Football Federation Australia have charged the Western Sydney Wanderers & Melbourne Victory with 'Bringing the game into disrepute' as a result of events from their match in Melbourne late last year.
The event, a brawl that erupted when Melbourne Victory fans attacked the hotel the Wanderers supporters were having their pre-game function at, was recorded and subsequently made way onto Youtube and then into the mainstream media.
In the aftermath of the incident both clubs released statements, Melbourne Victory ignoring the role their supporters played to instigate the brawl, and the Wanderers reminding the Victory of their supporters role in sparking the incident. The events prior to the match and the subsequent 'Press Release Battle' created a situation where the FFA decided to charge both clubs with bringing the game into disrepute.
The penalty will be a suspended loss of three Premiership points. A-League boss Damien De Bohun refused to outline exactly what would cause that punishment to be activated during a press conference at 11 today.
Both clubs have a deadline of 5pm on Tuesday the 7th to respond to the charge.
Opinion
This is a disgraceful decision from the FFA & de Bohun. Ill thought out, this 'punishment' starts the FFA down a long road to totalitarian jurisdiction of anyone who might happen to be involved with an A-League club, punishing that club and it's supporters for events taking place away from the club or the stadium on a match-day. This comes just months after the very question of where the FFA's jurisdiction starts and stops was mishandled & ultimately ignored when de Bohun was directly asked to explain his s& the FFA's stance on this issue during the FFA/WSW supporter meeting held at Parramatta toward the end of last year.
Firstly I'll point out the brilliant work of Hatamoto, the FFA's expensive anti-terrorism agency who are drafted in to ensure (according to the Hatamoto website) that the FFA can "identify, evaluate, prioritise and treat risks and vulnerabilities through the application of appropriate standards and tools." For this incident however, it appears that Hatamoto's tools didn't include telling the police that the entire Wanderers away support was going to be at one single pub, and that the police should station some coppers there for the day.
There is also the matter of inconsistency with the FFA's stance, compared to other incidents were people were seriously hurt or injured. De Bohun's may have talked tough but with little substance. Will the FFA subsequently release a list of what counts as 'bringing the game into disrepute' or simply wing it whenever they feel the media has put too much pressure on de Bohun's "image" as head of the A-League?
On November 8 2013, a fight broke out after Sydney FC supporters attacked a group of Melbourne Victory supporters leaving the stadium. During this attack, a Sydney FC supporter stabbed a Victory fan. The fight spilled out onto South Downing & Cleveland Streets in the middle of Sydney City. Last season another fight broke out between Sydney FC supporters, Melbourne Victory supporters and the Police in Melbourne prior to a match between those teams. A well publicised king-hit by a Melbourne Heart fan last year was met with no such points threat. A Newcastle Jets supporter was charged with assaulting the police after the Wanderers match in Newcastle this season, are the Jets now under threat of losing points? If the Central Coast Mariners supporters have a repeat of their racist banner from last season at Bluetongue, are they going to get a points deduction threat? Where was the FFA response to these incidents? Will they also face the punishment of a potential loss of points now?
Now that two teams have a threat over their heads, other supporters have an incentive to create incidents that could see their opposition lose points. There has been talk about going into opposition supporter bays to cause trouble. Getting another team docked points could be even more simple than that. Pick a dozen guys, have a handful wear the shirt of your opposition, then fake an attack on other supporters. Film it like it was Cloverfield or the Blair Witch Project then upload it on youtube and wait. De Bohun & co at the FFA will jump at the chance to show how tough they are and deduct the points from your opposition.
The FFA have opened a massive can of worms with this decision, and I will wait with baited breath to see if they bother responding to any of the issues raised because of their poor decision, or if Damien de Bohun will once again obfuscate and sweep under the carpet the questions that should be answered if supporters in the A-League are going to regain any semblance of confidence in his ability to run the league.
Admin: If you are viewing this on the forum, the post states it is by "West13." It is not by that user, it is by myself, Mack, due to a quirk in the forum software it is displaying West13 as the author when it is not.
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