Call for ban on hooligan DVDs

Oct 27 2006 By Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM MP is calling for a ban on the sale of DVDs showing sickening scenes of football hooliganism over the internet.

Khalid Mahmood said he was horrified that "atrocious and tasteless" footage of football thuggery could be openly traded over sites such as eBay.

Now he is to table an early day motion in Parliament to force eBay to withdraw the DVDs or face greater Govern-ment regulation

Three other West Midlands Labour MPs - Sion Simon (Erdington), Tom Watson (West Bromwich East) and John Spellar (Warley) - will also throw their weight behind the motion that will be tabled on Monday.

The video "nasties" were revealed by the Mail's Adrian Goldberg in his The Stirrer column yesterday.

The Perry Barr MP decided to act after being told footage of clashes between Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion supporters outside the Uplands pub in his Handsworth constituency two years ago was on sale on eBay.

Other DVDs feature shocking battles involving Wolves fans and Blues' notorious Zulu Warriors

"These DVDs are particularly atrocious and tasteless. There has to be greater control," he said. "The whole thing encourages more violence and people are profiting from what can be tragic events.

"People like eBay have to show some real responsibility for what is going on. I want them to take action and stop the sale and I am also calling for the Government to introduce greater restrictions."

There are more than 30 different DVD retailers on the website offering football hooligan movies, including a deluxe five disc box set celebrating match day brawls.

One boasts that buyers can enjoy "five minutes of toe-to-toe action".

Another says "football violence is a crime and these DVDs are for educational purposes only" before outlining the DVD contains footage of "one of the best pitch battles ever" during the Blues v Leeds game in 1985 in which Ian Hambridge died.

The 15-year-old from Northampton was crushed under a wall which toppled over as the police tried to move Leeds fans.

Mr Mahmood said: "I would like to see eBay regulate the type of product able to be put on sale."

No-one was available for comment from eBay.

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