Convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika handed MCG life ban

A notorious terror leader once linked to a plot to blow up the MCG will be banned from the venue ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

Convicted terror cell leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika will be banned from the MCG for life after he was released from prison days before the Boxing Day cricket Test.

The notorious Muslim cleric walked free from Barwon Prison on Tuesday after serving a 15-year sentence for terror offences, which included a plot to attack the MCG on AFL grand final day in 2005.

MCC chief executive Stuart Fox said Benbrika “won’t be permitted in the stadium” if he tried to enter.

The 63-year-old is permitted to live in the community under the strict conditions of an external supervision order after the Supreme Court of Victoria ruled he could be “sufficiently managed” without a continuing detention order.

Fox said the venue was putting plans in place to ban Benbrika for life but wouldn’t reveal how the decision would be enforced.

Abdul Nacer Benbrika is driven from Barwon Prison on Tuesday after his 15-year sentence ended. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“Yes, there is (a plan to ban him), and he won’t be permitted in the stadium,” Fox told reporters on Thursday.

“We take security so seriously here and we’ve got a really important security overlay, and anyone that would pose a threat or risk to the MCG won’t be welcome or allowed in, as simple as that.”

Fox said the MCC had trialled facial recognition technology but was unable to call on it as a security measure while venues around the world continued to work through the legal ramifications of introducing it.

“We’re working with the authorities to make sure we can identify (Benbrika), and we do that all the time, this isn’t new to us,” he said.

“If we feel like there’s a threat and we’ve got a patron who has a bad history, we can stop them coming in.

“We’ve trialled facial recognition and I think it’s evolving around the world in airports and big venues … but there are a whole lot of issues associated with facial recognition that need to be worked through.”