The reputation of Football Federation Australia was hurt again over the weekend by another embarrassing debacle. At the Melbourne Victory – Sydney FC match on Saturday night, which drew the season’s largest attendance so far, Victory supporters were told they would be kicked out of the Telstra Dome if they flew the Eureka Flag.

Melbourne fans have been flying the Eureka Flag since the inception of the A-League in 2005. Why the sudden crack-down on a flag that is considered an “object of state heritage” by the Victorian Heritage Register (Wikipedia)?

Fans were told that the flag was considered inappropriate for its political symbolism. This, a flag used by the University of Ballarat in its official logo, banned for political symbolism?

Come off it, FFA.

The FFA apparently decided that the flag should be banned prior to the season. According to Victory spokesman Trent Jacobs:

“We were advised by the FFA earlier this season that it was to be banned and constituted a political flag.”We at the time expressed our concern about that and to our knowledge it hadn’t been looked at.”Source: The Age

So the FFA chose the Melbourne Victory vs Sydney FC match, traditionally the biggest game in the A-League season, to crack down on supporters flying a flag they’ve flown since the start of the A-League. Bad move.

They seem to have realised it too. Today the FFA denied that it ever meant to ban the flag. Ben Buckley, the FFA chief executive, said:

“It had been caught up in a wider review undertaken prior to the start of the A-League to ensure that national or political flags are not brought into games inappropriately.”In this instance, I believe it’s a case of the interpretation of `political’ going too far and the ban has been an unintended consequence of our spectator code of behaviour.”

And yet, the statement from the Victory indicates that the FFA made a clear decision regarding the flag, and had ignored the club’s concern about the banning. Today’s statement by Ben Buckley appears to be nothing more than a quick band-aid designed to avoid further embarrassment for the FFA, which already alienated fans earlier this season by announcing a restrictive seating policy.

They’ve finished the A-League season in excellent fashion, landing a spot in the top two – and guaranteeing a double shot at reaching the Grand Final.

But they won’t get the Grand Final at home, whether they win against the Central Coast Mariners or not. The FFA has decided that neither Central Coast nor Newcastle have a stadium large enough for the Grand Final.

And so the Grand Final will be played in Sydney.

And so the Jets are pissed.

The Mariners are keeping quiet about it all, preferring to focus on the task at hand: reaching the Grand Final.

The FFA is arguing that the Grand Final needs to be played at a larger stadium to ensure that fans for both the home and away teams are able to come out and support their team. Newcastle’s EnergyAustralia Stadium has a maximum capacity of just over 26,000; Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium in Gosford can only handle 20,000.

ANZ Stadium – the stadium formerly known as Stadium Australia – seats 83,500. So the maths is obvious. More people can attend what is to be the season’s biggest game if it’s played in Sydney.

But it’s just not that simple. Sydney FC could reach the Grand Final – improbable, but possible. If they do, they would theoretically be the away team in their home town.

Now how would that go down with Jets or Mariners fans?

Should the Grand Final be played in Sydney?

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