The Dutch football association KNVB is developing a finger-print operated app which it wants to use to make sure convicted hooligans don’t sneak into matches.

Tests of the system have proved effective but it is up to local councils to decide whether or not to support the project, spokesman Hans van Kastel told broadcaster NOS.

The system uses GPS tracking technology to determine where a hooligan is on the basis of their fingerprints. ‘And what we want to know is that they are not near the stadiums,’ Van Kastel said.

This season, 1,335 stadium bans are in operation nationwide, of which 890 were new last year, according to KNVB figures.

Effective

The  KNVB thinks the app would be cheaper and more effective than the current reporting system. People with a stadium ban are now required to report to their local police station on match days.

The Dutch FA says there are no legal obstacles to introducing the fingerprint app, which has been tested at football club RKC Waalwijk and NEC. There, hooligans were given a shorter ban if they agreed to take part in the trials.

Justice minister Ard van de Steur told NOS that a ‘digital reporting system’ was part of new legislation introduced last year.

The system is being developed by security company G4S which says it could also be applied to people who have been banned from nightclubs or festivals.