HC Deb 03 February 1998 vol 305 cc587-8W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures the Government are taking in advance of the World Cup 1998 to ensure that crowd trouble at the event is avoided; what estimate he has made of the number of British fans who will travel to France for the World Cup; and how many tickets are available to English football fans for the World Cup games. [26491]

Mr. Michael

The Government are determined to do everything possible to protect the interests and enjoyment of the respectable British football supporter attending the World Cup in France this summer and to prevent disruption of the tournament by hooligans. For this purpose, we have established a World Cup Co-ordination Group which brings together official, policing and football representatives from both England an Scotland. They are working closely with the French authorities, who are responsible for the management and security of the tournament, to ensure a co-ordinated approach to preventing crowd trouble among England and Scotland fans during the tournament.

My right hon. Friend will also be hosting a seminar in Blackburn on the policing of football which will bring together relevant experts from across the European Union to discuss policing, safety and securing arrangements for the World Cup.

There is no reliable estimate at this stage of how many supporters may travel to France. The strong advice of the Government to supporters is that they should not travel to France unless they have a ticket for the match. French legislation against touting is strict, and supporters should not expect to buy a ticket in France.

The overall ticket allocation by the French Organisation Committee (CFO) has been as follows: 60 per cent. have been sold to the public in France; 12 per cent. CFO corporate sponsors and other commercial affiliates; 8 per cent. for sale through 12 authorised tour operators; 20 per cent. for the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to allocate to member associations, including those playing in the relevant matches.

We understand that FIFA intend to divide the great majority of their allocation for each month between the football associations of the competing teams. We expect FIFA to announce details of the allocation soon.