Football Australia is set to dish out 10 lifetime bans to Melbourne Victory fans involved in a violent derby pitch invasion, as the A-League powerhouse prepares to receive a likely points deduction, heavy fine and crowd bans.
Victory's fate lies in the hands of Football Australia (FA) after the club submitted its response to the governing body's show cause notice.
The club had to show why they "should not face serious sanctions for bringing the game into disrepute" after about 150 active fans stormed the AAMI Park pitch on Saturday night, forcing the abandonment of their A-League Men match against Melbourne City.
FA said while "swift action" was important, there was no time frame on imposing sanctions on Victory.
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On Tuesday, two fans, including one who allegedly hit City goalkeeper Tom Glover with a metal bucket, received life bans from attending and participating in all levels of football.
Victoria Police have charged 13 people over the pitch invasion while an additional 18 individuals have been identified following public appeals, with more charges expected to be laid. FA chief executive James Johnson on Wednesday flagged more bans were on the way.
"We'll be issuing more sanctions later today to individuals and we do have a show cause process we're working through with Melbourne Victory to ensure that we ring fence this issue for the two million people that love the game," Johnson told the ABC.
"The balaclavas and the flares that were brought into the stadium is unacceptable, and part of the sanctioning process that we're going through, if we talk about objectives, is to deter this kind of behaviour. It's to call it out and to ensure that it doesn't happen again.
"We'll issue further bans to individuals today, up to 10 individuals, and we'll also look at various sanctions that can be applied to Melbourne Victory."
Referee Alex King suffered a head gash in the bucket incident, a television cameraman was hurt after being struck by a flare and two security guards were also injured. The four men allegedly responsible for the most serious on-field assaults have either been charged or identified by police.
The person who allegedly threw a flare at the cameraman has been charged on summons. Damage valued at $150,000 was caused to the venue and about 80 flares or fireworks were set off, according to police.
With Victory's next game -- away to Western United at AAMI Park -- scheduled for Boxing Day, FA may hand out interim sanctions in the short-term. FA said it would work with the Australian Professional Leagues, Victory, United and AAMI Park's operators to "ensure the safety of all fans, players, officials, and staff at the scheduled A-League Men's Boxing Day match."
FA also need to decide whether the result of Saturday's derby will stand. City were leading 1-0 before the match was abandoned.
And while the issue has been somewhat lost in the wake Saturday night's violent pitch invasion, Johnson also urged A-Leagues bosses to engage with supporters and reach a resolution on the fate of the competitions' Grand Finals.
The Australian Professional Leagues' (APL) decision to sell the next three A-League Men's and Women's Grand Finals to Sydney sparked the original fan outrage.
On Tuesday night, 11 supporter groups -- representing every ALM club except Victory -- reaffirmed their "commitment to the cause that saw supporters boycott and walk out of stadiums this past round."
The APL has shown no sign of budging on its plans.
Football Australia were not involved in the deal to sell the Grand Finals but were made aware of it last Sunday night, the evening before it was announced.
"On one hand, the league needs to grow its own economy," Johnson said. "That's important so that the clubs and the league can invest in their product.
"But they also ... need to ensure that fans remain at the heart of their thinking and decision making.
"So the view of Football Australia is simply that we need a resolution.
"We need a dialogue between the A-League, the clubs and the fans, and we need better explanation as to why that decision was made.
"We're happy to see that the A-League is talking to the fans and we encourage further dialogue, so at least there's a better understanding of the rationale behind the decision."
In their joint statement on Tuesday night, supporters urged the APL to explore reversing the decision to sell the Grand Finals to Sydney, to look at "any commercial alternatives available" and to apologise for making the decision without consulting players and supporters.
Fans also called for the APL to change its board structure, which currently features several club chairmen, to "have total independence from any club's involvement."
In addition, they want the league to establish a supporters' committee, to be consulted by the APL on key decisions.