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AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan says the league will consider banning fans who took part in an ugly crowd brawl at the MCG last night that marred the first match of the AFL season.
Key points:
- A 19-year-old man was fined $322 for riotous behaviour
- None of the men involved wished to take further action, police said
- The AFL has asked the MCG operators why security did not intervene more quickly
Police said a fight broke out between a number of men inside the ground shortly before 10:30pm, after Richmond's 33-point victory over Carlton.
Video footage posted on social media shows punches being thrown by several men.
A man in a Richmond jumper can be seen punching another man to the ground, then throwing more punches while standing over him.
A 19-year-old man from Eltham was arrested and has been fined $322 for riotous behaviour.
Police said none of the men involved in the brawl wished to take further action.
AFL spokesman Jay Allen said the league was investigating the incident and could ban patrons who acted inappropriately from attending matches.
"85,000 fans attended the match last night, and the overwhelming majority of people behaved responsibly and enjoyed the game — we will not let the actions of a few take away from this," Mr Allen said.
Questions over speed of security response
On Melbourne radio station 3AW this morning, Gillon McLachlan described the incident as "a disgrace".
"It's clearly unacceptable," he said.
"Every person who comes to our game needs to feel safe.
"That behaviour is clearly unacceptable and there needs to be an accountability for the individuals involved for their behaviour.
"We have the power to issue banning notices and, I don't want to run ahead of it, but from what I have seen it'd be hard to see why we would want that person in a Richmond jumper — and there may be others — coming to the football for a period of time."
He said he had contacted Stuart Fox, the chief executive of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC), which manages the MCG, to ask why it had taken so long for security to arrive.
"Part of the answer to that question is the siren had just gone and it was in egress mode, there's 85,000 people trying to leave at the same time," McLachlan said.
"It feels an unacceptable amount of time before security got there."
McLachlan last year ruled out segregating fans after a brawl erupted following a match between Geelong and Melbourne in July.
That brawl was one of a number of violent crowd incidents at AFL venues last season, including a fight at the Adelaide Oval between Port Adelaide and Essendon fans during both teams' last match of the year.
In April, a fight broke out during a Port Adelaide and Geelong match at the same ground.
A man was glassed at Kardinia Park during a match between Geelong and Carlton, while fights were caught on camera at two separate matches at Docklands.
The first fight at Docklands, involving 10 fans, broke out during a match between St Kilda and Collingwood, and a week later nine people were caught up in a brawl when the Magpies played the Western Bulldogs.
Richmond, Carlton and the MCC have been contacted for comment.
Topics: crime, sport, australian-football-league, law-crime-and-justice, antisocial-behaviour, melbourne-3000, vic
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