Eureka Moment As Ffa Allows Fans To Raise Standard
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday October 28, 2008
FANS have won a victory after the game's governing body backtracked on a threat to ban the Eureka flag from A-League games.
It was yesterday revealed Football Federation Australia had ordered Melbourne Victory to tell its fans that anyone flying the flag would be kicked out of games and have the standard confiscated.Fans of the Victory have flown the famous flag, with its white cross and five white stars on a blue background, since the club was formed, and consider it to be a symbol of unity. However, the FFA said it should be banned on the grounds that it was "flag or emblem which might be considered national or political". After an outcry from descendants of the Eureka miners, and threats by Victory fans to fly hundreds of the flags at the club's next home game, the FFA moved swiftly yesterday morning to rescind the ban. "It had been caught up in a wider review undertaken prior to the start of the Hyundai A-League to ensure that national or political flags are not brought into games inappropriately," FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said."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."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
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