POLICE ARE ANGRY OVER ENGLAND’S 5pm KICK-OFF

POLICE chiefs are dismayed by UEFA’s decision to stage Saturday’s Scotland v England World Cup qualifier at a time which will create the greatest risk of violence. Senior officers say a 5pm kick-off at Hampden Park allows too much drinking time on what is expected to be a warm afternoon. The scheduling, which is attractive to broadcasters, will also draw officers away from policing Glasgow city centre at their busiest time of the week amid the ongoing terror threat. The match comes a year after similar scheduling led Russian gangs to attack English fans in Marseille at Euro 2016. Officers warned long before the Russia match that there could be violence and they believe UEFA have failed to heed the lesson. Britain’s top football police officer, assistant chief constable Mark Roberts, told Sportsmail that police should be entitled to influence the timing of matches but were powerless to do so. Roberts, head of the UK Football Policing Unit, said: ‘A late kick-off at a weekend in a potentially high-risk game is not EXCLUSIVE

something the police would generally support. Not only does it increase a risk for the event but the level of police resource required — for what is a commercial event — is taking staff away from core policing roles. At the moment, the police have little influence. ‘Ultimately it cannot be right that an event can be staged at a time that actually increases the risk factor — and that the police cannot influence the final decision-making.’ Police Scotland said they had been ‘in discussions’ with the governing body about the qualifier but indicated to

Sportsmail that the early evening kick-off had been ‘a decision for UEFA’. Though the old rivals meet in FIFA’s tournament, UEFA are responsible for organising and marketing the European World Cup qualifiers on the world governing body’s behalf. Sky Sports and ITV are broadcasting the match live. The FA want to avoid more of the embarrassing scenes witnessed at the Germany friendly in Dortmund in March, where a minority of travelling supporters sang puerile, offensive songs about the Second World War. Since that match, 34 members of the England Supporters Club have been investigated and some banned. The FA’s head of security Tony Conniford has been supporting police efforts to help identify troublemakers. Hours of CCTV footage have been examined. The Supporters Club have also assisted police. But Saturday’s fixture is particularly challenging to the police, with Scottish officers having no way of preventing known English troublemakers travelling to Hampden. More than 2,000 have had to surrender their passports under banning orders but there is nothing to stop them heading to Glasgow. ‘We can hardly check them all at the border,’ said one senior source. Police Scotland assistant chief constable Bernard Higgins said a ‘robust’ policing plan will be in place. ‘Public safety is paramount,’ he insisted. Roberts, who led the overseas British force that helped investigate Russian attacks on England fans last summer, said he was confident the Scottish force would ‘implement an outstanding safety and security operation’. Senior police officers are frustrated by

the common assumption that policing around stadiums is the only challenge at high-risk matches, while a huge influx of fans into a city draws police resources far beyond the ground. Local authority safety advisory groups, which grant licences for matches, could influence timings of games but are not doing so. Roberts said police had built a strong relationship with the Premier League and Football League about scheduling. He said: ‘While mindful of their responsibility to broadcasters, they have always sought to work with us in achieving the best outcome for public safety.’ UEFA said last summer’s disturbances in Marseille had prompted plans to look at greater flexibility for future high-risk fixtures. FIFA did not respond to

Sportsmail’s request for comment.