Over 1,300 known “hooligans” in Britain have been barred from going to Russia for the World Cup finals. The British Government has demanded they surrender their passports.
Officials ordered the “troublemakers with a history of football-related disorder,” all of whom had been issued with football banning orders, to hand in their passports to police last week, the Home Office said.
Police have collected 1,254 of the passports as of Wednesday and plan to round-up the remaining 58 Police will hold the documents until the World Cup ends on July 15.
“The World Cup is a festival of football and is no place for violence or disorder,” said Nick Hurd, a minister responsible for policing.
“The UK’s system of football banning orders is unique and means that people intent on causing trouble in Russia will instead be staying at home,” Hurd said.
He thanked the police for ensuring that “these thugs won’t be able to ruin the tournament for real fans.”
The governor said some 10,000 fans are expected to travel from Britain to Russia for the World Cup.
England is the only team from the UK to qualify for the finals where they meet Belgium, Panama and Tunisia.