ATTENTION: This article has been categorized as opinion and should be treated as just that. We wish to advise that all accounts mentioned in the article were witnessed firsthand.
[dropcaps style=’2′]The FFA is loading up the gun and aiming it at themselves in preparation to kill the rise of association football in Australia.
Last Wednesday night, the Western Sydney Wanderers made their debut into the Asian Champions League against Ulsan Hyundai, a powerful Korean team with serious ACL credentials. It was always going to be a tough game and the Wanderers lacking defense recently didn’t help in the initiative. Still they battled it out with 12,000 or so fans in unison to cheer on their hometown in the big leagues.[/dropcaps]
A 45 second goal put the Wanderers into a flying start but unfortunate for them they were soon overwhelmed by the speed and talent of a team that even Coach Poppa admitted were hard to research.
[image src=’http://fnx.network/fnxnetwork/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/10263198854_3a439237ee_MartinCaru.jpg’ width=’400′ title=’Wanderers fans make the club successful. Source: Martin Caru, Flickr.’ align=’left’]That wasn’t the problem, the Wanderers have lost games before and they have made come backs. But the issue that night wasn’t on the field.
Midway through the first half, a few flares were ignited in the active support area. They were let off at once and produced so much smoke the field was clouded for some time… visibility wasn’t overly effected but it was pretty obvious what happened.
In Australia, flares are deemed a banned dangerous good which requires a fair amount of authority to legally hold.
Despite the wide use of flares in a small mum-and-pop run operation known as “Europe” and the many leagues on the continent, they hold a 5 year ban for A-League fans as well as heavy fines for the individual and the club they are associated with.
This is not a piece about being pro-flare or anti-flare, everyone has an opinion and most know what the law is right now. The guy who ignited the flare was punished, ejected and I’m sure he has a fine needing paying off. That’s understandable because we all know what the law says right now.
The ACL issued heavy fines to the club and that should of been the end of it because as stated before the guy responsible was apprehended.
Instead, the FFA (the body governing Football in Australia and owners of the Western Sydney Wanderers) decided to send a harsh email out last Friday sent to all A-League season members (red highlight will indicate points that the RBB have responded stating it is a lie):
[testimonials user=’Football Federation Australia’ email=” name=’Football Federation Australia’ position=’via Email’ photo=’https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3246563006/1bfd8f1a41941e332917c3632ac59fdc.jpeg’]As a direct result of the anti-social behaviour and ignition of flares at the Western Sydney Wanderers vs Ulsan Hyundai match on Wednesday 26 February within the Northern Terrace the Western Sydney Wanderers, Pirtek Stadium, Football Federation Australia and Police are conducting a detailed formal investigation and review of all available evidence ahead of initiating a series of charges and legal and venue related sanctions.
The investigation will aim to identify the perpetrators and ensure that the maximum possible sanctions (Criminal and Civil) are invoked with a view to the eradication of this anti-social behaviour from our game and the subsequent upholding of community standards to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for all who attend matches at Pirtek Stadium.
Effective immediately will be the banning of flags, fence banners and concession items that are directly connected to the three supporter groups who occupied the area in which the disturbances of Wednesday night emanated.
[highlight color=’white’ backcolor=’#ff0000′]The potential for this step to be implemented was outlined to Red and Black Bloc representatives prior to the season commencing via a Memorandum of Understanding and also a pre-season members forum.[/highlight]
The ban on items relating to these supporter groups within the Red and Black Bloc will be indefinite until the police, FFA and internal investigations have concluded, the perpetrators identified and appropriate measures taken including all available legal penalties in addition to FFA ban’s of up to five years from all football matches in Australia.
Anyone with information that can assist the current investigation process is encouraged to contact the club or FFA directly as it has become very clear that the majority of our 17,000 members also hold a zero tolerance for this sort of behaviour in venue and the damage that it can do to our club and all associated with it.
Asian Football Confederation regulations stipulate that there is a $5000 USD fine for every flare that is discharged at an ACL match. [highlight color=’white’ backcolor=’#ff0000′]This information had been communicated to Red and Black Bloc representatives late 2013[/highlight]. In addition it is a criminal offence to discharge a flare within a normal Hyundai A-League fixture. The majority of members who continue to support our club with the wonderful pride, passion and exemplary behaviour they do should be aware that detailed discussions have occurred with Police since Wednesday night and an absolute zero tolerance will now be enforced even more strongly than it has been in the past until this element is removed from our game.
If you would like to receive a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding or have specific questions in relation to active supporter operations within the club members are welcome to email active@wswanderersfc.com.au where a club representative will respond appropriately.
For reference “concession items” are items that are not allowed into the venue without prior approval and consent from the venue. This approval is requested from the venue by the Western Sydney Wanderers on behalf of the requesting members and includes all oversized flags, fence banners, musical instruments, megaphones or loudhailers, TIFO’s, Capo’s stands and confetti.[/testimonials]
[image src=’http://fnx.network/fnxnetwork/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/10263290256_339088a561_MartinCaru.jpg’ width=’400′ title=’Police presence at Wanderers game. Source: Martin Caru, Flickr.’ align=’right’]This harshly punished the A-League active support bays condemning them as being the organizers of the stunt and enacted new rules restricting them from bringing banners, flags, trumpets, drums… you name it, the FFA banned it.
In response, the active bays were half empty on Sunday night when the Wanderers took on the Jets. No chants or celebrations came from the area, no more than golf claps (after all they still support their team). It was a message to the FFA, “be unfair to us, you lose us” and it is an effective message – the silence was deafening.
At the game I overheard some fans state that the RBB brought the rules upon themselves. They could not have been more wrong.
Since memberships have become available, the RBB section has been sold out since day 1. Those in the RBB at regular home A-League games for the Wanderers are season holders who have had no major incidents at those games all year.
The previous incidents that Rebecca Wilson and the rest of the ‘unbiased’ super team at News Corp. owned newspapers (who have an invested interest in NRL which is losing popularity to the A-League) jump on have all occurred at away games… games that anyone with the right amount of cash can get tickets for. In theory, the active supporter bays at away games could be filled and yet not a single person could be a regular season pass holder as the membership doesn’t cover those games not at home.
The same applied to the ACL game last week, memberships didn’t get you a seat. Tickets were public and again, in theory, every person in the RBB might not have even been a regular pass holder.
So why is the FFA putting strict rules on fans who might not have even had the chance to be in the support bays last Wednesday? Isn’t this like putting restrictions on fans at the Cricket because a few idiots started a fight during a Snow Boarding competition? The ACL is not the A-League, and the A-League is not the ACL.
[image src=’http://fnx.network/fnxnetwork/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/9351675752_1c21c7c31d_JoeVentus.jpg’ width=’400′ title=’Empty seats will be a common sight if fans are mistreated. Source: Joe Venus, Flickr.’ align=’left’]Yet the FFA put Wanderland in fortress obedience mode, and the reason is again because of the bias press put out by News Corp. owned newspapers trying to regain track for their invested interest the NRL.
Each week we see NRL players being charged for drunken violence, public indecency, rape and even attempted manslaughter… yet the News Corp. papers have deemed the Western Sydney Wanderers to be the downfall of society after a few ultra-fans in Melbourne had a fight with Melbourne Victory fans. So of course the FFA bends over to News Corp. for the false information they push onto the public.
The FFA not only imposed an array of unfair rules on active support, but the police presence that we have already reported on previously due to its extensiveness has gotten worst. The image above was taken on Sunday at the game following the rule change, they stood in front of a hot dog stand and stood watching the game.
This is not a good use of police, having a group of 5 cops at each stadium entrance and a further group of 3 to 5 at each bay entrance is an abuse of power and quite frankly has been killing the atmosphere for weeks now. Who can enjoy themselves at a football match when you are constantly being watched? This is what the competition of the A-League success want and the FFA is just handing it to them.
Les Murray, a great voice of Football in Australia, even tweeted his disappointment at the amount of police and security present, but of course the FFA is too out of touch to understand and too busy bending over to the media.
[columns count=’2′]
[column_item]As stated by Murray, the Western Sydney Wanderers were created for Western Sydney and its football fanatical citizens. It is not a playground for the FFA to play dictator nor is it a place for the overzealous cops to intimidate ordinary Australians just looking to support their team.
If the FFA doesn’t want to go down the way that Gold Coast United did, then they need to stand beside their fans and their team instead of catering to a media that will never have a positive thing to say until either the league collapses or they make a form of profit from it.
Until then, they need to take a hard look at themselves and realise what they are doing to the backbone of their existence. The fans are aware, the fans are not impressed.[/column_item]
[column_item]

[/column_item]
[/columns]