The head of the A-League, Damien de Bohun, has indicated Football Federation Australia will finally open a formal appeals process for fans banned from attending games, following a round of matches that will be remembered for the protests staged by supporter groups across the country.
On Saturday, around 1,000 Melbourne Victory fans walked out of the game against Adelaide United at Etihad Stadium and 24 hours later, a similar number of Western Sydney Wanderers fans followed suit half an hour into the game against Central Coast Mariners in Gosford.
Banners directed at FFA were unfurled during the matches in Melbourne and Gosford as well as other grounds during the eighth round of A-League matches.
Supporters are unhappy with their treatment by FFA in the wake of last week’s Sunday Telegraph report that “named and shamed” 198 fans who are on the organisation’s banned list. Personal details and photographs appeared in the newspaper article, written by Rebecca Wilson, and online, prompting outrage among fans upset at what they perceive as a breach of privacy.
Supporter groups also accused the paper of misnaming fans, listing offences erroneously and revealing the identities of people under the age of 18. Most significantly though, the furore highlighted a long-standing issue about a lack of a process through which those banned could appeal.
FFA last week indicated there has always been a process in place to overturn bans, although if one did, it had never been formalised.
De Bohun said after the Wanderers beat the Mariners 2-0 FFA were making a “significant step” as of Sunday to offer a right of appeal to fans who felt hard done by the banning orders.
“We are formalising a process that if a banned spectator can prove to us, through new evidence, that there has been a mistake made, they can bring that evidence to the club, that club can work with us and the fan through that issue,” De Bohun said.
“I can tell you categorically that if the fan has not engaged in the alleged behaviour, that ban will be overturned.”
De Bohun also acknowledged FFA needs to improve its communication lines with fans and promised an investigation into the leak of confidential information.
“We’ve been really disappointed with the leaking of confidential documents over last week in football and there’s no question that we’re going to work until we get to the bottom of it,” De Bohun said.
