Fans A-League boycott goes too far — but gives football an opportunity to grow

THE fallout from an article in the Sydney press two weeks ago isn’t the catastrophe for the game many would have you believe, writes JOHN KOSMINA.

Fans going too far with boycotts: Kossie

THE fallout from an article in the Sydney press two weeks ago, exposing what the author subjectively considers to be endemic violence in football, isn’t the catastrophe for the game many would have you believe — or maybe you want to believe if you happen to be a supporter of a rival code.

Sure, it has brought some issues to a head, and yes, it has given the game’s rivals the opportunity to put football back in what they believe is its rightful place out of the mainstream.

But the fact is it has galvanised the FFA into action and there is now a great opportunity through a unification to progress the game even further.

Active supporters from rival clubs have been galvanised to force a review in policy concerning the banning of fans from matches. This will bring about change, which is not a bad thing. But how far are these “active support’ groups going to take it?

Last week, Wanderers and Victory fans orchestrated mass walkouts on the half-hour mark and I admire the way they got themselves organised and the orderly and peaceful manner in which they did it. They had a point to protest and it was their right to do so.

They got a response from the FFA and this should have been enough, but this week’s boycotting of matches has gone a step too far for me.

Just as the PFA did in the Matildas’ pay dispute a few months ago, these groups are now holding the game to ransom to get their way.

You now have supporter groups in conflict with the FFA, when the real beef should be with the person or persons that published the story in the first place.

That is what the FFA should have focused on initially and not sat on its hands for so giving the anti-football brigade more time to cement its argument.

The FFA should have been on the front foot the minute that story hit the stands.

This is not a simple problem to solve. It’s a complex issue that goes further than just the game. Of the 198 people named on the banned list nearly 85 per cent have been banned for throwing flares or violent behaviour.

Victory fans walk out in protest in the game against Adelaide.

The FFA’s policy of zero tolerance in matters of this severity is correct and can’t be varied. The process of banning a fan in itself is not a simple you would think. There are checks and balances to make sure the right person is punished for the right reasons.

But because of the actions taken these past seven days this will all be reviewed and maybe the fans will realise a bit of “self-policing” might be in order.

Football, as only football can be, is reflective of our society, and maybe what we see at some football matches isn’t acceptable behaviour.

But it’s the game that brings these people together, because that is what they know. The demographic of Australian society is changing constantly and will continue to do so.

Australia has been built on the back of multiculturalism and football was always an important part of this, which in itself will continue to evolve as years progress, though even in this day and age it doesn’t sit too well with a lot of people.

Football is the one thing that can bring these different cultures together and, like it has for the past 60 years, it will take time to get everyone thinking along the same lines.

Originally published as Fans A-League boycott goes too far — but gives football an opportunity to grow