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28 March 2024

Five-year bans after crowd violence in Australia

Published
By Reuters

Two men who lit flares and fireworks at preseason soccer matches in Sydney which led to violence in the stands have been handed five-year bans from all games in Australia, the FFA said on Thursday.

Police used pepper spray to quell supporters at Edensor Park on Wednesday after a firework was thrown into the crowd at the Western Sydney Warriors trial match against Sydney United.

That followed trouble at a trial match between Sydney FC and the Macarthur Rams at Campbelltown Stadium on Aug. 14, where a child was hit by a rock after trouble followed the lighting of a flare.

"The troublemakers who bring the game into disrepute with their reckless behaviour have no place in the game," outgoing Football Federation of Australia CEO Ben Buckley said in a statement.

"The incidents at Campbelltown and Edensor Park over the past week were the work of a few idiots who wanted to cause trouble."

A third man was to be banned after the incidents at Edensor Park, the FFA said, with New South Wales Police indicating further investigations would take place.