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The Roar

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A-League fans have shot themselves in the foot

8th February, 2016
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The A-League occasionally has fan violence problems. (AAP Image/James Elsby)
Editor
8th February, 2016
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In any other circumstances, this would have been a game to celebrate.

An 11th goal in as many matches at Etihad Stadium by the A-League’s pantomime villain, Besart Berisha. A collection of fine saves by Danny Vukovic. A stunning late equaliser from Brendon Santalab.

What more could a game want?

More football:
» FFA must dock the Wanderers competition points
» 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

According to some misinformed fans, it needed extra mood lighting.

Why any spectators would think letting off flares in the opening 15 minutes of the game is a good idea defies logic.

It screams of selfishness, of an attitude which says fans should be the centre of attention, not the game of football being played in front of them.

It was also stupid.

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Stupid because the Western Sydney Wanderers lost all of their early momentum as referee Ben Williams called the game to a halt to allow the smoke to dissipate.

Stupid because that break in play allowed Melbourne Victory to regroup and open the scoring not long after.

But above all else it was stupid outside the confines of the stadium in which the flares were lit. In the context of the current situation the A-League and its fans find themselves in, it was a phenomenally ill-considered act.

By lighting flares and lauding their incandescent appearance on social media, members of the Red and Black Bloc (as well as their Melbourne counterparts who celebrated their team’s goal in a similarly inflammatory way) have given fuel to every single one of the A-League’s critics.

Late last year, the FFA agreed to change their process for banning spectators, following a series of boycotts by the competition’s organised supporter groups.

Back then, the FFA handled the situation shockingly, and although they weren’t the ones who published the list of banned fans, they certainly exacerbated the situation.

But by yielding to the demands of the supporter groups, the FFA showed fans they have the influence to significantly affect the policies of the A-League.

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That power, that trust shown in the fans by the game’s governing body, has been abused by those who decided flares are an integral part of the football’s atmosphere.

That this happened just a few weeks before the FFA’s next board meeting only adds to the idiocy.

They put the FFA in the most undesirable of positions.

Hand down stringent penalties on those who lit the flares and the FFA run the risk of alienating their supporter base once again. One fan boycott in a season was bad. Imagine how damaging a second would be, just a couple of months after the first.

However if the FFA did nothing to perturb these hooligans, the A-League’s detractors would have been vindicated, their criticism renewed. Hopes of further expanding the competition’s fanbase by offering a family-friendly evening out would have been dented, possibly scuppered.

The FFA has since issued the Wanderers with a show cause letter for bringing the game into disrepute through the Red and Black Bloc. The club has until 5pm on Wednesday to explain why they shouldn’t be sanctioned.

With both financial penalties and a loss of competition points mooted, there will almost certainly be complaints from fans.

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But instead of raucous opposition, calm acceptance and an apology would be more suitable. After all, this is an incident of the fans’ own making.

That the FFA bungled last December’s situation is no excuse for any antisocial conduct. It does not grant supporter groups immunity from any penalties imposed in response to disorderly behaviour.

The A-League’s fans have a reputation in the media, one they argue – often convincingly – is undeserved. However, they would do well to remember that lighting flares and disrupting games is hardly the way to go about rectifying that reputation.

The ball is in their court.

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