Scottish Labour will pledge to abolish the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act in their manifesto on Wednesday.

The law came into force in January 2012 after MSPs backed the legislation narrowly in December 2011. MSPs voted in favour of the bill by 64 votes to 57 - with all the votes in favour coming from SNP MSPs.

It outlaws "behaviour that is threatening, or other behaviour that a reasonable person would be likely to consider offensive". The legislation also covers behaviour outside a football ground such as travelling to a match.

In the four years since the law was passed 231 people have been convicted under the legislation

The manifesto will state:

"The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act was railroaded through Parliament even though it was opposed by every opposition party and leading anti-sectarianism charities. The legislation has been repeatedly and successfully challenged in court, and criticised by sheriffs, by anti-sectarian campaigners, academics, clubs and supporters groups. It has clearly eroded trust between football fans and the police.

"The Football Act is a bad piece of legislation that we will repeal. Instead, we will tackle sectarianism through education and prevention, working with anti-sectarianism charities, churches, football authorities and fans to develop positive measures to stamp out sectarianism in Scotland once and for all".

Commenting on the announcement Scottish Labour politician James Kelly said: "The Scottish Labour manifesto will contain a commitment to repeal the hated SNP Football Act.

"Sectarianism in Scotland goes way beyond 90 minutes on a Saturday or 140 characters in a tweet. Where the SNP have chased headlines Labour will work with religious organisations, charities, football authorities and fans to stamp out sectarianism for good.

"The Football Act was bulldozed through parliament by the SNP with not a single other party voting for it and civic Scotland, from football fans to academics and lawyers opposing it. Since then it's been branded mince by a senior Judge. After years of the SNP arrogantly denying they got it wrong It's time to blow the final whistle on the Football Act."

This announcement follows similar pledges by the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens and the Scottish Liberal Democrats whose manifestos also backed a repeal of the legislation.

Scottish Liberal Democrats say that the return of regular Old Firm derbies is no reason for the law to stay.

The party's justice spokeswoman Alison McInnes said: "We all want to tackle sectarianism but this was a badly drafted, kneejerk reaction to a genuine problem and Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping it. Next season will see the return of regular Old Firm derbies but that does not change that fact that this is bad law.

"Tackling sectarianism goes beyond 90 minutes on the terraces. The Scottish Government created the Independent Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism. We need Ministers to listen to the experts."

The Scottish Greens have pledged to "support fans" to tackle sectarianism at their own club.

The party's justice spokesperson John Finnie said: "The Scottish Greens have had long-standing opposition to this. We have included our opposition to the the Offensive Behaviour Act (2012) in our manifesto, published two weeks ago. We believe that there is no place for sectarianism and instead would support fans to take action against sectarianism in their own clubs through fan ownership."

The SNP however said that Labour is "out of step" with public opinion.

A party spokesperson said: "James Kelly and Labour could not be further out of step with public opinion in Scotland - it's little wonder so few people consider them a credible choice in this election.

"The Offensive Behaviour Act - which has proved to be an effective tool in reducing crimes of racial, religious and sexual discrimination - has the support of 80% of the public and the overwhelming majority of football fans.

"The Act sends out a clear message that Scotland is a country which will not tolerate any form of prejudice, discrimination or hate crime."

The Scottish Conservatives have been approached for comment.

Download: The STV News app is Scotland's favourite and is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from Google Play. Download it today and continue to enjoy STV News wherever you are.