A-League hands down massive new bans over 'disgusting' furore

The fallout to one of the darkest days in Australian football has continued on Thursday, with A-League officials issuing a number of extreme new sanctions over the Melbourne derby pitch invasion. The sickening incident at AAMI Park on Saturday night left the Australian community shocked, saddened and angry, with many calling for alleged perpetrators to be hit with life bans over the 'disgusting' scenes.

Melbourne Victory's match against Melbourne City had to be abandoned after members of the crowd sitting at the Victory section of the stands stormed the pitch and and assaulted Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover, as well as referee Alex King. Glover was hit by a metal bucket wielded by a pitch invader, in a shocking incident that also left the referee and a Network 10 cameraman injured.

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On Monday, Football Australia (FA) officially slapped the Victory with a show cause notice, giving the club until Wednesday evening to show why they "should not face serious sanctions for bringing the game into disrepute through the conduct of its supporters". Two men have already received life bans for their roles in Saturday night's pitch invasion.

On Thursday, FA announced that eight more men had been banned from attending future games - although they stopped short of issuing any more life bans. The governing body confirmed that the eight spectators - ranging in age from 18 to 28 - will each receive a ban of either five, 15 or 20 years.

The group were among the 150 people who stormed AAMI Park on Saturday night, in scenes that left viewers around the country in a state of disbelief and disgust. Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said the organisation had a zero-tolerance policy towards disruptive, destructive and violent behaviour.

"Football is the beautiful game," Mr Johnson said in a statement on Thursday. "It brings together people like no other sport can, and we will not let the actions of these non-football fans cast a dark cloud over the game we love."

Johnson confirmed four people already on FA's banned list were "actively prevented" from attending the game, while acknowledging more needed to be done to enforce stadium exclusions. Four men allegedly responsible for attacks on Glover, the cameraman and security guards have already been charged by Victoria Police.

Nine other people - aged between 17 and 28 - are also facing a range of offences, including criminal damage and disrupting a match. Victoria Police advised on Thursday they had wrongly identified one of those charged, a 28-year-old Albion woman, as a man. She is accused of entry to a competition space, disrupting a match, public nuisance and riotous behaviour.

A 21-year-old Northcote man charged with offences including violent disorder, criminal damage, disrupting a match and discharging a flare was also wrongly listed as 26 years of age.

Search continues for more alleged offenders

Police are continuing to search for anyone else who was involved in the mayhem on Saturday night, having identified 36 alleged offenders so far. Along with those who were injured in the fracas, police say about $150,000 worth of damage was caused to AAMI Park during the pitch invasion.

About 80 flares or fireworks were set off, and poles and bottles were thrown at police on the field as they responded to the chaos. Premier Daniel Andrews on Monday warned the "cowardly" pitch invaders yet to hand themselves in would feel the full force of the law and soccer authorities.

The match was abandoned after spectators stormed the field and attacked Glover after he tossed a flare into the stands that had found its way onto the field. Glover was left with a cut on his face after being hit with a metal bucket, but returned to training on Monday with dressing protecting the stitches used to repair a "severe laceration" on the side of his face.

The goalkeeper, who also suffered concussion, expressed disappointment over the position Australian football now finds itself in, two weeks after the Socceroos' impressive World Cup run ended. Glover - like many football fans around Australia - lamented the fact that a minority of fans had undone so much of the goodwill that the Socceroos had generated for the sport, over the course of their World Cup campaign.

"The incident is disappointing for Australian football itself," Glover told the Nine Network. "The Socceroos were unbelievable and (we were) hopefully riding the wave of that, but a small minority kind of ruins it."

with AAP

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