The mass walk-out by A-League active supporters began in the 30th minute of Saturday night’s clash between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United. A heaving, colourful block of Victory supporters departed in a matter of minutes, leaving behind an eerily quiet stadium.
As the supporters walked out they sang “we are not criminals”, but outside, as they continued to watch the game on the big screen, they were ringed by a heavy police contingent.
On Sunday, the Western Sydney Wanderers’ supporter group walked out on the Wanderers match against the Central Coast Mariners. Banners were displayed by several active supporter groups over the weekend, many of which were critical of Football Federation of Australia for their treatment of fans. Essentially it was a league-wide revolt.
Although the Sunday Telegraph’s recent “name and shame” file of banned football fans caused plenty of outrage, primarily the walk-outs and banners were a message to FFA.
If you believe the word coming from various A-League supporter groups, many of the people included in the published ban list have had their confidence shattered, their reputations destroyed and some have even lost their jobs. Many are seeking legal advice. Of the people labelled “grubby pack animals” by one member of the NSW Police, some supporters seem to have been banned on very dubious grounds. Most importantly, they have had no right to appeal.
The solidarity among supporters – those who walked out on Saturday and Sunday were mostly supported by the ones that remained – shows how deeply this has cut the football community. Indeed when a detailed banned list, curated and maintained with the FFA’s input, is flashed on the front page of Australia’s best selling newspaper it is a “there but for the grace of God go I” moment for every person who stands in an active supporter bay.
Steven Issa, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Parramatta and Wanderers member, supported the walk-outs by Wanderers and Victory fans.
“For me, it makes me not only nervous, but it makes me angry,” he told Guardian Australia. “There’s people that have been banned for being guilty by association… I could have been acquitted by the court as innocent, and still got a ban. I would have been on the front page of the Daily Telegraph, my political career, my professional career and my family all would have been jeopardised.
“I know some of the people banned. They’ve come and spoken to me after they’ve been banned to see if I can do anything, but there is no FFA appeals process. In some of the cases, they’ve gone to court, been acquitted by a court of law, and yet the ban is still upheld. Now is the FFA above the law?”
Indeed the lack of a transparent appeals process has frustrated supporters of all clubs for several seasons, and yet on Thursday, FFA said: “Since the inception of the banning process, it has always been the case that if a banned person can prove that they did not engage in the relevant behaviour the ban will not apply. If a banned person can bring the evidence that proves this to FFA through their club, the ban will be lifted.”
But at the beginning of November, head of the A-League Damien de Bohun said: “FFA takes the view that we have a right to decide if a person is welcome among the football community at our matches. It’s a general deterrent to those who cause trouble that they face long bans with no right of appeal.”
And then, on Sunday night, De Bohun said: “We will be formalising a process where if there is a banned fan who can bring evidence to prove that they didn’t participate in the actions that they’re alleged to do, they need to take that to their club. We will review that with them and the club and we will overturn the ban if that evidence proves that in fact they didn’t do it.”
So has it “always been the case” that there is an appeals process, or not? How can anybody trust an organisation this lost and tongue-tied?
The FFA response has been arrogant and condescending. They have not stood for the interests of their own, and worse, they have not been straight with them. Regardless of the latest statement by De Bohun, FFA seem more concerned with its own reputation than with the wellbeing of its constituents.
It may be that FFA are furious that the banned list was leaked to the media, but ultimately, the original sin is in their own processes. By not having a clear appeals pathway for supporters from the beginning, fundamentally they loaded the gun and then left it lying around for the Telegraph to pick up and fire off a few rounds. They are accountable for this mess.
Here is the ultimate irony. Outside Etihad Stadium on Saturday night there was no fear of violence, or flares, or rude words. Yet having witnessed friends banned for trivial offences, their privacy breached and reputations destroyed without a fair hearing, more than ever A-League fans now have cause for fear. Regardless of FFA’s promise to formalise an appeals process, it is still unclear how a banned fan is supposed to access the evidence to clear their name.
“You’re not guilty until proven innocent,” said Issa. “[De Bohun] has come out and said ‘show us substantial evidence that it wasn’t you’. Well no, you show me substantial evidence that it was me before you ban me.”
