The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Melbourne soccer match abandoned after goalkeeper attacked
MELBOURNE, Australia©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
17 Comments
Login to comment
Nagoyajin
Can anyone tell me why this happens so often in soccer - having violent (& racist) fans - in so many countries on different continents?
It doesn’t happen with other sports with rabid fans like MLB, NFL, NBA, rugby or cricket.
BurakuminDes
This stuff is unheard of in the biggest codes here - Australian Football, Rugby League and Cricket apart from the odd moron. Indeed, rival fans commonly sit together. Soccer just seems to attract violent, angry anti-social males with a pack mentality for some reason.
Sadly incidents like this will prevent soccer ever becoming as popular as it could be here in Australia.
tooheysnew
not sure about other countries, but in Australia, many clubs have affiliation with their country of origin. For example, Greece, Croatia, Macedonia, Malta, Italy.
These clubs’ fans would bring their respective country’s hatred of another country to the games, where it usually ended up turning ugly.
I do know that Real Madrid & Barcelona’s rivalry is related to the Spanish civil war.
Numan
Soccer has more "thugs" than any other sport in the world!
diagonalslip
A-League? the A must stand for.....
AustPaul
Disgraceful.
This sort of thing (flares etc) seems to be common at soccer games and I think the fans are more fanatic than those of other sports like AFL, Cricket and Basketball.
To some it’s like a religion but really it’s just a “game”…
Clubs and players should step up more and warn fans of consequences of their behaviour.
tooheysnew
Let me add, that the these country affiliated clubs such as Sydney Olympic, Sydney Croatia & Sydney Macedonia from the old Australian soccer league were prohibited from joining the newly formed A-league.
They still exist in the local state competitions, & unfortunately there is still the occasional trouble.
M3M3M3
I'm sure ticket prices are a major factor. Most American major league teams now charge $100-150+ to attend a game, thereby attracting a wealthier well-behaved class of spectator.
The European matches that end in riots are usually minor league rivalries where fans pay the equivalent $10 per ticket, making it easier for any troublemaker to attend.
DudeDeuce
Cross city rivals in a city that takes their sports seriously. You strike up a conversation with a person from Melbourne about AFL for example, it won't be anything casual. They are passionate about their team. On the other hand, Melbourne people tend to look down on this type of behavior especially if it is done elsewhere in Australia.
FizzBit
Wow! Throwing anything in an open field is the same as throwing something into a large crowd?
Hot dangerous flares no less
The goal keeper probably had no way to know who actually threw it so how could he “throws one back at you” and hit the person who threw it?
who upvoted this comment? LOL
invalid CSRF
Sanjinosebleed
Arrest everyone of them should be plenty of cameras!
TokyoLiving
Good old soccer..
Andy
Soccer and hooliganism go hand in hand, maybe because it's such a boring game to watch.
FizzBit
So the goalkeeper started it by throwing the flare back into the stands. Kinda dumb. Oh, and not mentioned but I'm guessing he threw it into the Melbourne Victory crowd.
It is funny isn't it? Bread and Circuses I guess.