More than 7,000 criminals will be forced to wear special alcohol 'sobriety tags' to prevent them boozing during the World Cup

By DAVID BARRETT, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 00:01, 20 June 2026 | Updated: 00:07, 20 June 2026 More than 7,000 booze-fuelled offenders will be barred from drinking and forced to wear electronic ‘sobriety tags’ during the World Cup. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said around 7,300 criminals - either those released from prison or serving a community sentence - will be forced to wear alcohol tags at some point during the tournament. The system sends an alert to probation officers if alcohol is detected in the wearer’s perspiration. The offender can then face additional penalties for breaching alcohol bans imposed as a condition of their release. It comes as police gear up for alcohol-driven violent crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour linked to the international football fixtures. Prisons, probation and reducing reoffending minister Lord Timpson said: ‘Major sporting events should be a time for the country to come together and enjoy the game, not for alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder to ruin the occasion. ‘Having this tech fixed around the ankle is the wake-up call to offenders and leaves them with the sobering thought that one slip-up could send them to jail.’ 'Sobriety tags' which monitor the wearer's perspiration for evidence of alcohol intake were launched in Wales in 2020 and in England the following year The tags were rolled out in England in 2021 following an earlier trial in Wales. A court can order an offender to be fitted with the monitors as part of a community punishment if alcohol played a role in their offending, and they can also be fitted to prison-leavers. More than 7,000 people are due to wear a sobriety tag during the World Cup, the Ministry of Justice said The technology is seen as successful in keeping problem drinkers off alcohol, with the MoJ reporting a 97 per cent compliance rate. It can distinguish between low alcohol levels in food, such as liqueur chocolates, and the higher content in alcoholic beverages. The MoJ said 5,000 offenders were already fitted with a tag when the tournament began last weekend and a further 2,300 are expected to receive new orders before the final on July 19. Should offenders' freedom to drink be tightly controlled during big sporting events to prevent trouble? What's your view?Wales Share or comment on this article: More than 7,000 criminals will be forced to wear special alcohol 'sobriety tags' to prevent them boozing during the World Cup e-mail Add comment window.articleShortUrl = 'https://mol.im/a/15914059'; adverts.addTaboolaPosition({ position: "thumbnail", id: "taboola-below-article-thumbnails" }) adverts.addTaboolaPosition({ position: "afterArticle", id: "taboola-below-main-column" }) DM.later('bundle', function (){ DM.SHOUT = {}; DM.SHOUT.shoutChannels = '{"disabledMolShout":false,"disabledChannels":[]}'; DM.SHOUT.isOldArticle = false; }); DM.later('bundle', function (){ DM.has("reader-comments", "ReaderComments", { gplusClientId: '746589970956-e10ciaf67a1id9ggu75ph3ds0sthn7j6.apps.googleusercontent.com', total: 0, offset: 0, allowNewComments: true , moderated: false }); }); Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.