19-SU-58 wrote:though i noticed HAL fixtures will be played on the same weekend...?
Didnt think there was "unruly fan behaviour" when the serbs came to town???
The Age
Serb flares 'trashy, un-Australian'
Police dismay at unruly Serbian fans, who discharged up to 15 flares during the Serbia-Socceroos friendly.
Soccer fans who set off flares at games will face heftier penalties under recommendations by Victoria Police, as well as being banned from future matches.
At least 15 flares were lit during an international friendly match between Australia and Serbia at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne last night.
Advertisement: Story continues below
A flare lights up Serbian fans at last night's soccer friendly. Photo: John Woudstra
The flare that caused the most concern landed 20 metres behind Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici midway through the second half.
Four people were arrested and each was fined $380 for lighting flares at Tuesday’s scoreless draw.Football Federation Australia (FFA) has confirmed it will bar the four fans from all future international and domestic soccer games in Australia.
Flares are banned by FFA but are used commonly in some European countries.
There was further outrage at fans’ behaviour when flags were unfurled calling for the release of accused war criminal, the former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic.The flags and flares were smuggled past Etihad Stadium security, to the disappointment of police and the FFA.
Inspector Mick Beattie said flares were easily concealed in clothing and were difficult to detect without physically searching fans.
But he questioned whether the Australian public would be prepared to submit to physical searches before entering sporting grounds.
Insp Beattie said laws governing the behaviour of fans at sporting events were under review, and Victoria Police was pushing for higher penalties for igniting or possessing flares.
‘‘We believe there is a pressing need to significantly upgrade the penalties,’’ Insp Beattie told reporters.
He expressed disappointment that the offensive banners also made it past security.
‘‘It would have been nice to say that that sort of offensive material would have been detected at point of entry. Clearly it wasn’t, but if it had been, it wouldn’t have been permitted inside,’’ he said.
FFA head of corporate affairs Kyle Patterson said the organisation was ‘‘extremely disappointed’’ the flares were smuggled past security.
The perpetrators would be banned from future games, once they had been dealt with by the law, Mr Patterson said.
‘‘We will ban them from future football events, both international and domestic,’’ he said.
A committee including representatives from Etihad Stadium, FFA, Victoria Police and A-League team Melbourne Victory was reviewing Tuesday’s incidents, he said.
The committee will look at security measures and monitoring and dealing with unruly fans.But Mr Patterson said seven evictions from a crowd of more than 20,000 did not constitute a major incident and the overwhelming majority of fans were well behaved.
Police said Serbian supporters had smashed bottles and lit flares in Bourke Street, central Melbourne, on the way to the stadium.Seating was also damaged by fans inside the stadium.AAP
In a resort somewhere