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Football Federation Australia’s latest advertising campaign focuses heavily on fan participation. But while FFA officials publicly spruik the wares of active fans, it seems that they’re busy trying to restrict that very same participation behind closed doors.
One of the A-League’s new “fan-made” ads shows an elderly shop assistant unrolling metres of sky blue fabric, before the cutaway reveals the spectacular sight of Sydney FC fans flying their impressive Skyline banner before an A-League match.
That’s a sight you won’t see ahead of the much-anticipated Grand Final rematch between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory on August 7, if word trickling through from Sydney FC fans is anything to go by.
Following consultation with private security firm Hatamoto, FFA officials have allegedly decided to slap a ban on banner pullovers at “high risk” games, presumably due to the potential risk posed by fans lighting flares underneath flammable material.
But what rankles Sydney supporters is the complete lack of consultation between themselves and the FFA, with members of Sydney’s popular supporters group The Cove accusing “non-football” people of making decisions which clearly affect their matchday affairs.
It’s a trend that we’ve seen across the board in the A-League, and the shadowy involvement of security firm Hatamoto deserves further scrutiny.
In a fabulous piece posted on his blog The Accidental Australian last September, Melbourne Victory supporter Guido wondered if the FFA understands football fans, or whether they’re so caught up in protecting the “brand” that they are at risk of alienating genuine supporters.
It’s those supporters who invest their time and money into creating banners in the first place, but because of the actions of an unruly few, the majority of law-abiding fans – many of whom despise the use of flares – are now being punished.
And it’s not just active fans who lose, but those who turn out at A-League games in part because of the atmosphere, as well as those who tune in to watch the games live on Fox Sports.
I know how much effort goes into producing an atmosphere at games because I stood with The Cove throughout Sydney FC’s inaugural campaign, and like most reasonable supporters, I believe that the decision to ban pullover banners at so-called “high risk” games smacks of hypocrisy.
Surely it’s the use of flares which poses the real problem; so why does the FFA employ Hatamoto simply to record fans with video cameras, while little is done to stop fringe elements from bringing flares in to begin with?
My friend and colleague Jesse Fink was scathing in his criticism of the decision in his column for ESPN Star during the week, and I’m inclined to agree with his claim that “FFA will soon be selling a product no one wants to buy.”
At the end of the day, the FFA advocates fan culture through their slick advertisements, yet punishes fans for trying to engage in the real thing come matchday.
And this from a league which has been bleeding fans for the past three seasons, with many active supporters fed up with being treated with disdain by officials happy to take their money so long as their style of support conforms to the template laid down by the likes of Hatamoto.
The whole thing must be desperately frustating for Sydney FC officials, who have worked hard to re-engage with supporters under the auspices of CEO Edwin Lugt.
The experienced Dutchman is a genuine football man, and his backroom staff have worked closely with Sydney supporters to foster the kind of mutually beneficial relations needed for A-League clubs to survive well into the future.
That’s a lesson the FFA would do well to learn, because in their current guise they’re turning away the very same supporters whom they expect to show loyalty to their “product.”