Fans locked out of games

By Gavin Staindl
THE Dandenong Thunder Soccer Club has been fined $8000, stripped of six premiership points and – perhaps worst of all – ordered to shut their gates for four home games after it was found guilty of umpire abuse.
The Victorian Premier League club was found guilty of three counts of serious misconduct by Football Federation Victoria, after a club official and a supporter were found to have “abused and engaged in physical conduct” with a referee after Dandenong’s game with Bentleigh last month.
Reports obtained from the FFV suggest an unknown person spat on the referee at the completion of the match, while the club official was found guilty of abusing the referee as he walked from the pitch.
Despite the serious nature of the offences, soccer fans state-wide are stunned at the sanction handed down to Dandenong.
Not only has the loss of six championship points demoted Thunder from first to fourth on the Premier League ladder, but according to president Driton Maliku, the closure of its gates for four home games means it could lose more than $60,000 in revenue.
Maliku believes the soccer club will miss out on approximately $15,000 per home game and will still need to fork out money for the upfront fine of $8000.
With international and local players relying on payments they receive from the club, the sanction is a stake to the Thunder heart.
“I have been involved in soccer a long time and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Thunder coach Stuart Munro said.
“All the guys from overseas cannot believe it, we are just flabbergasted.
“I have seen pitch invasions, punch-ups … even a president walk onto the ground during a match and assault the assistant referee and they don’t get punished anywhere near this.
“I don’t want to say too much because as soon as I get quoted the FFV will come down on me, and I certainly can’t condone the act of spitting on someone but to get this type of punishment you have to have done a hell of a lot wrong.”
It is the second time in 12 months that Dandenong has been found guilty of a serious offence.
Last year Dandenong had to close its gates to supporters for two games and was stripped of three points for having one of its fans call a linesman “a cheat”.
“People say we have trouble controlling our crowds but it’s just one stupid fan,” Munro said. “Nobody saw who spat on the umpire, and I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but for all we know it could have been a 10 year-old kid from behind a fence.”
Dandenong is awaiting word from its solicitors before it makes any move to begin an appeal.