Football like any other sports has seen its fair share of pitch invasions. Pitch invasions are sometimes known as storming the field and rushing the field or simply as field invasions. This happens when an individual or a group of people from the audience in the stadium decides to venture out in the playing field during the course of the match. There are also recorded instances of when the capacity crowd has invaded the stadium to either celebrate or protest.
Pitch invasions are fun from the outside, but generally, they tend to wreck havoc amongst the police and other security personnel who are on duty. The sporting events completely turn chaotic during an invasion, referees blow the whistle and pause the game while footballers take a break until things are back to normalcy. Sometimes there have been incidents where fans have taken to the field to just meet their heroes. While legends of the game have always embraced fans when they risk everything to simply shake their hands or run to them for a hug, there are also players who have reacted not so friendly to such occurrences.
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What are the basic consequences of a football pitch invasion?
As per the Football (Offences) Act 1991, football pitch invasion is listed as a crime. The law is strict to avoid drama but pitch invaders are subject to punishment only if and when they are caught. Charges are called upon the culprits after which actions are taken against them. Basically, a football pitch invasion results in being handed stadium bans that range from a few matches to lifetime bans if found guilty of intending to harm the players or the referees, then there is a chance of a pitch invader facing a considerable fine, jail imprisonment is also a possibility, these in addition to being man-handled by the ground security.
