Anyone who receives a Football Banning Order this season will not be able to actively support England and Wales if they qualify for the World Cup finals in South Africa next year, CPS London s football prosecutor co-ordinator Edmund Hall said today. As

Anyone who receives a Football Banning Order this season will not be able to actively support England and Wales if they qualify for the World Cup finals in South Africa next year, CPS London's football prosecutor co-ordinator Edmund Hall said today.

As the new football season gets underway the Crown Prosecution Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in collaboration with the Home Office, the Football Association and the Professional Footballer's Association are re-iterating their commitment to operating a robust prosecution policy for football related offences.

Mr Hall said "As well as taking violence, disorder and criminal damage seriously, we will come down hard on offences of racist indecent chanting and other types of hate crime, and will apply for a Football Banning Order for those guilty of ticket touting.

"Members of the community whose homes and businesses are close to football grounds and well-behaved fans have the right not to have their lives disrupted by football hooliganism."

The prosecution policy on Football Related Offences signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC and Assistant Chief Constable Andrew Holt, ACPO lead on football matters, has been widely recognised by other jurisdictions as the most effective in this field.

Andy Holt, ACPO lead on Football matters said:

"Hooliganism is much less of a problem than in the past. Football banning orders have been very successful, with less than 10 per cent of those who are issued with banning orders re-offending.

"There are however a small minority of people who engage in football related violence and disorder, causing a risk to the safety of the vast majority of law abiding football supporters. ACPO and police forces have been working closely with the CPS to tackle football-related violence and hooliganism and to identify such individuals and bring them to justice. This is particularly important in the run up to the World Cup next year."

Each CPS area has a lead football prosecutor dealing with Premiership and Football League Clubs who works closely with their police counterparts to tackle football-related violence and hooliganism.

This effective system was praised by the South African Assistant Commissioner Ben Groenewald who said when he attended the first CPS football Conference in April, that he would be interested to implement the same scheme for the South African World Cup in 2010.