A-League coach Marko Rudan faces Football Australia sanctions for post-match tirade
Western Sydney head coach Marko Rudan faces a potentially hefty penalty after unleashing a post-match tirade that included claims of “an absolute stigma attached to my football club”.
Football Australia (FA) said it will issue Rudan with a show cause notice following his comments made after the Wanderers’ last-gasp 4-3 defeat to Macarthur in their A-League Men clash on Sunday night.
Rudan was incensed after Bulls match-winner Valère Germain dodged a red card when lashing out with a boot in the first half, but also took aim at the A-League more broadly before storming out of the press conference.
The Wanderers’ coach could now be hit with range of sanctions including a reprimand, fine, suspension or any other sanction that FA deems appropriate.
“I’ll start by saying there is an absolute stigma attached to my football club and it’s clear for all to see, you can say whatever you want,” Rudan said after the match.
The former Wellington Phoenix and Western United boss is now in his second season in charge of the club based in the area of Sydney that he grew up in.
The coach also criticised the league for what he perceived as bias against the Wanderers which he believes is spilling over from the stands and on to the pitch.
“When this football club was created, everyone spoke around the league in glowing fashion about the colour, the entertainment, the noise, the singing and how it was godsend to the league,” Rudan said.
“The west of Sydney is a diverse multicultural area made up of predominantly Europeans, my parents are one of them. Football in Europe and South America and all over the world, when it comes to fans, is on a different level.
“So everybody praises the club, praises its fans for doing all that, and then some issues occur and all of a sudden, since that moment years ago, there’s been this stigma and our poor fans and members have had to pay the price.
“A lot of people have lost trust in the league because of it. Certainly the fans around the country want to keep talking about a successful Wanderers. Well, they’re not turning up, because they’ve lost trust and faith in the system.”
Rudan had earlier criticised the onfield referee Adam Kersey and the VAR for their decision not to award Germain a straight red card.
The Bulls midfielder avoided being shown a card of any colour for bringing a boot down heavily toward Wanderers defender Tom Beadling in the 23rd minute of the heated local derby.
Germain went on to head home the match-winner in the 93rd minute and complete his first A-League hat-trick, while Beadling had by then been sent off for a clumsy challenge on Ulises Davila early in the second half.
“For the life of me, how Germain stays on the pitch when he kicks out at my player in that first half, I have absolutely no idea,” Rudan said.
“It’s a retaliation, it’s a clear red. It happened to my players last year, but when it does happen to my football club and my players, they don’t even think twice, it’s a straight red.”
FA’s head of referees, Nathan Magill, said in a statement the VAR did review the incident and concluded that “the studs of Germain’s boot did not make contact with the body of Beadling, so it was deemed not to be violent conduct.”
“That being said, this was a missed yellow card against Germain, something which we have discussed with the match referee as part of Football Australia’s weekly performance review of its officials,” Magill added.