Spectators receive venue bans after brawls

Two spectators have received venue bans for their part in separate discrimination incidents during two premier club football matches in Auckland.

The Auckland Football disciplinary committee has banned Maurice Burney and a person it identifies as ‘‘the older man in a red coat (said to be the father of [player Fabrizio] Tavano)’’ from attending any matches for two years, after deeming them to have breached rule 37.5 of NZ Football’s disciplinary code. The rule calls for such a ban for any spectator who ‘‘offends the dignity of a person or group of persons through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions concerning race, colour, language, gender, sexual orientation, religion or origin’’.

Burney’s breach took place during a match between Forrest Hill Milford and North Shore United on September 1, while the other breach took place during a match between Three Kings United and Manukau United on August 29.

Three Kings United player Fabrizio Tavano has received a sixmatch ban for precipitating a brawl on the sideline of his side’s match against Manukau. Tavano plays for Auckland City in the national league and it is understood his ban will carry over to that competition, which begins on October 14.

Three Kings United and Manukau United have both been fined $200 and ordered to pay costs of $300 to the Northern Region Football League, which is administered by AFF. They must also pay a good behaviour bond of $2000, to be forfeited if they are found guilty of misconduct during the 2019 winter season.

Both clubs have also been deducted five points for the 2018 season, moving Manukau from second to fourth in the NRFL premier division and Three Kings from 11th to 12th.