According to The Athletic, the Metropolitan Police Service in London has received £3.42 million in funding from the Premier League to conduct a trial of live facial recognition technology at Premier League matches in the capital.

The funding is part of a wider investment package in policing and technology announced by the Premier League last December. The Metropolitan Police had previously used live facial recognition systems in surrounding areas, and under the new project, the deployment of the technology at matches will be decided on a case-by-case basis based on intelligence assessments for each fixture.

The Metropolitan Police have already deployed the facial recognition technology at six Premier League matches. The first use came on September 24, 2023, during Arsenal’s match against Tottenham, while both North London derbies last season also featured the system.

Although the funding has now been approved, a decision has not yet been made on which specific fixtures will use the technology during the new season.

The live facial recognition system is primarily designed to identify and prevent serious offenders from entering stadiums. Individuals targeted by the technology include people subject to football banning orders, wanted suspects accused of violence against women and girls, as well as other wanted fugitives.

Authorities will use the trial to assess whether the technology can make public events safer and more efficient, while identifying best practices that could potentially be applied across sporting events nationwide and at other large-scale public gatherings.