Oct 21 (Reuters) - The Metropolitan Police will deploy live facial recognition (LFR) technology for Chelsea's Premier League match at home to local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the Chelsea Supporters' Trust (CST) said in a statement.
• The police confirmed to Reuters they would use LFR, which they said was "standard as per high-risk football matches".
• The CST, which is affiliated with the Football Supporters' Association and engages with Chelsea and other stakeholders on issues affecting fans, posted on social media details of the planned deployment at Earl's Court and West Brompton.
• The CST said police will deploy two vans during a designated pre-match period, with awatchlist containing individuals subject to Football Banning Orders linked to either club, as well as people wanted for serious offences, missing persons and those sought under warrants issued byHM Courts & Tribunals Service.
• The Premier League in its December 2025 funding announcement said that part of the investment would support pilot programmes using live, intelligence-led facial recognition in London to identify serious offenders attending matches.
• The Athletic reported in August that the Metropolitan Police received £3.42 million ($4.58 million) from the Premier League to trial LFR at top-flight matches in London.
• The report said the technology had been used at six previous Premier League games, starting with the September 2023 north London derby between Arsenal and Spurs, and later at both corresponding fixtures in the 2025-26 season.
• Merseyside Police rolled out the technology in December 2025 and used it during the Manchester United-Everton game in February 2026, the BBC reported.($1 = 0.7465 pounds)
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
