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Senior Sydney FC officials have apologised to disgruntled fans over incidents during Saturday night’s A-League clash with Adelaide, while failing to address the position of embattled coach Frank Farina.
The 3-0 loss represented a club record third straight home defeat for Sydney, who have won just two and lost seven of their past 10 games
It was one of the darkest night’s in the club’s history, with several acts of fan rebellion.
Fox Sports pundit and former Socceroo goalkeeper Mark Bosnich described the atmosphere at the Allianz Stadium match as toxic and the game as a tipping point in Sydney’s history.
One man was removed from the ground after throwing the contents of his cup over Farina.
Banners calling for Farina’s dismissal and the removal of chief executive Tony Pignata and chairman Scott Barlow were held up in The Cove, the main area for Sydney fans.
The banners were taken down by security officials and the wife of the Capo – or leader – of The Cove evicted, sparking a mass walkout of people in that area.
Many congregated outside the venue and continued voicing their dissatisfaction, chanting “we want Frankie out,” while some fans who remained inside Allianz Stadium expressed similar sentiments.
Pignata and Barlow issued a statement on Sunday apologising for the removal of the banners and the fan eviction, laying blame for them with a staff member and stadium security respectively.
They said the direction to take the banners down came from a Sydney FC staff member at pitch level and they and other board members were unaware of the decision at the time.
“Despite this, as the management and executive of the club we take full responsibility for the decision, admit it was wrong and apologise wholeheartedly to the fans that were affected and to the supporters as a whole,” Barlow and Pignata said.
“We have since spoken to the staff member concerned and will put in place protocols to ensure these circumstances are not repeated.
“The club has always believed that every fan has the right to peacefully and respectfully voice their opinions and this is a principle that we will uphold.
“In relation to the eviction, we are also disappointed and regret that this incident occurred.
“We believe due process was not carried out by stadium security.
“On behalf of Sydney FC we wish to apologise to the fan.
“The club has met with stadium security today and informed them that we believe they acted without appropriate authority.
“We will continue discussions with the SCG Trust prior to Saturday’s game (at home against Perth Glory) and make contact with the supporter.”
Pignata and Barlow acknowledged it was a challenging time for the club and urged members and supporters to stay united.
“To ensure there is no repeat of last night, we will also be meeting with a number of Cove members early this week to discuss these issues and concerns,” the statement said.
“We also don’t condone the actions of one person who threw his drink over Frank Farina.
“We will be pursing appropriate action against this person and will be speaking with the stadium to look into security measures to prevent this happening again.”
Farina insisted he wasn’t aware of any internal discord within the club.
“Obviously people are going to be disappointed and I fully understand that,” Farina told Fox Sports.
“But as to rumours of problems within the group or within the club, I’m not aware of any at all.”
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