Booted soccer fans cry foul

SYDNEY FC A-League fans were booted out of GMHBA Stadium on Sunday, with some claiming they were unfairly targeted for “standing up”.

But, other supporters suggest the Sydney fans, who call themselves ‘ The Cove’, were standing on seats and yelling vulgar chants — including “F--- off, Melbourne scum” — just metres from children.

Stadium management confirmed five people were evicted for anti-social behaviour and two arrested for intoxication out of a crowd of about 4000 at the Sunday afternoon fixture between Sydney FC and Western United FC.

But management would not give specific details on the reasons behind the evictions.

“The Kardinia Park Stadium Trust (KPST) confirm there were a number of evictions for anti-social behaviour at yesterday’s A-League match at GMHBA Stadium,” KPST chief executive Gerard Griffin said.

“Stadium management worked with Sydney FC representatives, Victoria Police and MA Security throughout this process.

Sydney FC released a statement, labelling the security “overzealous”.

“Having investigated the situation and spoken to Sydney FC representatives on the ground, we have been informed of a number of avoidable evictions of our fans by overzealous security who bypassed advice from our Sydney FC supporter marshalls,” the statement read.

“Nobody condones antisocial behaviour. However, we strongly believe the situation could have been handled in a better way.

“To see our fans mistreated is disappointing and we are working with the Hyundai ALeague to investigate.”

A-League fans took to social media to vent frustration during the game, with user Tommy Silver tweeting a widely-shared picture of a small contingent of Sydney fans, claiming a third had been kicked out for “standing up”.

Mr Silver yesterday told the Geelong Advertiser the tweet had been “tongue-in-cheek”, but said security did appear to focus on the group, looking for reasons to eject “six or seven Sydney fans”.

The Sydney FC supporter confirmed some members of the crowd were chanting vulgar slogans and standing on seats, but said the group had appeared to be targeted before the bad language began – possibly fanning tension.

“I think the issue most Australian soccer fans have is the perception that standing up and singing songs is aggressive, and so the security then find reasons on top of that to kick people out,” he said.