A police chief has said the Government’s move to extend pub opening hours during the World Cup helped fuel a rise in violent disorder.
Sir Keir Starmer approved plans allowing pubs to serve customers until as late as 5am for selected fixtures, including England’s last-16 match against Mexico.
Fresh figures show police forces across England and Wales logged 2,322 football-related incidents during the tournament, with 43 per cent taking place inside licensed venues.
The total represented a 78 per cent jump from the 1,302 incidents recorded during Euro 2024, which was staged in Germany and did not prompt changes to pub closing times.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council football lead, has now warned that the Government’s approach to licensing “exacerbated” the violence linked to the tournament.
Mr Roberts said: “The increased hours did lead to more issues.”
He added: “The extension of licensing laws needs to be done with some thought, and it needs to take a broad-based view of the consequences as well as the benefits of blanket relaxations in the legislation. Again, the late notice didn’t help in relation to the Mexico game.
“The draw was made on December 5 2025. The decision to change licensing laws for that fixture, which was eminently foreseeable, was 48 hours before the game itself, which left forces with no time to re-roster teams, bring people on, give people notice or take other measures.
The government’s decision to allow pubs to stay open late during the World Cup contributed to an increase in violent incidents
Sir Keir Starmer made the decision to allow pubs to stay open so supporters could watch England games
‘So again, please give consideration to the rounded point, factor into any threat assessment, the impact, the negative impact, as well as the positive benefits.
‘And we frankly collectively must do better for the next tournament to have policies laid out in advance, fully consulted, so that we can make plans as can local authorities.’
Incidents of domestic abuse also hit a record high during the World Cup in comparison to previous tournaments, the UKFPU figures show. Some 384 incidents of football-related domestic abuse were reported to police forces across the six-week-long period.
That was up 9 per cent from the 351 logged during Euro 2024, and marked a 223 per cent increase on the 119 recorded during the 2022 World Cup in figures described as ‘depressing’ by the police chief.
Mr Roberts said the football-related domestic incidents were counted as those that happened before, during or after World Cup matches, and were ‘clearly’ related to the event.
He added there was ‘a massive concern’ over rape incidents and spiking allegations at licensed premises reported during the tournament, which he said the NPCC is planning on looking into.
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Asked about what the increase in domestic abuse and overall incidents could be attributed to, Mr Roberts added: ‘I try and say that this isn’t a football-specific thing, you know, it’s around events.
‘This is driven largely by alcohol consumption, I would say, and drugs. The football becomes the catalyst for people to go and have excessive alcohol, etc.
‘We see it in night-time economies every week. Police get very used to dealing with it, and alcohol is the principal driver.’
He added: ‘I think some of the licensing approach exacerbated that, so I think we need to reflect on that, take stock, rely on the procedures that we have to support the hospitality trade, but keep the balance right as well with public safety.’
Pubs were able to stay open until 5am to screen England’s 3-2 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16
Mr Roberts said there was an increase in both the volume and ‘severity’ of football-related incidents as the England team progressed through the knockout stage, with 575 incidents recorded around the Three Lions’ match against Argentina on July 15.
He said a man was stabbed after leaving a licensed premises after the game against Norway on July 11, and another after the match against Argentina.
A stepfather and stepson were also involved in a strangulation incident after England played Norway.
He said there was also widespread disorder across London following France’s game against Morocco on July 9.
The UKFPU figures show 391 arrests were made during the tournament, which was again the highest figure recorded when comparing to previous similar tournaments and excluding the Euro 2020, Mr Roberts said.
However, he noted the behaviour of England fans who travelled to the US and Mexico was ‘exemplary’.
Just 22 arrests of England fans who travelled to the two countries were made by local police during the competition, the figures show.
While there were none during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and just three at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it was down slightly from 24 in Brazil in 2014.
The UKFPU statistics also show 293 online hate crime incidents were recorded by police forces across England and Wales during this year’s World Cup, with the majority (161) logged during England’s game against Ghana on June 23.
Separate statistics from the UKFPU for the 2025/26 football season show 1,644 incidents were reported to police forces throughout the year, up 4 per cent from 1,580 the previous year.
Mr Roberts said there is a ‘real concern’ over the increasing involvement of young supporters.
The figures show 516 incidents involving young supporters were recorded this past year, up 120 per cent from 235 in 2024/25.
