Premier League rejects London mayor demand to pay more for policing Published duration 10 August 2017

image copyright Getty Images image caption The Met Police were only recovered £361,000 from the £7.1m it spent policing London's premier League football clubs in the 2016/17 season

The Premier League has rejected the Mayor of London's demand for more money to help pay for match-day policing.

Last season the Metropolitan Police spent £7.1m covering professional football matches but was only able to recover 5.1% of the costs.

Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "concerned the Met recoups so little" from the world's richest league.

The Premier League said it contributed to the cost of policing through the £2.4bn in taxes it generated.

Mr Khan had written to the league's chief executive Richard Scudamore urging them to 'step up and make a bigger contribution'.

In a statement the league said: "Costs incurred for policing away from the grounds are covered by general police budgets.

"Fans are members of the public and deserve to be treated as such.

"Far greater costs than those involved in policing football are incurred for covering tourist attractions, entertainment areas, the night-time economy, and other commercial activities."

The league said it was "happy to discuss" how to further reduce police costs "while co-operating to make our grounds as safe and welcoming as possible".

Football clubs can only be charged for policing inside stadiums or on their land, so the Met must cover costs such as managing travelling supporters or maintaining order outside grounds.

The force only recovered £361,000 from London football clubs, according to figures obtained by Labour London Assembly member Andrew Dismore.