Police chiefs in Scotland are pushing live facial recognition as a response to football disorder, after Craig Naylor used his annual report to call for the technology, along with drones, to help deal with trouble around matches. He linked the proposal to disorder between Celtic and Rangers fans at Ibrox in March. Police Scotland says the technology has never been used by the force, and public consultation on its deployment is under way.

The police case

Naylor's argument is not just about one bad day. He said a situation like this "cannot continue to be tolerated", and called for tighter banning orders, limits on the number of fans allowed to attend matches, and modern technology such as facial recognition to stop banned people getting in.

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs backed the principle behind that approach, saying, "We have a duty to use new technologies to safeguard our communities." He also said new technology can offer "transformative opportunities" for modern policing through investigations and identification.

The football context helps explain why the issue is being pressed so hard. The most recent Old Firm league meeting ended 2-2, and the last five supplied meetings between Celtic and Rangers are split two wins each, with one draw. Those games stay high risk because the margins are small and the crowd intensity is never far away from the debate.

The backlash to live facial recognition

The criticism has come quickly. Amnesty International UK called facial recognition "a dangerous and discriminatory tool of surveillance" and said it should be scrapped, not rolled out further across the UK.

Paul Goodwin of the Scottish Football Supporters Association took a different route, urging authorities to focus on deeper co-operation with local fan groups and clubs instead of widening surveillance at stadiums. That line will carry weight with supporters who already think football policing leans too heavily on restriction.

There is also a dispute over how many arrests followed the March Ibrox disorder. One account put the figure at 37 arrests, while BBC reporting said there were 14 arrests in Glasgow city centre later that day. Those figures refer to different parts of the wider policing response, not one single total.

Police Scotland has not used live facial recognition yet, so the argument is still about what should happen next. Naylor wants the discussion moved on from consultation to action, but the consultation period is still open and the backlash is already in place.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →