What Online Racists Need to Know About Football Banning Orders

There has been a lot in the press recently discussing lifetime bans for football fans accused of racism against players online. A number of clubs have started investigations into reports that some of their fans had been abusing players online following the Euro 2020 Finals. Leyton Orient FC recently banned a season ticket holder after they discovered their racist abuse online.  

Current rules limit the length of bans that can be issued to fans involved in football-related offences. The orders that can be issued also don’t apply to online abuse, but this all seems set to change.   

What is a Football Banning Order?  

A Football Banning Order (FBO) is a civil order offence that was first introduced in 2000. Under government guidelines, it is defined as: “A preventative measure imposed by a court following a football-related offence, with the aim to prevent violence or disorder at or in connection with regulated football matches.”  

FBOs can be issued in relation to arrests under Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989. They can also be issued following complaints from local police forces, the British Transport Police (BTP) or the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).  

If you are issued with an FBO then you are prevented from attending ‘regulated’ football matches for the duration of the order. Subjects of an FBO can also be banned from overseas football matches and tournaments. In these cases, individuals must report to their local police station and surrender their passport. The issuing court may also impose any additional requirements they deem fit in relation to regulated football matches.  

Under the current guidance, FBOs can be issued for a minimum of 3-years and a maximum of 10 years. Any breaches of the order are classed as a criminal offence and are punishable with an unlimited fine, a 6-month prison sentence, or both.  
 

Will it show up on a DBS Check or another background check?  

FBOs like any criminal or civil offence will be disclosed by the Disclosure and Barring Service on any certificate they produce. The offence itself will be unspent and disclosed on a Basic DBS Check until the relevant rehabilitation period has been fulfilled. The time can vary dependent on the circumstances surrounding an order being issued (You can find more about rehabilitation periods here).  

Even after the conditions of a rehabilitation period has been met, the FBO will still be disclosed on Standard or Enhanced DBS Checks. This is because they show an individual's entire criminal record history, regardless of whether an offence is spent or unspent.   

FBOs could also potentially show up on non-criminal background checks. Employers that regularly find themselves in the public eye often run Media Checks on potential employees. These checks search for references to an individual in the media and reveal any results, positive or negative, to the employer running the check. If an FBO is publicised in the local or national press, then employers would be made aware of this via a Media Check. Even if the FBO was issued decades in the past, it could harm employment prospects in the future.   
 

What’s changing?  

The volume of racism targeted at England players following their loss in the Euro 2020 Finals has prompted the government to begin changing the rules surrounding FBOs. The current guidance doesn’t accommodate racist abuse online, but Boris Johnson recently confirmed that the UK Government will be extending the guidance to include this. A move believed to be strongly supported by the Premier League.  

On top of this, an online petition has recently gained traction asking the FA and UK Government to review the current rules. The petition, now with over one million signatures, is calling for:  

"...for the Football Association and the government to work together now to ban all those who have carried out racist abuse, online or offline, from all football matches in England for life. “  

If this petition were to be enacted into law, then individuals issued with an FBO could potentially be classed as an unspent conviction for the rest of their lives.   

Employers need to have policies in place so that if they are faced with potential recruits with these offences they can deal with it appropriately. All employers running background checks should have an existing policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders. On top of this, having a policy on how to handle inappropriate employee behaviour online is vital in our increasingly digital world. 

For more information about how Personnel Checks background screening solutions can help ensure a safe recruitment process, get in touch! You can give us a call on 01254 355688 or drop us an email at letstalk@personnelchecks.co.uk