AAMI Park event staff reveal ‘extremely poor’ security measures amid pitch invasion
Event staff have lifted the lid on security measures at AAMI Park, saying it has “serious flaws” that led to the violent pitch invasion.
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Event staff at AAMI Park have complained about “serious flaws” with the stadium’s security, saying it led to the violent pitch invasion.
The Herald Sun has spoken to several workers from Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust (MOPT), who manage the stadium, and say security at the venue is “extremely poor”, with guards often unable to break up fights and are “more focused” on watching the game.
The majority of AAMI Park’s security is contracted through MSS Security, with MOPT also using in-house guards and event staff.
“The bad behaviour, especially in recent years, has been a direct result of MSS Security guards not being able to manage these hooligans who are lighting flares and starting fights,” the source said.
“They are more interested in watching the game than actually doing their job.
“They are also not trained to deal with patrons that are problematic and they think they have free reign to do what they want.”
A security guard, who was working on the evening of the violent pitch invasion on December 17, said the incident was “very confronting”.
“We were not briefed that a pitch invasion would occur, we only knew about the walkout at 20 minutes,” they said.
“The whole ordeal was very confronting, we were scared and I really felt for the families that had to see that violence unfold.
“The security behind the goals have for a long time allowed hooligans to get away with their behaviour.
“There are serious flaws in security, it’s extremely poor and that’s why there’s a big police presence at games.
“It’s a waste of police resources, you would rarely see riot police at the AFL, so it’s clear that the soccer hooligan culture needs to change.”
The source also said some security guards were not properly checking bags upon entry.
“There are far too many flares being brought in and it’s becoming a nuisance.
“The stadium is also rarely filled to capacity and some patrons who are there to cause trouble are buying cheap tickets and self-upgrading, which is frustrating other fans.”
Naomi Oakley, who runs U-Nome Security and has previously worked at AAMI Park, said the issues arising with security at the stadium were due to cost-cutting.
“The limited risk management is what led to the chaos behind the goals,” Ms Oakley said.
“To ensure this doesn’t happen again, there needs to be updated safety operating procedures and also more training for supervisors and security staff.
“They have failed to protect the asset, which in this case was the players.”
The Herald Sun revealed many of the violent pitch invaders are members of extreme hooligan groups with a history of terrorising A-League and suburban soccer games.
They have about 100 members in total and style themselves as “ultras”, after the worst of Europe’s soccer thugs.
MOPT and MSS Security declined to comment.
suzan.delibasic@news.com.au
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Originally published as AAMI Park event staff reveal ‘extremely poor’ security measures amid pitch invasion
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