Thousands of offenders to face alcohol ban during World Cup

More than 7,000 offenders are expected to be banned from drinking alcohol during this summer’s FIFA World Cup as part of government efforts to reduce alcohol-related crime and disorder.

The Ministry of Justice said around 7,300 offenders will wear alcohol-monitoring tags at some point during the tournament. Around 5,000 offenders were already subject to alcohol monitoring orders when the competition began, while a further 2,300 are expected to receive new orders over the coming weeks.

The ankle tags monitor alcohol consumption continuously and are used to enforce court-imposed drinking bans. They can be attached to offenders serving community sentences or imposed as a licence condition on people released from prison.

Ministers say the technology has become an increasingly important tool in tackling reoffending and protecting the public. Since the scheme was introduced in 2020, offenders fitted with alcohol-monitoring tags have complied with their drinking bans for 97% of the days they have been monitored.

The government hopes the increased use of tags during the World Cup will help prevent alcohol-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour, which can increase during major sporting events.

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, 39% of victims of serious violent offences believed alcohol played a role in the incident. Official figures also show that around one in five offenders supervised in the community by the Probation Service has an identified alcohol problem.

The expansion forms part of wider plans to increase the use of electronic monitoring. The government says tens of thousands more offenders will be tagged over the next three years as monitoring technology is rolled out more widely.

Ministers have also announced plans to introduce a presumption that prison leavers will be electronically tagged on release as part of intensive supervision arrangements. The move will be supported by additional investment in probation services, including funding for at least 1,300 new probation officers over the next year.

Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending Minister Lord Timpson said: ‘Major sporting events should be a time for the country to come together and enjoy the game, not for alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder to ruin the occasion.

‘Having this tech fixed around the ankle is the wake-up call to offenders and leaves them with the sobering thought that one slip-up could send them to jail.’