Football Australia has hit Australian A-Leagues side Melbourne Victory with crowd restrictions on both men's home and away fixtures, the first sanctions to be handed down in response to the club's supporters violently invading the Melbourne Derby and forcing the game's abandonment.
Announced on Friday afternoon, Football Australia has ordered the club to observe a series of restrictions on attendance to "continue to compete in the A-League Men's (ALM) competition" while its investigations into the pitch invasion and the show cause notice issued to Victory continue.
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The federation said that "no determination regarding the final sanctions upon Melbourne Victory FC as part of the Show Cause process have been made as yet."
In effect until Jan. 15, 2023, the measures will cover the club's next four ALM games: against Western United on Boxing Day, away to Central Coast on New Year's Eve, at home to Brisbane Roar on Jan. 6, and away to Adelaide United on Jan. 14.
"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 which will need to be implemented to enable their participation in both the A-League Men's and A-League Women's competitions until a final show cause determination is made," Football Australia CEO James Johnson explained.
"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. We believe these measures will achieve this."
Only Western members or supporters who had purchased a ticket before sales ceased on Friday morning, or those that receive one of 1,000 complimentary tickets given to Western to supply to those on a list of individuals pre-approved by Football Australia, will be permitted to attend the defending champion's clash with Victory at AAMI Park.
Boxing Day a Western home fixture, away active bays will be closed, cordoned off and tarped over.
Victory will be unable to sell tickets to its home fixture against Roar, with only valid club members able to attend. Home and away active support bays will be closed and the first four rows of seating behind each goal will be tarped off.
Away active bays will also be closed and tarped off for Victory's out-of-state away fixtures against the Mariners and Adelaide and only members and supporters of the hosts are permitted to enter the venue. Victory has been tasked with discouraging its supporters from travelling and attending.
Implementation and enforcement of the measures imposed will be the responsibility of league administrators the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), the participatory A-League clubs, and the venues. Further sanctions will be imposed should the federation determine that the sanctions have not been complied with.
Victory will also be forced to bear the costs of any refunds to tickets that were already sold to any of those fixtures that are now unable to be honoured.
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A Victory spokesperson confirmed to ESPN that its A-League Women's games were not affected by the crowd restrictions and that the club would work with Football Australia to find a solution for fixtures that are scheduled to be part of doubleheaders with the men's team.
Speaking in the aftermath of the sanctions, Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie said that the pitch invasion would likely force the club to rethink its relationship with its active support. Original Style Melbourne, Victory's most notable fan group, has come under significant scrutiny in the week since the derby, with vocal calls for the group to disband coming from large swathes of the club's fan base.
"We've been really clear there's certainly not at this time, a place for active support at Melbourne Victory. There'll be a healing process that will happen from there," Carnegie said.
"But at this particular time, really what we need to do is galvanise all the rest of our fans to come out and be part of the Melbourne Victory family week in and week out, and then we'll have a look and reassess what the future might look like in that regard
"I know [the sanctions are] tough. It's not what we want. We want our members and fans in the stadium but first and foremost, we want everybody to feel safe about coming to football matches and we understand that the sanctions are part of the healing process to get there, which means we really need all of our people to do the right thing, not try and circumvent what's been put in place.
"Let's cop what we've got, work together with the other football stakeholders and move forward as a game."
Approximately 150 Victory supporters stormed the pitch and forced the abandonment of their derby meeting with Melbourne City last Saturday, injuring City keeper Tom Glover, referee Alex King, and two security guards. A Network Ten camera operator was also injured by a flare thrown in the minutes before the invasion.
An estimated $AUD 150,000 worth of damage was caused to AAMI Park as a result of the invasion, and it's believed that around 80 flares or fireworks were set off by both sets of fans in the preceding 20 minutes.
Twenty-nine people have been arrested over the pitch invasion and 24 charged with various offences by Victoria Police's Operation Astute, including four men allegedly responsible for the attacks that resulted in injuries. Others are facing a range of offences such as disrupting a match, violent disorder, riotous behaviour, and discharging flares. Thirty-six people in total have been identified by police as part of their investigation and more arrests are expected in the coming days and weeks.
Football Australia has to this point issued ten bans to individuals as a result of the pitch invasion, two for life and the other eight ranging in length from five to twenty years. They will also be unable to register as a football participant such as a player, coach, or referee.
Though admitting that the sanctions would have an "enormous financial impact" on the club, Carnegie said that she had been "really impressed with how our sponsors have stood by the club" despite the negative headlines and images in the wake of the violence.