Banned football fans in West Midlands reminded to surrender passports
The warning comes from police, ahead of Euro 2024
Banned football fans are being reminded to surrender their passports ahead of Euro 2024 - or face being arrested.
Our specialist football unit has sent warning letters to over 100 fans with Football Banning Orders (FBO) to their name.
The orders prevent them from attending this summer's football tournament, and instructs them to hand over their passports to ensure they don’t travel to Germany.
People bound by FBO conditions must hand over travel documents to a designated police station during the passport surrender window that runs for 48 hours over Tuesday (4 June) and Wednesday.
There are six front offices where the passports can be surrendered, and they are:
• Birmingham Central
• Bloxwich
• Coventry
• Stechford
• West Bromwich
• Wolverhampton Central
Those who ignore the conditions of their order will be arrested and taken to court where they face a jail term of up to six months or a fine rising to £5,000.
Officers will be at Birmingham Airport in the build-up and during the competition to look out for those known to us.
And the force will have spotters in Germany to keep an eye out for those who are banned from travelling and anyone it is believed could cause issues.
An FBO usually runs for between three and 10 years and prevents anyone convicted of football-related offences from attending matches or going to overseas tournaments.
They are not only given to people convicted of violence or disorder but those who commit a football-related offence such as fighting or damaging property in a pub whilst watching a match.
Passports will be retained until the end of the competition and will then be available for collection.
Exemptions for those people going on holiday or working away can only be granted by the Football Banning Order Authorities.
If anyone is planning to going on holiday or is going to be working away during this period, they need to contact: FBOA@fpu.police.uk
They will require flight confirmation and accommodation details to be sent to them.
If anyone has any queries you can send in your query to the force's football unit at: OS_FORCE_FOOTBALL@westmidlands.police.uk
Inspector Rich Cox, from West Midlands Police’s Football Unit, said: "Anticipation is growing for a summer of football and we want people to enjoy the tournament - but football banning orders are there for a reason. Those subject of such a banning order will not be welcome at Euro 2024.
"We will actively pursue anyone who fails to surrender their passport; although in previous years the majority have understood the consequences of ignoring their order and complied with the conditions.
"People may see a more visible police presence at the airport but there is no reason to be alarmed; we will have a targeted, intelligence-led approach."