[dropcaps style=’2′]To the FFA,[/dropcaps]
I would like to submit a complaint regarding the game on Friday the 7th of February 2014 where Western Sydney Wanderers went against the Brisbane Roar.
I am a foundation member of the club and I have also purchased the limited edition signed ball and most recently the authentic players jersey so you could class me as a passionate supporter of the club.
[quote style=’1′ cite=” title=”]I felt my experience at the game on Friday night was ruined by the actions of the police “supervising” the bay near the Roar away fans (the south GA area).[/quote]
Within 5 minutes of the game starting, the Roar fans began a chant and one crowd member supporting the Wanderers decided to give them a bit of banter back, which used a swear word in doing so. After which, a police officer tapped him on the shoulder, pulled him from his seat before the fan knew what was going on and immediately ejected him from the game. The way they ejected him from the venue was over dramatic, excessive and just made the officers come across like thugs. The fact he was ejected without any warning whatsoever is completely unacceptable, over zealous and not in the best interest of allowing fans to display their passion which is a cornerstone of football worldwide and certainly one that applies to the Western Sydney Wanderers.
While the current state government has introduced heavy fines against swearing in public, I personally do not view a football match as “in public” as it is in the context of a game which is renown for banter between fans, passionate displays of support, distaste and any other emotion that may arise during the game.
Once the young man was ejected, several Wanderers supporters and Roar supporters were shaking their heads in disgust at the knee-jerk overzealous actions of the officers and even voiced their opinion to each other that “it was too far and overly excessive”.
A few minutes later, several other fans were ejected from the game for VERY minor offences without any warning whatsoever from police, and when being ejected, were handled overly rough and treated and portrayed like criminals which cast a negative vibe in the area and created a tense environment which dulled the crowd participation due to the fact we felt threatened that if we accidentally muttered a single swear word we too would be ejected.
This is not the environment I wish MY football team and fellow fans to have to attend games in.
In my opinion this is the club and police bending to pressure from the Daily Telegraph and other biased media sources who picture our club “as a group of thugs” and shoves us into a group along with some unfortunately extreme behavior of some ultra-members and other members who have been involved in some nasty incidences.
But this is no excuse to employ a “zero tolerance for anything” policy and this is certainly one which will be negative for the game in this country as I can envision that the ejected audience members may choose to never return to a future game and may pass on the word that the police as taking the fun and passion away and deter other fans and future potential fans and members from coming to games.
I would like to suggest that you look at many European games where behavior is a lot worse than what we saw on Friday night and i would like to see a “if you are not risking the safety of others or causing some serious disturbance” how about just handing out a warning or two to fans before kicking them out? Some behavior should just be left alone while police conduct real work to protect the safety of others.
“Cracking down” on swearing and minor offences is something which i believe is a waste of the police’s time and resources.
I personally am disappointed by Friday night due to the concerns raised above, a feeling also felt by my brothers who were also in attendance, We felt short-changed and felt this was not the experience of past games and we hope this is not the atmosphere that will be in effect in the future or we may consider our options in the future when renewing our membership.
I would like a reply which is personalised to the concerns of this email and do not wish a generic response and I would really like to see a plan of action on how we can all enjoy an atmosphere which is fun and promotes free expression of supporters passion and yet can be kept safe by the presence of security and police.
Sincerely,
Ryden