Australian sport has a booze culture problem, the WA Government’s chief health officer said, calling for fans at Optus Stadium to be banned from drinking full-strength beer.

Professor Tarun Weeramanthri said there was a “tradition of risky levels of drinking within Australian sporting cultures”.

WA Police also wanted only low-alcohol drinks served in the general-admissions areas of the 60,000-seat stadium and warned that without conditions, “public disorder or disturbance would be likely to result”.

In his notice of intervention for the $1.2 billion taxpayer-funded stadium’s licence bid, Professor Weeramanthri said it was “well established there was a tradition of risky drinking and alcohol-related harm associated with sport in Australia”.

The CHO, who advises the Government on public health issues, cited a study which found sporting club members and spectators were 45-80 per cent more likely to consume alcohol at risky levels, and said:

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ALCOHOL “played a significant role in the social identity of football fans” and was “found to be central to their football experience”.

A BAN on full-strength beer in the general-admission areas of the WACA Ground, introduced in 2011, was a result of “behavioural issues” at cricket events in Perth.

RUGBY was a sport where a “culture of risky drinking behaviour exists, particularly binge drinking”.

SOCCER, internationally, has “frequently been associated with drunken behaviour and crowd violence”.

Camera Icon WA’s chief health officer believes full-strength beer should be banned from stadiums. Credit: Getty Images

The West Australian used Freedom of Information laws to obtain stadium operator Venueslive’s liquor licence application, plus intervention notices submitted by the CHO and WA Police.

The documents show that VenuesLive applied for the right to serve full and mid-strength alcoholic drinks, as well as small cups of wine, in all parts of the stadium.

The only proposed difference in the premium areas was the option to buy liqueurs.

VenuesLive suggested voluntary conditions, such as a limit of four beers per transaction, alcohol-free zones, a ban on shooters and jugs, prohibiting the mixing of booze with energy drinks and stopping alcohol advertising on the stadium’s exterior.

But an intervention lodged on behalf of former police commissioner Karl O’Callaghan, when he was still in the top job, urged for the existing full-strength booze bans in the general-admission areas of Subiaco Oval, the WACA Ground and nib Stadium be imposed at Optus Stadium.

A VenuesLive spokeswoman said it had sought and received a tavern restricted licence with the ability to serve full-strength beverages “throughout much of the stadium”. “

“Following a period of extensive discussions and consultation with the WA Police and the Department of Health, we gave an undertaking to the director of liquor licensing that for football and cricket matches, alcohol service protocols would follow those that have been successfully implemented for a number of years at the WACA and Domain Stadium,” she said.