Burnley men banned from England’s friendly match in Denmark must hand over passports

TWO Burnley men who police believe have been involved in football-related disorder have been ordered to stay in the country, preventing them from going to England’s football match tomorrow.

The men, aged 19 and 25, were ordered to hand over their passports yesterday at Burnley Magistrates’ Court after police presented evidence of suspected football-related disorder. Officers will keep their passports until Thursday morning – after the England match against Denmark.

Bail conditions were imposed for the pair not to leave England or Wales until the next court hearing in March.

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PC Diane Murphy from the Football Banning Order Unit at Lancashire Constabulary said: “We believe these two men have been involved in repeated disorder at a number of football fixtures.

“When an England away fixture is played, there are operations running around the country with officers working at the ports to prevent potential risk supporters from leaving the country and travelling to the place where the game is played and potentially causing trouble.

“Before an England game is played we have a five-day control period where anyone subject to football banning orders has to surrender their passports to police. It also allows us to prevent anyone who we believe has caused or contributed to violence or disorder in the United Kingdom or elsewhere from leaving the country and travelling to a fixture.”

The men attended court yesterday after officers served a notice to them on Sunday under section 21b of the Football Spectators Act (1989).

There will be a case management hearing on March 9th as officers apply for football banning orders against the two men.