Melbourne Victory Fined for Fans’ Homophobic Slurs Against Josh Cavallo
Image: Images: Josh Cavallo Twitter
Football Australia has slapped Melbourne Victory with a $5000 fine, following a group of fans hurling homophobic slurs at Adelaide United player Josh Cavallo.
According to , Football Australia (FA) will use the $5000 fine to 鈥渇urther invest in [LGBTQI] awareness and education initiatives in soccer.鈥�
The FA gave Melbourne Victory a 鈥渟how-cause notice鈥� and could penalise the club for its fans shouting homophobic insults at the 22-year-old defender.
Despite this, the FA praised the 鈥渓eague leaders for condemning the incident鈥� and 鈥淸weeding] out the culprits.鈥�
The Melbourne Victory fans yelled the abuse at Cavallo聽during a match on Saturday, January 8.
Shortly after, Cavallo the abuse via social media and was greeted with support from celebrities, athletes, and members of the LGBTQI community and its allies.
‘Slurs Against Josh Cavallo Were Completely Unacceptable’
Melbourne Victory is still investigating and identifying all the perpetrators. Once they are identified, it will ban them from attending any future matches.
The FA鈥檚 CEO, James Johnson, said the organisation 鈥渓ooks at all incidents on a case-by-case basis鈥� and it will 鈥渢ake into consideration the totality of the situation and behaviours.鈥�
鈥淭his is not a situation where the club has been sitting on its hands,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭he club provided a detailed submission, and it has taken a strong stance against anti-social behaviour 鈥� both by its actions before and after this incident.鈥�
He said it was a 鈥渟mall number of individuals鈥� behaving inappropriately.
鈥淭o be clear, the actions of the spectators responsible for using homophobic slurs against Josh Cavallo were completely unacceptable,鈥� he added.
The FA issued a statement in which it wrote specific points to be considered when deciding on a punishment for the perpetrators.
It wrote that there needs to be a commitment to 鈥渨ork with supporters to take additional steps to educate fans about diversity and inclusion.鈥�
Melbourne Victory Supporters Helped Identify the Offenders
It is also acknowledged that 鈥渘umerous Melbourne Victory supporters鈥� had shown 鈥渄isdain for the incident鈥� and helped with identifying the offenders.
鈥淔ootball Australia is a founding member of Pride in Sport and will continue to work with [Melbourne Victory] to help support the Australia Professional Leagues and its clubs,鈥� Johnson said.
He continued, 鈥淚n issuing the sanction Football Australia is warning all participants and fans of the need to work together to ensure everyone can freely participate in our sport regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, ability or disability, cultural or religious background.
“We will continue to work with the A-League clubs and the Australian Professional Leagues to create a safe and inclusive environment for all involved, whether on or off the field.鈥�
https://twitter.com/JoshuaCavallo/status/1453240548404367370
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