During the Euros, police forces reported 351 domestic abuse incidents as being football related. This is compared to 193 domestic abuse incidents related to football during the Euros tournament in 2021.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) emphasises that these incidents, recorded between 14 June and 14 July 2024, do not represent the total of domestic abuse reports received during this time, only those that were recorded as having football as an aggravating factor.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, NPCC lead for domestic abuse, and Chief Constable Mark Roberts, NPCC Lead Football Policing, commented:
“Collecting data in this area is challenging because we rely on victims disclosing abuse, reporting the link with football where it exists, and accurate information recording across 43 forces. We also know that many victims won’t report abuse to the police, so we do not have the full picture of offending.
“We are working closely with support agencies to share data and intelligence to improve our understanding, for example, Respect, the UK charity stopping perpetrators of domestic abuse, recorded a 24 per cent increase in calls to its Men’s Advice Line and a 39 per cent increase to the Respect Phoneline during the Euros. This reinforces our belief that the heightened emotions and behaviour around football, such as prolonged drinking or drug taking, can exacerbate domestic abuse. However, more research is needed to understand the full impact.
A national policing strategy to help forces target serial domestic abusers during the Euros football tournament was launched in June this year. The strategy was produced by the UK’s Football Policing Unit and aimed to equip forces with a proactive, multi-agency approach to safeguard victims and target perpetrators of domestic abuse.
As part of the police activity, forces used intelligence to shortlist known serial domestic abusers with football banning orders to target operational activity, such as proactive patrols and welfare visits to victims.
The strategy also aimed to improve understanding of the link between football tournaments and a rise in domestic abuse. The NPCC says that whilst football does not cause domestic abuse, several factors are thought to exacerbate abusive behaviour during football tournaments, including the increased and prolonged consumption of alcohol around matches.
Data was collected at a national level and will now be further analysed to identify ways to improve the police response to prevent offences, safeguard victims and pursue perpetrators.
For more information, click here. For the response of Women’s Aid, click here.
Original reporting by Family Law Week