Professional Footballers Australia today called for two of the most important stakeholders in football, the players and the fans, to speak out against the minority that chose to cause the unsavoury scenes witnessed at Sydney FC’s pre-season friendly in Campbelltown last night.
PFA President Simon Colosimo, who along with his teammates was in Epping last night at a Melbourne Heart community festival, said afterwards, ‘quality atmosphere at games is one of the key pillars to football’s success in Australia, and the true A-League fans have shown over the years how they loyally and passionately follow their teams without the need to resort to thoughtless acts that ruin the experience for those around them, including us as players’.
PFA Delegate and Perth Glory Captain Jacob Burns took to Twitter to share his thoughts with fans and players alike following news of the incident. ‘We all want passionate fans! But this violence and behaviour has no place in our game and is counterproductive to our code growing’.
New PFA Chief Executive Nick Holland is well aware of the hard work that Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers have dedicated towards engaging with their local communities, and has praised both clubs for their resolve in not allowing the few to distract them from their plans.
‘What this incident has made clear is that the clubs, players and real fans of the game will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and will pull together to make sporting rivalries, whether its Heart and Victory or Sydney FC and the Wanderers, healthy ones that are great for the game.
