The Western Sydney Wanderers have taken strong action against those involved in a disgusting banner displayed at the Sydney derby last Saturday night.
The club announced yesterday 18 month suspensions for 14 members of the Red & Black Bloc (RBB) active supporter group.
The club said it was in the process of issuing ban notices to these 14 individuals for 18 months across all competitions.
Following review of CCTV footage from both before and during the event, 14 individuals were identified as taking part in concealing, assembling and displaying the banner on Saturday night.
“For the purposes of clarity these are not Football Federation Australia or venue bans but are club enforced bans,’’ the Wanderers said in their media statement.
“As part of the banning notices to be issued by the club, Western Sydney Wanderers will also require those involved to undertake a recognised social inclusion program approved by the club prior to any re-admission to Wanderers matches before their bans can be lifted.
Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas said the banner incident involved key leaders of the RBB “who have shown no remorse for their actions of bringing our club and the game of football into disrepute and have continued to flaunt their disdain for the club and our diverse and inclusive membership family further on social media.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“As a club we have had enough and have put the entire group on notice,’’ Mr Tsatsimas said.[/social_quote]
“While the vast majority of the RBB are exceptional in their support and actions for this club, we must remove all those who see themselves as bigger than the club they support.”
The club also made it clear that should there be any further breach of the spectator code of behaviour in the active supporter area or on any RBB official social media platform, that active area will be shut down.
