Melbourne Victory agree to comply with FA’s sanctions over derby incident

Melbourne Victory has been hit with a massive fine and had a host of other sanctions imposed on the club by Football Australia.

Tom Glover reacts after being struck in the face during the crowd antics. Picture: Getty Images

Melbourne Victory has been fined $550,000 and fans will be banned from sitting in certain areas at home games after further sanctions were handed down by Football Australia following one of darkest days in Australian soccer history.

However, Victory has avoided a loss of competition points following the pitch invasion, with a suspended deduction now hanging over the club’s head.

Football Australia found that the club brought the game into disrepute following the unacceptable actions of Victory’s active supporters.

Victory fans invaded the pitch after City goalkeeper Tom Glover threw a flare towards them, and he was hit in the head with a bucket thrown by a fan who was one of 16 supporters subsequently banned, some for life.

The financial sanctions total $550,000, comprising $450,000 in fines and damages and $100,000 in lost revenue due to the sporting sanctions imposed.

Tom Glover reacts after being struck by a bucket thrown by a fan.

In an FA statement, the official sanctions read:

– Require the club to block access to select seating behind the goals and otherwise restrict seating in the North End of AAMI Park to registered Club members for the remainder of the 2022-23 A-League Men season and 2022-23 A-League Men Finals Series

– Include a direction that no specifically allocated Club supporter seating at the Club’s away games will be provided for the remainder of the 2022-23 A-League Men season and 2022-23 A-League Men Finals Series.

The suspended 10 point deduction may be triggered for each instance of serious supporter misconduct during this season and the next three seasons, ending at the conclusion of the 2025-26 A-League men’s season.

The match between Melbourne Victory and rival Melbourne City will be resumed in April 2023 with the score to be 1-0 in favour of City.

That was the official score at the time of the pitch invasion.

It will start at the 22nd minute mark of the first half.

FA will also establish and manage a taskforce to tackle the issues of flares at games, explore areas of improvement for security and policing venues, review supporter liaison and marshall training use, review of active support ticket and member requirements and the review of supporter marches pre-match.

“Football Australia has found that the Melbourne Victory Football Club, through the inexcusable conduct of many individuals who entered the field of play from the Melbourne Victory Active Supporters section at the Melbourne derby on 17 December, 2022, has committed a serious breach of our rules and regulations,” FFA boss James Johnson said.

The moment Melbourne Victory fans stormed the field. Picture: Getty Images

“The sanctions we have issued against Melbourne Victory are the heaviest in the A-League era. These sanctions are reflective of our desire to remove this behaviour and those that perpetuate it, from our game. They also form part of a broader response to this incident which has seen 17 bans issued against individuals to date, including three lifetime bans, and preliminary sanctions against Melbourne Victory.

“The field of play is sacred and the safety of our players and match officials is paramount. Those individuals that illegally entered the field of play, caused damage and verbally and physically assaulted players and officials crossed the line. We have worked closely with Victoria Police to identify these individuals and will continue to do so to ensure those that display anti-social and criminal behaviour at football events are not involved in our game in any way.

“I can sympathise with the vast majority of fans and the broader football community who were sickened and hurt by the actions of those individuals. The sanctions imposed on Melbourne Victory are a necessary step to ensure we create an environment where we place football first and our community can enjoy matches.”

Melbourne Victory have responded to Football Australia’s decision, saying they will comply with all the sanctions handed down.

The club stated that they have “separately committed to the disbandment of any A-League Men’s active supporter groups that were recognised at the time of the incident”.

Their statement also addressed how attending matches would look like for Victory members and fans.

“The Club has strongly advocated to FA and the League over the few weeks to ensure both the final and interim sanctions imposed by FA acknowledge that what occurred at the Derby was not reflective of the majority of our North End members or the broader Melbourne Victory fanbase,” the statement read.

“While the interim sanctions did not necessarily reflect this, with restricted or changed access for our North End and South End members, the final determination issued today does take into account that broader fanbase’s behaviour having been imposed by FA.

“While these sanctions will still impact the Club, and North End members, Melbourne Victory will work with the stadium and our ticketing agent to ensure all our fans can watch the A-League Men’s team this season while adhering to the sanctions determined by FA.”