Football fans taking cocaine at matches face five-year bans

Move comes in response to significant increase in disorder at games, much of which, police say, is driven by class A drugs

Football fans convicted of selling or taking class A drugs such as cocaine at matches could face five-year bans, the government has announced, in a bid to tackle rising violence and disruption.

The new rules, announced on Thursday by the policing minister, Kit Malthouse, could also see anyone convicted ordered to surrender their passports when their team is playing abroad.