Football Australia (FA) chief James Johnson was "horrified" at the scenes from Saturday's Melbourne derby pitch invasion and is ready to hand out the "harshest of punishments" for those involved.
Saturday's game at AAMI Park between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City saw flares thrown by both sets of fans during the first 22 minutes, before trouble escalated when a flare appeared to hit a pitch-side cameraman before exploding.
City goalkeeper Tom Glover threw another flare back into the crowd, inflaming the situation, before fans behind the goal stormed the pitch, with Glover being hit in the face with a metal bin that had been used for other flares. Referee Alex King was also caught up in the incident, before taking the two teams off the pitch, with the game later abandoned amid unruly scenes.
Glover was left bloodied with a cut to the right side of his face, with City stating he had been concussed from the incident.
"I'll start with saying that I'm horrified, I'm irritated, I'm angry at the scenes witnessed at AAMI Park last night," Johnson told reporters on Sunday. "A full investigation will take place and those responsible will face the harshest of punishments."
The ground invasion comes amid rising tensions between administrators and fans in Australian football following the Australian Premier Leagues' decision to sell the men's and women's A-Leagues grand finals the rights to their grand finals to the New South Wales government, having previously been hosted by the highest-ranked team.
Johnson said the fans who ran onto the AAMI Park pitch were an unwanted "element" in the game, insisting the code was "safe" in Australia.
The FA boss strongly condemned their behaviour and made clear that heavy sanctions would be forthcoming.
"We will be moving swiftly and we will be taking the strongest sanctions that are available," Johnson said. "This is an element that goes beyond football, it’s an element that infiltrates our game, and that really tried to ruin it for the two million people who love our sport. It's those people that we will be targeting in this investigation and who we will weed out of the sport.
"There is no justification for the behaviour we saw last night. I don't care about people that think the decision for the GF is wrong or right. Anyone who thinks that justifies behaviour is completely out of touch.
"People that behave like this, I don't call them fans and I won't call them fans. What is important is our response – that is simple, there is no place in our sport for that behaviour and people that act like that will be weeded out and weeded out quickly."
Several other fan groups held "peaceful protests" about the grand final decision at the 20th-minute mark at A-League games across the competition over the weekend.
Johnson added: "Football is very safe. Two million people play it week in, week out. We saw in all the other A-League games that were played over the weekend, peaceful protests, and that’s OK – fans have are OK to express their views in a peaceful way.
"The way that some individuals conducted themselves at the Melbourne Victory game is not acceptable, and I think that is specific to that match.
"I don’t think that it is a reflection on the broader game. We're the biggest sport country in terms of participants. This does not happen in local football. It doesn’t happen at national team level. It doesn’t happen at the NPL level, and it hasn’t happened in the other A-League games.
"I don't think though that a group of individuals that participated in unacceptable behaviour in one match is a reflection of how the broader sport is.
"The small group of people, the 100-150 odd people that invaded the pitch, they need to be the target, not the broader sport. We will be targeting those individuals and ensuring that they no longer participate in our sport."
Johnson said the FA would work with the Australian Premier Leagues (APL), who run the A-Leagues, on appropriate sanctions for Victory, whose fans flooded the pitch.
Victory managing director Caroline Carnegie also strongly condemned the fan behaviour when speaking to reporters on Sunday, insisting it "has no place at our club".
Steve Clarke aware Norway have ‘a lot of good players’ as well as Erling Haaland
Steve Clarke insisted there is more to Norway than Erling Haaland after naming his squad for the resumption of Scotland’s European Championship qualification campaign in Oslo.
The Scots, who began their Euro 2024 qualifiers in March with impressive home wins over Cyprus and Spain, travel to Norway for their June 17 clash before hosting Georgia at Hampden Park three days later.
Clarke’s side face the daunting task, in the first match of the double-header, of trying to stop 22-year-old Manchester City striker Haaland, who has scored a staggering 58 goals in all competitions so far this season.
Speaking in Glasgow’s George Square at the McDonald’s Fun Football Festival, which is part of the Scottish Football Association’s week of football, he said: “There are a lot of good players in the Norway side that we have to deal with as well as Haaland, who has obviously had an outstanding season.
“He is a top quality player. We need to make sure we are organised and make sure we play well and don’t make too many mistakes.
“We respect everybody, we respect our opponents all the time and we will give Norway and Georgia our full attention.”
Asked if he was wary of the focus being too much on Haaland, he replied: “I am wary of the fact that you are going to go down the line of Haaland, Haaland, Haaland.
“There are lots of other players that we need to deal with as well.”
Rangers centre-back John Souttar is one player who could be asked to shackle the Norway goal machine.
The 26-year-old, who returned to the Rangers side at the back end of the season after missing much of the campaign through injury, has not played for the national team since last summer’s Nations League defeat in Ireland.
Souttar takes the place of Norwich centre-back Grant Hanley, who has been sidelined with an Achilles problem since early April.
Clarke said: “When you lose players of the quality of Grant Hanley, whom we have lost for a considerable period of time, which is unfortunate for Grant, it is nice to have someone like John come back into the squad and hopefully he can show the form that he showed before any time I picked him for his country.”
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland and his Hibernian forward Kevin Nisbet have been included in place of Stoke’s Jacob Brown, who missed the end of the Championship season with a hamstring issue, and Southampton’s Che Adams, who recently suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury he sustained in Scotland’s win over Cyprus.
Shankland, who previously made four appearances between October 2019 and November 2020, was recalled for the Spain game in March and has kept his place at the end of a campaign in which he has scored 28 goals for Hearts.
Nisbet, who won all of his 10 caps in 2021, is included for the first time since damaging his anterior cruciate ligament in February 2022. The 26-year-old has scored 12 goals for Hibs since returning to action in December.
Asked about the absence of Adams, Clarke said: “It is always disappointing when you lose key players, but you tend to get used to it.
“You normally name a squad and you lose key players all the time so, disappointing for Che, disappointing end to the season getting relegated with his club.
“He tried to come back and probably aggravated his injury trying to help his club so disappointing for Che but a chance for Kevin Nisbet to come back into the squad.
“Kevin is a goalscorer, we know the qualities he brings us. He has been in the squad before.
“Lawrence is in the squad, same qualities, he can score goals and don’t forget we have Lyndon (Dykes) as well.
“I thought he was really good in the game against Spain. We have enough quality up front.”
Clarke is looking to build on the fine start to the campaign which has brought six points from six.
He said: “When you are playing in a five-team group, eight games to qualify, every game is important.
“Every point that we can get over the summer is going to help us to the ultimate target, which is to qualify for Germany.”
Roberto De Zerbi says Brighton must build stronger squad for European challenge
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi admits the Seagulls will need to spend ahead of their European debut.
They have qualified for the Europa League for the first time in their history after finishing sixth in the Premier League.
Brighton had already wrapped up sixth spot before Sunday’s final day 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa and De Zerbi knows they will need to expand their squad to cope with the demands of European competition.
“We are not ready to play three games in a row, three games per week. We are not used to playing three games in a row,” he said.
“We have to work in the transfer market, we have to build a stronger squad, with more players and then we have to improve.
“The result we achieved this year was incredible, Tony (Bloom), me and Paul Barber, we have the dream to improve this result.
“The season is finished which is bad news for me – it’s difficult without football. I will go to Italy and will work with Tony Bloom and the club to improve the squad.
“This season was fantastic and we have to try and repeat it.”
Deniz Undav’s goal was not enough to rescue a point after Brighton fell 2-0 down inside 30 minutes at Villa following strikes from Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins.
Victory earned Villa seventh in the Premier League and a Europa Conference League play-off spot, returning to Europe for the first time in 13 years.
Boss Unai Emery said: “It’s important because we’re going to be one step ahead in our objective to be in Europe. To play in the Conference League is very important.
“We’re adding the possibility of another trophy because it’s very difficult in the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Our objective and ambitions will be to try and always be a candidate to get a trophy.
“To play in Europe for the club and the coaches, because I was playing 15 years in a row in Europe, so to get that again next year is fantastic for me individually and I’m very happy playing in Europe.”
‘We will be back’ says Leicester chairman following relegation
Leicester chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha has dismissed calls from some supporters to sell the relegated club and promised the Foxes will soon return to the Premier League.
Despite beating West Ham 2-1 on Sunday, Leicester dropped into the Sky Bet Championship seven years after being crowned champions of England and two seasons since winning the FA Cup.
It is a remarkable fall from grace and one that Leicester chairman Srivaddhanaprabha says has led to him receiving offensive messages, some of which have been “outright abusive”.
“I have received a massive number of messages from our fans – both positive and negative,” Srivaddhanaprabha said in a statement published on the Leicester website.
“Some want me to sell the club, some using offensive and thoughtless words, and some have been outright abusive.
“But for every hurtful message I have received, I have also received messages of support, of appreciation, of unity – both remotely and from people I have met anonymously in public, who always come to say hello to me and to my family. It means a lot to us.”
Srivaddhanaprabha’s father Vichai and his family bought the club in 2010 and took Leicester into the Premier League four years later. Leicester produced possibly English football’s greatest underdog story by winning the title in 2016.
Club chairman Khun Vichai was killed in a helicopter accident at Leicester’s King Power Stadium in October 2018.
“It was the most painful experience for me and for my family, but the support and love we received from our Leicester City family made our bond even stronger,” Srivaddhanaprabha said of the accident.
“I made a commitment, as chairman, to continuing to pursue the ambition my father and I shared for the club, to ensure that the realisation of his vision for Leicester City would ultimately become his legacy.
“We want to thank you and let you know that we still have the same ambition for Leicester City that we had 13 years ago.
“The incredible support we had in our stadium yesterday, the positive messages we have received from our fans and the constructive comments we must take on-board – we will gather all this support and use it to power our recovery.
“Power to justify our fans’ belief in their club. Power to take us back to the Premier League.
“Next season is going to be tough, but it will be a year for collaboration and unity. We will come together and fight to return to the Premier League.”
Leicester finished fifth twice as well as eighth during manager Brendan Rodgers’ three full seasons in charge.
But Srivaddhanaprabha acknowledged the impact of Covid had a serious effect on the club’s finances, with summer cutbacks meaning that Rodgers was unable to significantly strengthen his squad.
The departures of long-serving goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to Nice and defender Wesley Fofana to Chelsea also had a detrimental effect on the squad.
Rodgers left at the end of April with Leicester in the bottom three, and his replacement Dean Smith was unable to prevent relegation after taking charge for the final eight games.
Srivaddhanaprabha said: “Relegation is a consequence of 38 games and over that period, we haven’t been good enough.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we need to reflect on the processes and decisions that have brought us to this point.
“What we learn from this experience must convert into action that makes us stronger and prevents this happening to us again in the future.
“We took Leicester City into the UEFA Champions League, giving our supporters those amazing Wednesday nights, under the lights in Porto, Brugge, Copenhagen, Seville and Madrid.
“We used the fruits of that success to keep reinvesting in the club, strengthening our squad, improving the experience for our fans and starting plans for major projects like Seagrave and a stadium expansion that would give us long-term strength and growth.
“Of course, these milestones place our situation today into quite stark context, but I reference them to highlight the progress we have made as a club in the last 13 years, which gives me confidence that we will build again.
“Relegation is undeniably a significant setback, but it will not define us. Today we share the loss and the pain together. But we will be back.
“This responsibility that I continue to live is one of the greatest responsibilities in my life and I will continue to put everything into it – my passion, that of my family and the entire King Power community.”
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