Football Australia is calling on the Victorian government to reverse a ban on the sport being shown on the big screen at Federation Square ahead of the World Cup starting 12 June.
Operators of the Melbourne precinct blamed “the behaviour of a small number of people” for a decision not to screen the Socceroos’ upcoming World Cup matches.
FA was taken aback by the decision, issuing a statement on Wednesday evening saying it was “extremely disappointed”, and the Socceroos “have long united Australians”.
Football officials have spoken with the Victorian government and the Melbourne Arts Precinct, requesting that they overturn this decision.
“The Fifa World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world and unites Australia’s multicultural communities, while reinforcing our national identity,” FA’s chief executive, Martin Kugeler, said.
“Live sites create iconic moments for Australian sports fans. They bring all Australians together to celebrate and cheer our national teams competing on the biggest stage.”
Katrina Sedgwick, the chief executive of the Melbourne Arts Precinct government body that manages the area, announced the decision earlier on Wednesday.
“Like so many Australians, we’re absolutely thrilled to see the Socceroos back on the world stage, and we’ll be cheering them on every step of the way of the World Cup,” she said.
“But after careful consideration, we’ve made the decision not to show the World Cup on Fed Square’s big screen this year.”
Fed Square did not show matches from this year’s Women’s Asian Cup, but fixtures during the 2023 Women’s World Cup and 2022 Men’s World Cup attracted large audiences.
About 15,000 fans attended for the Socceroos’ knock-out match against Argentina, and most were well behaved, although one was arrested for drunkenness and some lit fireworks and flares.
Sedgwick said the decision was based on “the behaviour of a small number of people at previous screenings which was simply unacceptable and damaging to Fed Square”.
Kugeler said Melbourne is “one of Australia’s sporting and multicultural capitals”, and the decision went against that tradition.
“Federation Square has created some of the most memorable moments in Australian sporting history, dating back to the Socceroos’ historic 2006 Fifa World Cup matches and the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
“This decision is disappointing, and we are asking our fans to join us in calling on the Melbourne Arts Precinct and the Victorian government to correct their decision in the best interests of football fans, local businesses and all Victorians.”
Crowd management at the Melbourne precinct has been in the spotlight in recent months, after a free concert by Amyl and the Sniffers in November was cancelled at the last minute after some attendees broke through security fences. The incident triggered a review into security at Fed Square.
The minister responsible for Fed Square, Vicky Ward, has been contacted for comment.
