In late January there was plenty of talk surrounding crowd control in Scotland and their Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Plans were made to install a facial recognition system into the venues to identify and monitor past offenders with a history of misbehaviour; this includes anything from pyrotechnics to violence and offensive chanting or singing.
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Despite the extensive planning and popularity of the idea, the Scottish government has decided it will not be funding the project. While there were some controversial opinions, including the Head of the Scottish Football Supporters Association who described the idea as “a rushed move towards intrusive surveillance,” it was due to economic concerns that the government declined the proposal.
Speaking to STV News, Community Safety Minister Paul Wheelhouse explained that “it’s a hugely challenging time for public finances,” and that the fan behavior issue is “something Scottish football has to resolve itself”. But he added that government authorities are “willing to work with the footballing authorities and keen to do so,” suggesting that it isn’t so much the nature of the proposed security system, but the cost of it, at issue.
While there will be many who will always protest against facial recognition at public events, it’s extremely hard to argue with it’s intentions. As the threat of crowd violence is becoming an increasingly larger force globally, a system like facial recognition would develop a metaphorical safety blanket for all those attending the events. Innocent fans are able to know they are being looked after, and the fans inclined to misbehave will know they are being monitored.
The main argument that the protestors have is that the system would be an invasion of privacy and that it is unethical, so the SPFL will be pleased to hear the reasoning behind the government’s rejection, and that it is strictly due to economic hurdles.
With the growing threat of terrorism surrounding large events, whether it be sport or entertainment, a project like this will be taken back to the drawing board and we can definitely expect to see it again at some point in the future.