A-League: Fans fire up about use of flares at matches

FFA chief executive David Gallop believes fans are realising that flares are not acceptable in this country.

A flare is let off in the crowd at the Melbourne derby on the weekend. Picture: Stuart Walmsley

Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop believes the tide is turning and that fans in Australia are beginning to realise that flares are not acceptable at any level of the sport in this country.

For the second week in succession, FFA has been forced to issue a show cause notice after a Melbourne Victory fan ignited a flare during Saturday night’s derby between Victory and Melbourne City.

Western Sydney were lucky to escape a three-point deduction last week after also being issued with a show cause notice because several flares were ripped during the derby against Sydney FC.

The Wanderers had been on a warning for a similar incident last season when they were fined $50,000 and placed on a suspended three-point good behaviour bond that was due to expire in February.

But, rather than take the competition points off them, FFA took a softer line, deciding to extend the good behaviour component until the end of this season.

Despite what happened on Saturday night, Victory, who were given a similar punishment to the Wanderers last season, will not lose any points either.

While Gallop said the code must stay serious about flares, he acknowledged fans are sick of the situation.

“The encouraging sign is that the fans are not tolerating this behaviour,” Gallop said. “You saw the other night that Victory fans quickly identified the perpetrator (who was handed over to police) and there was wholesale booing when the flare was let off.

“We have to stay vigilant about flares but the signs are there that the whole game is embracing the fact that flares are not part of the game.”

Meanwhile, FFA is expecting to learn tonight about the fate of Australia’s World Cup qualifier against Thailand next month.

Thailand is in mourning following the death late last week of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The Socceroos are due to play Thailand in Bangkok on November 15 but the Thais asked that the game be moved to a neutral venue out of respect for the King’s family. But there appears to have been a change of heart with Gallop indicating the match was now expected to go ahead in Bangkok.