ABSTRACT While the relationship between football matches and crime has been well documented, little is known about whether such events also escalate violent interactions between police officers and civilians. This study addresses that gap by analysing use of force data from the Metropolitan Police Service in London to assess the impact of football matches on police behaviour. We find that on match days, the number of use of force incidents increases by an average of 0.772 in the boroughs where games are held. This effect is geographically concentrated around football stadium and is primarily driven by matches involving popular clubs, or those with violent fan bases. We find no evidence of spatial or temporal displacement of incidents. We also find some suggestive evidence that incidents may be more frequent in the case of unexpected losses. We make the case that despite the long‐standing association between football and crime, the effects are considerably smaller compared to other popular mass events.
Braakmann et al. (2026) studied this question.