FFA Confirm Active Support Killing Restrictions

Football Federation Australia have today confirmed the implementation of league wide restrictions designed to kill the ability of A-League active support groups to expand & bring in new supporters of football.

The measures which were exclusively revealed by WestSydneyFootball late last week, were confirmed today by head of the A-League Damien de Bohun. The Western Sydney Wanderers have yet to respond to allegations that the club itself pushed the A-League to enforce these measures across the A-League, although the club believes that the "guest pass" system is a viable and useful option for the Wanderers home end.

The measures include:

• Membership only restrictions on all A-League active support areas.
  
• Removal of single ticket options on all A-League active support areas.
  
• The creation of a situation where new supporters of football cannot be brought into active support groups.
  
• Introduction of "short term active passes" that force people who want to only attend one match in active support to pay for multiple matches.
  
• The threat of removal of existing supporter rights such as tifo displays, musical instruments, capo stands & large flags should support groups not co-operate with these anti-supporter measures.
  
• Additional nanny state red tape required for attendance of away matches across the league.
  

Each of these measures is designed solely to allow the FFA to control and then destroy groups which are currently independently dedicated to support their club first and foremost.

The constant attacks on active supporters play into the narratives created by anti-football media that the A-League is "family unfriendly". Nothing could be further from the truth. The FFA has a history of trying to control active support, as a result of their inability to speak the truth to the biased media outlets who push their anti-football agendas on behalf of the other major sports in this country. Instead of working on anti-support nanny state rules, De Bohun should instead be working on reminding biased media outlets of the truth that anti-social behaviour exists across all sports in Australia and that football doesn't have a problem any larger or more widespread than other sports leagues. The FFA when responding to these biased media outlets should be holding all sports to equal account.

My thoughts on these restrictions have not changed. They are unworkable, will create an atmosphere of fear & intimidation from security & police who will see a green light to view football supporters as targets to be arrested or evicted.

I have heard the first initial rumblings of discontent over social media, and there are several options that a united active supporter front could use to achieve the aims of removal of these idiotic restrictions, potentially in round 1. These could include:

• Boycotting of active supporter memberships.
  
• Silent protests.
  
• Match boycotts.
  
• Purchasing one-off tickets located in other sections of grounds and relocating active support there.
  

I'm sure given the 120 days or so until kick-off that more could be organised or thought up.

Supporters & the club owners are the only groups in the league who do not get paid for being involved in football. Both groups put their hard earned money into these clubs to make them what they are because they love the sport and their clubs.

Television stations receive subscription & advertising revenue. The players through their powerful PFA are well paid and lead comfortable professional lives in comparison to many leagues worldwide. The staff of the FFA are well compensated for their meddling into the sport, despite such failures as gaining a solitary World Cup 2022 bid vote, and approval of multiple club failures.

Active supporters are not contractually obligated to provide the atmosphere that the clubs & FFA use to market the league, the atmosphere that gives the A-League a unique edge in the battle to stay relevant in the competitive sporting landscape. The FFA continue to unjustly ban supporters with no evidence, and have often refused to accept evidence or introduce an appeal process for those unfairly banned.

Attempting to control & silence the active supporters will only push the most passionate and dedicated supporter of the sport away and for what? So that the FFA can institute their own AFL style cheer squads, bought and paid for by the FFA, in a vain attempt to win over people & corporations who will only ever use the A-League & Football when it will make them money, even while being in the back pocket of the much longer term & larger sporting leagues of Australia.

I strongly urge all the A-League clubs to reject these impositions, and hope that all A-League active supporter groups can come out together as a united front in opposition to these ludicrous restrictions.