FLA ACCUSED OF COMPROMISING SUPPORTER SAFETY
Football supporters today accused the Football Licensing Authority of compromising supporter safety by forcing them to sit down at matches.
The new directive from the Football Licensing Authority orders supporters to be seated apart from moments of extreme excitement during matches but fails to take into account that many supporters find it uncomfortable to remain seated for the duration of a game due to a lack of leg room.
One supporter said:"at grounds like the Reebok Stadium where there is 800m of leg room, one is positively encouraged to sit down.
"However, at many other grounds,anyone over five foot tall will find it extremely uncomfortable to remain seated for ninety minutes and being forced into a seat with not enough leg room is compromising their safety.
" Whilst, we accept that the present legislation enforces all seater stadiums and a choice of whether to sit or stand is unlikely during the present Government's term of office,we hope that the FLA,who would have been better trying the seats out for themselves rather than than filming fans standing,will accept that, in order to be safe, supporters may have no alternative but to stand and that restrictions on ticket allocations are unfair on clubs and supporters.
"We also hope they will support calls that all new stadia in this country are built with the maximum amount of leg room available."