The Scottish Professional Football League is "considering the use of facial recognition technology at stadiums to help combat anti-social behaviour," according to Chris McLaughlin of the BBC. The SPFL has "set up a working group to examine the issue of unacceptable conduct." And it is understood that it will "seek financial assistance from the Scottish government." The debate over the extent to which clubs "should be held accountable for the conduct of their followers has been sparked by recent incidents involving Rangers, Celtic and Dundee United supporters." The prospect of facial recognition has "been met with scepticism from the Scottish Football Supporters' Association." SFSA Chair Simon Barrow said that the fans' group is concerned by "a rushed move towards intrusive surveillance" (BBC, 1/19). In Glasgow, Stewart Fisher reported Scottish Championship side Alloa Athletic Chair Mike Mulraney reckons £4M ($5.7M) to rid Scottish football of its anti-social behavior problem "might just prove to be a bargain." Mulraney and Raith Rovers Chair Eric Drysdale have been "working for 12 months on a plan to eradicate offensive behaviour in the Scottish game." Rather than embracing "strict liability" laws, Mulraney will ask for government assistance to install "facial recognition technology onto CCTV cameras in all 42 Scottish senior grounds." There "has been a spate of pyrotechnics at Scottish grounds in recent weeks." The price tag for all this is a "cool" £4M, but Mulraney "feels it would be money well spent." He said, "We have asked for government help because we cannot do it on our own. ... If we go for a 42-club solution I think that could be as much as £4 million. In one sense that sounds like a horrific amount of money. But in another way, if it was to prevent Scotland being portrayed so negatively throughout the world it is cheap at half the price" (EVENING TIMES, 1/19). Also in Glasgow, Rebecca Gray wrote multi-million pound technology "will not stop football fans taking banned pyrotechnics to games, police sources have told the Evening Times." Insiders "slammed plans" to spend up to £4M on facial recognition technology. A police source said, "We are all in agreement that the use of pyrotechnics needs to stop -- and it needs to stop now. But I'm not convinced spending millions of pounds on cameras and facial recognition technology will be help if the individual suspected of setting off a pyrotechnic is covered in a cloud of colored smoke." Another police insider said that "more thorough searches" by stadium stewards were required (EVENING TIMES, 1/20).
