FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called for the ban of flares and firecrackers in soccer stadiums and described the people who let them off as 'arsonists'.
Blatter, who has also campaigned against standing areas in stadiums, said pyrotechnics deterred families from taking children to see games.
According to Sport24, Blatter said that although the dangers of fire are drummed into every child, however, every 'self-styled, so-called' football fans still ignite flares and let off acrid smoke bombs generating temperatures above 1, 000 degrees Celsius, adding that there is no sense in shrouding oneself in a fog and placing others in danger.
Stating that football cannot be misused and degraded by 'arsonists', Blatter further said that he is overcome by incomprehension in such situations, adding that such 'grossly negligent behaviour' turn football matches from 'social occasions and a shared community experience to a platform for fanatics and pyromaniacs'.
Blatter also said that clubs are aware of who the culprits are but are afraid to take action so as not to lose a paying customer, adding that fan liaison must mean working with the real fans, not covering up for troublemakers.