Melbourne ¨C Football Australia (FA) has launched an investigation into the violent pitch invasion that left a player injured during the abandoned A-League derby between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City.
City goalkeeper Tom Glover was left bloodied after being struck in the face by a metal bucket as fans from the Victory end stormed onto the AAMI Park pitch on Saturday.
Referee Alex King also suffered a cut to his head and was engulfed by fans at the 20-minute mark as City led 1-0, while a camera operator was struck in the head by a flare earlier in the match.
FA boss James Johnson said it had started a ¡°show cause¡± process ¡ª the governing body¡¯s jargon for an investigation ¡ª into Melbourne Victory over the fan invasion and was working to identify the individuals involved.
¡°We will be moving swiftly and will be taking the strongest sanctions that are available,¡± Johnson told reporters on Sunday, saying the pitch invaders were not real fans.
¡°This is an element that goes beyond football. It¡¯s an element that infiltrates our game and that really try to ruin it for the 2 million people who love our sport.
¡°And it¡¯s those people that we will be targeting in this investigation and who we will weed out of the sport.¡±
Johnson said he was happy to report that Glover and King were in good health, though shaken by the incident. City said Glover had suffered a concussion and ¡°severe lacerations¡± to his face but would be able to return to training once he had completed concussion protocols.
The pitch invasion shocked Australian soccer, with Socceroos goalkeeper Danny Vukovic, who plays for A-League side Central Coast Mariners, describing it as the ¡°darkest day for football in Australia.¡±
¡°Our game is in tatters,¡± he wrote on Twitter late on Saturday. ¡°An absolute disgrace what happened tonight.¡±
Melbourne Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie said the club would assist a police investigation into the incident and apologized to Glover, King and the camera operator.
¡°Victory is bigger than a group of fans that did the wrong thing,¡± she told reporters on Sunday. ¡°There¡¯s no place at our club, no place in the game, no place in the league for that sort of behavior.¡±
The pitch invasion occurred amid a fan backlash against the A-League¡¯s decision to sell its men¡¯s and women¡¯s title-deciding Grand Final matches to Sydney until 2025.
Supporters groups from both Melbourne teams had planned a walk-out from the stadium at the 20-minute mark to protest the move.
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