"Behave as if your mother was with you" - Welsh Police Commissioner

A Welsh police commissioner has said a ban on alcohol at sporting events could be the future, following reports of anti-social behaviour during the recent Wales and New Zealand game at the Principality Stadium.

Alun Michael made the comments after fans and a policeman spoke up about a number of issues arising from the match. The Welsh Rugby Union also confirmed they are investigating after a disabled man was verbally abused.

Beth Fisher, a current BBC journalist, was at the match with her uncle, who has short arms caused by thalidomide, said he was subjected to “a tirade of foul language” after asking a group to stop blocking the view of Saturday’s match.

Another spectator, Sean O’Donoghue, said that language being used was a big problem and fans could not see the game with the amount of people getting up and down to buy alcohol.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales’ Good Morning Wales show, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Mr Michael stated, “if we have people continually behaving unpleasantly, aggressively and rudely then you are going to see an increase in the calls for alcohol to be banned at games.

“But the plea should be let’s all understand how to behave, let’s stop behaving in that bad way which puts at risk the enjoyment of many thousands of other people, and, in particular, let’s encourage people not to preload and not to arrive at the event having drunk too much.”

He also called on rugby fans to behave in a manner “as if your mother was with you”.

Be prepared
Be patient
Be well behaved
If you have to drink, drink responsibly

Enjoy the game and respect those around you.#WALvSA https://t.co/hYQmCHIgYZ

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— C/Insp Mark Cleland (@BTPCleland) November 30, 2017

Chief Insp Mark Cleland, from British Transport Police, was also highly critical of “drunken violent behaviour” shown by some spectators, tweeting that the “drunken culture” of rugby and other sports has “remained largely the same”.

I’m reviewing our #WALvSA plans ahead of the game on Saturday which has started a debate as to whether #Rugby or #Football fans behaviour is worse?

Correct answer = neither #RealFans respect the game and their team so they are just drunken louts & not fans at all. pic.twitter.com/NucfMkWdKk

— C/Insp Mark Cleland (@BTPCleland) November 27, 2017