Key Points
- More than 150 spectators face potential criminal charges.
- Victoria Police says they are working football officials to identify those involved in the violence on the pitch.
- Football Australia is conducting three internal investigations of its own.
Victoria Police has launched an investigation into the A-League pitch invasion that resulted in an injured goalkeeper and the Melbourne derby match being suspended.
Victoria Police said it is examining the actions of more than 150 spectators in video footage as they also appealed for witnesses to come forward.
"There were clearly large numbers of people who entered onto the pitch. That's an offence under the Major Events Act in itself. So we will be looking at all of those persons who are involved," Acting Superintendent Jason Goddard said, adding that offenders should expect a knock on their door soon.
"If we can identify them, we will be looking to prosecute where we can."
He said safety for those attending future A-League games is front of mind.
"Further discussions will need to take place into how we can actually ensure this does not occur again."
He said 134 police officers were on the ground patrolling the game.
Player and referee injured
The match between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory was abandoned after fans from the Melbourne Victory active area stormed the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium pitch, with Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover and referee Alex King struck by a metal bucket and injured.
On Saturday night, both sets of fans had planned to walk out at the 20-minute mark as part of a protest towards the Australian Professional Leagues' (APL) decision for the next three A-League grand finals to be hosted by Sydney, and had been throwing flares.
Flares were thrown on to the field during the game between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City and at one point City goalkeeper Tom Glover threw one back into the Victory fans area. Credit: Darrian Traynor/Getty
Fans then rushed the pitch and one threw the metal bucket, which was full of sand to extinguish lit flares, at Glover, who was concussed and required stitches, and King, who had a head gash.
The game was suspended for approximately 45 minutes then abandoned.
Acting Superintendent Goddard said bringing flares to games is a criminal offence.
"There are significant penalties. It is a criminal offence. So don't bring flares to games. It is straight out dangerous. There were a number of occasions where flares ended up on the field of play, which were certainly of risk to the players and certainly of risk to other spectators within the ground."
Lifetime bans considered
Melbourne Victory's managing director Caroline Carnegie said she was "disgraced and appalled" by what had occurred.
She said lifetime bans may not be strong enough punishment for those fans responsible for the violence.
"This is a group of them that we don't condone the behaviour of and we don't want at our club," Ms Carnegie said.
Football Australia (FA) has launched two investigations into what occurred, one focusing on Melbourne Victory and one on the individuals involved, as well as a third investigation which would look at what would happen with the result of the match itself.
FA CEO James Johnson on Sunday condemned the actions of those involved.
"There is no justification for the behaviour we saw last night," he said.
Mr Johnson said Melbourne Victory would be receiving a "show cause" letter asking the club to explain certain elements of the incident.
With AAP
