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The Roar

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FFA must dock the Wanderers competition points

8th February, 2016
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David Gallop (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)
Expert
8th February, 2016
158
2889 Reads

The time has come for Football Federation Australia to can the rhetoric and start to dock the Western Sydney Wanderers points for the behaviour of some of their supporters.

I feel sorry for the Wanderers and the overwhelming majority of their fans, but I just can’t see any other way for the gravity of the situation to be rammed home to the idiots who use the A-League as a vehicle to play out their wannabe Ultras fantasies.

I’m not alone in thinking as much, with FFA issuing the Wanderers a show cause notice as to why they shouldn’t be sanctioned for the scenes on Saturday that saw a section of fans rip flares and let off detonators at Etihad Stadium.

“FFA has received detailed reports from all stakeholders and has asked the Western Sydney Wanderers to show cause why they should not face sanctions for the behaviour of a group of fans on Saturday night,” FFA chief executive David Gallop said in a media release yesterday.

“This behaviour has clearly alarmed many people inside and outside the game. It simply cannot be tolerated.”

More football:
» FFA talking tough could be rough for Wanderers
» Fan issues escalate: FFA charge Wanderers with bringing game into disrepute
» It’s time for A-League supporters to unite against flares
» A-League fans have shot themselves in the foot

Gallop is right – this behaviour cannot be tolerated – and in an ideal world, every offender who ripped flares and engaged in anti-social behaviour would be identified by video and photos from the ground, banned from the A-League and questioned about their misguided notions of masculinity for good measure.

But in the absence of over-arching evidence, the threat of being docked competition points – whether through a suspended sentence or not – must hang over a small contingent of fans who remain hell-bent on damaging the A-League for their own anti-social means.

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It’s a shame such action would punish not only players and staff, but also the overwhelming majority of law-abiding Wanderers fans – including those in the Red and Black Bloc who support the club without resorting to the use of pyrotechnics.

But unless the Wanderers supporter base can improve their self-policing, docking the club points might be the only way FFA can get through to the imbeciles who ruin the game for the rest of us.

I’ve said it before, but the Wanderers hierarchy should also get on the phone to the Canterbury Bulldogs and ask how the Belmore-based NRL club managed to curb their persistent hooligan problem.

The Bulldogs were rocked by a spate of hooligan incidents in the early 2000s, including several brawls and an incident which saw a “large firework” detonated at Homebush against the Brisbane Broncos.

Sound familiar? It lends credence to the theory that those who bring pyrotechnics into A-League grounds have no interest in sport whatsoever.

The NRL ultimately placed the Bulldogs on a good behaviour bond, a measure which former NRL supremo Gallop must surely be considering for the Wanderers.

The irony is that in ripping flares at Etihad Stadium, Wanderers fans seemed to hinder their team rather than help them, with Besart Berisha nodding home amidst the haze in an absorbing 1-1 draw.

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It’s not the first time flares have appeared to cost the Wanderers, with Kim Shin-wook side-footing home for Ulsan Hyundai as flares were lobbed on to the pitch in Western Sydney’s first ever AFC Champions League game.

Adelaide United will be looking to emulate Western Sydney’s heroic continental feats of two years ago when they face Shandong Luneng in a monumental AFC Champions League play-off at Coopers Stadium tonight.

Not only will the Reds face a team that finished third in a highly competitive Chinese Super League last season, but thousands of fans have reportedly travelled from Shandong as well. It should also be a reminder of what a wonderful spectacle the world game can truly be.

Sadly, though, we’re once again talking about the behaviour of a small group of Wanderers fans.

And after so much work was done to forge a closer relationship with active supporters, it’s time for FFA to put away the carrot and start brandishing the stick.

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