MPs demand stadium ban on anti-gay football fans

SPORTS fans who scream antigay abuse should get immediate stadium bans of up two years, MPs demanded last night.

And parents who make homophobic remarks while watching youth games should also face action, they said.

In a hard-hitting report, the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee called on sports bosses to show ‘zero tolerance’ of prejudice, saying attitudes in sport – particularly football – were ‘out of step with wider society’.

But the BBC also came in for scathing criticism for including boxer Tyson Fury on the 2015 Sports Personality Of The Year shortlist, despite his history of homophobic comments.

MPs said they were ‘very dissatisfied’ with BBC director general Lord Hall’s response to the controversy, saying the affair raised questions about BBC executives’ judgment.

With surveys suggesting 72per cent of football fans have heard homophobic abuse at matches, the committee said this was too often dismissed as ‘banter’.

MPs praised a two-year ban on rugby fans who aimed anti-gay abuse at international referee Nigel Owens.

The Football Association said: ‘We welcome the report and we will review it in full.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘A panel of experts unanimously agreed Tyson Fury should be on the shortlist, based solely on his sporting achievement.’