Tommy Robinson banned from all football matches for four years

New court order follows attack on fellow England fan at Nations League match in Portugal

Tommy Robinson (PA)

Tommy Robinson has been banned from attending all football matches for four years after he was filmed punching another fan outside an England match in Portugal.

Bedfordshire Police – the former English Defence League leader’s local force – had applied for a banning order after the violent incident prior to the Nations League match in June 2019.

A court has granted the order banning Robinson from “all regulated football matches, home and abroad” for four years – meaning he will miss the 2022 World Cup and next two European Championship tournaments.

“This is a really positive result, after a thorough investigation by Bedfordshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service,” deputy chief constable Mark Roberts, the football policing unit for the National Police Chiefs’ Council told The Independent.

“Given the behaviour seen outside the stadium in Portugal 2019, we welcome the banning order, which will prevent him from attending the next two European tournaments and the World Cup.”

Robinson was filmed punching a fellow England fan to the ground outside the stadium in the Portuguese city of Guimaraes shortly before England’s Nations League match against the Netherlands.

Footage obtained by The Mirror, which first reported on the four-year ban, was used by Bedfordshire Police and UK Football Policing Unit to bring a civil case against the anti-Islam activist.

The banning order was granted for “causing or contributing to violence” at a football match, and Robinson was also ordered to pay £3,600 in court costs.

Bedfordshire Police and the UK Football Policing Unit previously applied to ban Robinson from matches in 2016, but the 38-year-old successfully challenged the attempt in court.

In July 2020, the far-right activist said he had left the UK and was seeking to permanently relocate abroad as he believed his family was no longer safe. In a video posted to his followers on social media, Robinson said he had left the country with his wife and children and was looking to relocate permanently after what he alleged was an “arson” attack against his family home.

However, he was arrested in London in November under coronavirus regulations after he attended a rally in Hyde Park during lockdown. Gatherings of more than six people were banned in England during the period.