football match;

• “premises” includes any place.”