Buckley warns A-League clubs over crowds
Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley has warned A-League clubs they may face a loss of points for failing to adequately control unruly fans.
The FFA has launched a major crackdown on spectator behaviour in the wake of the crowd troubles during Saturday night's match between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome.
Police used capsicum spray to separate supporters of the rival clubs, at least eight fans were ejected and there were reports of chairs being thrown from stands.
Buckley announced a full review of the A-League's security policy and said there may need to be a greater separation of opposition fans at the conclusion of matches in future.
"If we believe the clubs haven't taken appropriate action either pre-match, during the match or post-match (in terms of crowd control), then yes fines and or sanctions could be applied," Buckley said.
Buckley hoped the problems didn't deteriorate to such an extent that visiting teams were banned from venues and said that the FFA was set to sign up a specialist security firm to undertake the review.
The offensive behaviour is a blow to the A-League's image as the fledgling competition had done a good job of distancing itself from the code's history of ethnic violence in Australia.
Buckley urged spectators to dob in troublemakers as part of the FFA's campaign to eradicate them from the sport.
"If people know who they are, we would ask them to come forward and identify them because they are doing the game an absolute dis-service," he said.
"It is disappointing that a lot of people across the country have invested a lot of time and effort and resources in the resurgence of the game to be let down by these individuals."
The review is expected to lead to an upgrading of security at A-League venues with more cameras tipped to be installed in an effort to weed out hooligans.
"I think what is important is that we have acted and that we are in the process of appointing a security firm to review all our security arrangements in every venue we play at," Buckley said.
"In addition they are looking at the relevant legislation so we can prosecute offenders consistently across the country.
"I think it is important that we want to gather intelligence on individuals who continue to let the game down and isolate them and identify them and prosecute them."
While some quarters felt the reporting of the behaviour from the SydneyFC-Melbourne Victory clash was blown out of proportion, Buckley said the FFA treated any poor crowd behaviour "very seriously".
Buckley, who got hitched on the weekend, said the review had been initiated following crowd troubles in Sydney on October 6.
Sydney FC chief executive George Perry said the supporters that engaged in the wild scenes on the streets of Melbourne on the weekend would be banned from future games.
"We're appalled by this," Perry told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"These people aren't Sydney FC fans. These are people who just want to cause trouble and we don't want them in our ground."
Melbourne Victory were due to hand a report to the FFA about the weekend's drama.
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