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The tone of the media release issued by Football Federation Australia yesterday afternoon suggests the Western Sydney Wanderers will be fortunate to avoid an immediate points penalty for what happened at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Unless the Wanderers can successfully argue the club shouldn’t be sanctioned, a substantial fine appears likely, based on the FFA’s strongly worded response to the incident.
A suspended points penalty, to be activated in the event of any similar fan misbehaviour this season, appears the likely minimum in that area. It’s whether the FFA would want to go the whole hog and apply a points penalty now.
That is purely my read on how tough the FFA talked in its release.
More football:
» FFA must dock the Wanderers competition points
» 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
The people in the Wanderers’ supporter area who lit flares and set off railway detonators at a high-profile game against Melbourne Victory must have at least had an idea of what the possible effects of their actions were.
And the potential for those effects to be realised has now come into play, with FFA CEO David Gallop making it clear that he is, to put it bluntly, pissed.
“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,” Gallop said.
“This behaviour has clearly alarmed many people inside and outside the game. It simply cannot be tolerated.
“It is especially disappointing that it has happened at a time when we are working collectively to implement security and banning processes to rid our game of this type of behaviour for the benefit of football and the true football fans who are tainted by these actions.
“That is an unfortunate but very real consequence of this behaviour and it underlines the damage that these troublemakers cause.”
Gallop concluded by saying: “We have noted the statements made by the Western Sydney Wanderers in relation to the misconduct and the damage the behaviour is doing to the game.”
That last comment was in response to a statement issued to media by Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas on Sunday.
“Those who engaged in the display of flare and railway detonator ignition at last night’s match have no place in our club,” Tsatsimas said.
“Let us be quite unequivocal in regards to this: those who engage in activity that is illegal, which has time and time again been clearly spelled out as not acceptable in an Australian football venue, do not have our support. You are not part of our club.”
Strong words from Tsatsimas about those responsible for what happened during the game, but acknowledged only briefly by the FFA.
That, to me, is a clear sign the FFA has had enough and is ready to make the club pay a significant price for a section of its supporters doing the wrong thing, unless the Wanderers can convince it otherwise.
And who could blame Gallop for being this angry, since the incident came at a time when a fairer appeals process for banned fans is being formulated following dialogue between supporter-group representatives and the FFA?
Wanderers are in the midst of a great season. They are on top of the table, fielding a new-look team and using a revamped playing style. The players and coach Tony Popovic wouldn’t deserve to have their campaign affected by the loss of points.
But the FFA is clearly prepared to make the club accountable for the actions of a minority of its fans if it decides that is the right course of action to take.
The FFA also said in its release that it would “continue to work with police and stadium security to identify individuals and ensure they are subject to the banning procedures”.
For some reason, there is still a degree of debate out there over whether the lighting of flares in crowds at football matches should be tolerated. I don’t get that. For a start, flares are dangerous. Surely the debate should end there.
The Wanderers have until 5pm on Wednesday to show cause why the club shouldn’t be sanctioned. The FFA is obviously determined to deal with the matter swiftly.
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