Football Australia (FA) has today handed down its final determination to Melbourne Victory FC in relation to the pitch invasion incident that occurred during the Club’s away match against Melbourne City on Saturday 17 December, 2022.
Melbourne Victory will comply with all sanctions handed down by FA in its final determination and is working with the relevant stakeholders to ensure its matches moving forward will be a safe environment for players, fans and everyone involved.
The Club understands these sanctions include:
- A requirement that the Club must block access to select seating behind the goals and restrict seating in the North End of AAMI Park (all bays) to registered Club members. There will also be additional requirements imposed in respect of seating restrictions for members in the North End for the remainder of the 2022/23 A-League Men season (and in some cases, beyond).
- There will be no dedicated away bay for the remainder of the 2022/23 A-League Men season and Melbourne Victory supporters will be dispersed throughout away stadiums for the balance of the season.
- The 2022/23 A-League Men’s Round 8 abandoned match between Melbourne City FC and Melbourne Victory FC on Saturday 17 December 2022 will be replayed in April 2023 (as determined by the League) from the 22nd minute with a 1-0 score line in favour of Melbourne City.
- No active support concessions will be permitted for the remainder of the 2022/23 A-League Men season and any active support will be subject to the above North End restrictions.
- No immediate points deduction has been imposed, but a suspended ten (10) point deduction ending at the conclusion of the 2025/26 A-League Men’s season will apply and may be triggered by certain supporter misconduct.
- Financial sanctions totaling $550,000.
- Current crowd sanctions issued on Friday 23 December will still apply to the away match against Adelaide United on Saturday 14 January.
The Club would like to reiterate that the actions witnessed at the Melbourne Derby in December have no place in football and the Club has zero tolerance for any aggressive or anti-social behaviour.
Melbourne Victory has separately committed to the disbandment of any A-League Men’s active supporter groups that were recognised at the time of the incident and will work with FA, A-Leagues, AAMI Park, Victoria Police and other stakeholders as well as the new taskforce announced by FA to ensure an incident of this nature never occurs again.
The Club has strongly advocated to FA and the League over the few weeks to ensure both the final and interim sanctions imposed by FA acknowledge that what occurred at the Derby was not reflective of the majority of our North End members or the broader Melbourne Victory fanbase.
While the interim sanctions did not necessarily reflect this, with restricted or changed access for our North End and South End members, the final determination issued today does take into account that broader fanbase’s behaviour having been imposed by FA.
While these sanctions will still impact the Club, and North End members, Melbourne Victory will work with the stadium and our ticketing agent to ensure all our fans can watch the A-League Men’s team this season while adhering to the sanctions determined by FA.
The Club, having only received the determination from FA just prior to the public announcement on Tuesday, is currently working through the detail of the sanctions and does have some queries around implementation which will be raised with Football Australia.
Once all details are confirmed, the Club will separately communicate to all of its member groups and key stakeholders around the impact of the sanctions and how they can be implemented with as little disruption as possible.
Melbourne Victory appreciates the support of all its key stakeholders, members, fans and partners, who have stood by the Club and are committed to leading the game forward in a positive way.
As part of this, the Club is focused to revitalising the match day experience in a safe and secure way that is reflective of what fans want to experience at a Melbourne Victory match. This is an integral part of what has made the Club and football iconic in Australian sport.
