European Football Voices Unite: Away Fan Bans Should Only Be a Last Resort

Top European football clubs, leagues and national associations joined forces with fan organizations this week to call on public authorities to treat blanket bans on away supporters attending matches as a last resort rather than a routine response measure.

This unified position was reached at UEFA's security and safety conference held in Madrid. Hundreds of experts gathered this week to discuss the contribution of away fans to European football and the challenges created by collective bans. Football Supporters Europe (FSE), an umbrella organization representing fan associations from 50 European countries, has long lobbied against the excessive use of bans, with several high-profile cases having occurred previously.

The most prominent case occurred in November 2025. Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police decided to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending their Europa League match against Aston Villa. The decision was strongly criticized by then British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and led to the early retirement of West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford. Guildford is currently facing a serious misconduct investigation over recommendations to impose a blanket ban on fans of Israeli teams attending matches.

Although the case attracted global headlines, it was far from an isolated incident. In 2023, Basel fans were prevented from traveling to Nice for the second leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final because local authorities feared French strikes would affect police capacity to maintain order, despite no history of conflict between the two teams. Basel supporters eventually had to watch the match in a bar on the France-Switzerland border. In 2024, Lyon authorities imposed a collective ban on Besiktas fans based on memories of fan violence seven years earlier; Paris police also refused to allow PSV Eindhoven fans to attend their Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain.

Similar incidents continued in 2025. The French Interior Ministry attempted to close the Franco-Belgian border to prevent Feyenoord fans from traveling to Lille for a match; Paris police attempted to ban Bayern Munich fans from attending their game against Paris Saint-Germain; and the prefect of Naples prohibited Eintracht Frankfurt fans from attending their team's match against Napoli.

These cases were all criticized by fan groups at the time, who argued that they represented excessive responses to security concerns and were often made without accountability, due process and transparency. These protests drew the attention of the Council of Europe. The international organization was founded in 1949 to protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe and currently has 46 member states, including the United Kingdom. In October 2025, its committee on safety, security and service at sports events issued a non-binding recommendation to member states on collective bans on away fans, stating that national legislation on exclusion from sporting events “should prioritize individual accountability over collective restrictions, ensuring that sanctions target individuals.”