A-League: Melbourne Victory punishment from FA for pitch invasion

Victory fans will be banned from sitting behind the northern end at home games, which is the area where the fans spilled onto the ground. They will also be banned from attending away games for the rest of the season.

Victory has been hit with a 10 points suspended sentence that will be in play for this season, and the next three, should the club’s fans break any supporter conduct rules over that time.

Football Australia handed down the severe sanctions following a three-week investigation into chaotic events of the 20 minute mark of the game against rivals Melbourne City, which came after a week of protest following the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) decision to sell grand final hosting rights to the NSW government.

Football Australia determined the sanction in its role as regulator of the game across Australia, with the APL not involved in working out the punishment.

For now, the Victory has avoided becoming the first club to be deducted points in more than 30 years for fan behaviour in Australian football, after Preston were docked four points in the 1991/92 NSL season.

Seventeen fans have so far been banned from between ten years to life for their role in the pitch invasion, while the man who threw a bucket at City goalkeeper Tom Glover also facing criminal charges as is due back in court on February 27.

The financial penalties will severely hamper the club too, as it recovers from two seasons of little revenue thanks to the pandemic.

Victory has lost its three games since the Derby debacle to sit second last on the A League Men’s ladder.

Victory has nine home games remaining this season, with the next scheduled for AAMI Park on January 26 against Sydney FC. Victory will also host Melbourne City in the season’s third derby on February 18.

It caps a horror week for the club with the biggest fanbase in the A Leagues, with star recruit Nani suffering a season-ending ACL injury.

More to come

Starting as a cadet, Adam spent nearly a decade at the Seven Network, before a 15 year stint at Fox Sports covering football, tennis, cricket, Olympics and jousting. Fave teams are the Socceroos, Matildas, Newcastle Utd, Manly, while hobbies include watching sport, eating food, sleeping and waking up to do the same.