Melbourne Victory hit with sanctions over pitch invasion

December 24, 2022
A bleeding Tom Glover of Melbourne City is escorted from the pitch by team mates.

Football Australia (FA) has announced its first set of sanctions against Melbourne Victory FC, which will see supporters largely barred from matches until January 15.

The club was slapped with a show cause notice in response to last Saturday's incident at the Melbourne Derby, which saw 150 fans storm the pitch and forced the match to be abandoned.

Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover was concussed after being hit with a metal bucket by a fan, and four others were injured in the chaos.

In a statement released yesterday, the A-League governing body said Victory won't be allowed to sell tickets to home games and fans cannot attend away matches while the show cause process continues.

Only valid club members will be allowed to attend Victory home games, with refunds issued to non-valid club members.

Supporters won't be able to attend away matches either, which includes a highly anticipated Boxing Day clash against Western United. Only members of the home team who had purchased a ticket before 11am yesterday (local time) will be allowed into the venue.

"Whilst we continue our very thorough investigation following the inexcusable scenes witnessed at the Melbourne Derby, Football Australia has issued Melbourne Victory with a series of strong sanctions," said FA CEO James Johnson.

"Football Australia does not wish to penalise football fans during this time; however, our priority is to ensure the safety and enjoyment of everyone within the venue on match days and that any unacceptable behaviour by spectators are not repeated at any football match or event ever again," he said.

Further sanctions against Victory are still possible as the show cause process continues, FA said.

The governing body has confirmed it is also reviewing the conduct of some City supporters at last Saturday's derby.

As of yesterday, Victoria police have arrested 29 people in relation to the incident.

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