Darwin Olympic says Mindil Aces player was the catalyst

Darwin Olympic claim a Mindil Aces player was the catalyst for last week’s rowdy crowd scenes when Football Federation NT referees boss Albert Karause said his match officials felt physically threatened.

Olympic president Charlie Kathopoulis said his players remained fully focused on next week’s FFA Cup Round of 32 match.

Darwin Olympic claim a Mindil Aces player was the catalyst for last week’s rowdy crowd scenes when Football Federation NT referees boss Albert Karause said his match officials felt physically threatened.

Olympic president Charlie Kathopoulis said the fact a Mindil player had given the crowd in the main grandstand a one-finger salute post match when emotions were high, should not be discounted in the overall context of what happened.

The player concerned later apologised to the fans and FFNT boss Bruce Stalder, though he was still issued with a one-match ban for inciting crowd trouble.

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“An FFNT registrar was present with one of our committee members who pointed it out to him but it was not stopped,’’ Kathopoulis claimed.

“That was when one of our life members, 76-year-old John Lolias, ran on to the oval to contest what he was doing.

“As a club we were very upset he did that, simply because you are not supposed to be there, but John Lolias reacted that way because his daughter was sitting in the grandstand with women and children there.

“As it was his daughter Helen raced out to grab her father and the situation worsened, which we are disappointed about.’’

Kathopoulis emphasised he was not belittling the fact the referees post match were concerned for their safety.

“If they were concerned about the crowd reaction we apologise to the referees,’’ he said. “In fact we have delivered a letter to the referee’s association saying that we apologise.

“Having said that, there are two security guards behind the crowd in the grandstand every week who remove anyone from the area if they swear or are seen to abuse referees and officials and that did not happen.

“So any abusive language coming from the crowd should have been removed and remember we as a club have been commended by FFNT’s boss Bruce Stalder on how the players and the committee reacted in trying to maintain control among the spectators.’’

Despite the negativity surrounding the match, including a two-match referee boycott and a 26-week suspension handed out to Lolias, Kathopoulis said his players remained fully focused on next week’s FFA Cup Round of 32 match against NSW club Edgeworth.

“We’ve told the players to focus on what they have to do and the committee will deal with any external issues,’’ he said.