Football Australia has flagged Melbourne Victory will receive the strongest sanctions in the sport’s history for their fans’ violent pitch invasion after initially handing down various crowd restrictions.
Victory have been blocked from selling tickets to home games while their fans cannot attend away fixtures under FA’s initial sanctions.
The club was given a show cause notice after 150 spectators stormed the AAMI Park pitch in Saturday night’s A-League Men contest against Melbourne City, forcing the abandonment of the match.
City goalkeeper Tom Glover suffered a concussion and facial laceration when he was hit with a metal bucket wielded by a pitch invader while referee Alex King, a TV cameraman and two security guards were also injured in the melee.
Interim sanctions are in place until January 15 while FA completes the show cause process and considers further punishments, which could include points deductions and fines.
“There will be a mixture of financial and sporting measures that would be in addition to these immediate sanctions that would come into force in the next one to two weeks,” FA chief executive James Johnson told reporters.
“We did feel that if we had a blanket ban, not only would we be specifically targeting those individuals whose behaviour is unacceptable, but we would also be targeting the many families in particular who are very good fans and who we welcome to football.
“If you could combine the individual bans with these sanctions with what is coming in the next couple of weeks, I don’t think there’ll be many sanctions that have been applied at this level of strength in the history of the code.”
Victory fans are barred from their away men’s Boxing Day clash with Western United at AAMI Park.
Only United members and fans who bought a ticket before 11am Friday can attend, with other tickets to be refunded.
Any related ticket operator charges are at Victory’s expense.
United were exploring how to prevent Victory fans from buying a membership and attending.
Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie urged supporters “to do the right thing, not try and circumvent what’s been put in place” when speaking to media on Friday evening.
Victoria Police plan to have “a highly visible police presence” at the game.
Victory fans cannot attend away men’s games against Central Coast on New Year’s Eve or Adelaide United on January 14, with away bays to be closed.
Tickets associated with a Victorian postcode or believed to be for Victory fans will be refunded.
Only Victory members can attend their home games, with home and away active areas closed and other tickets refunded.
“We need to ensure the safety of those that are in the stadium,” Johnson said.
“The rationale through membership is that we know where they live.”
FA confirmed fans could still buy Victory memberships.
On January 6, the men host Brisbane Roar and the women play Perth Glory.
Carnegie confirmed A-League Women games weren’t part of Friday’s sanctions and said the club would work with FA on what that meant for double-headers.
Melbourne City’s home and away active bays will also be cordoned off at home games until otherwise advised as FA reviews City supporters’ derby conduct.
Victoria Police confirmed 29 people had been arrested over the pitch invasion, with 24 – including 11 men aged between 18 and 38 dealt with on Friday – so far facing charges, while a total of 36 have been identified.
FA has also handed out bans, ranging from five years to life bans, preventing the pitch invaders from attending or participating in football.
© AAP 2022
