Asian Football Confederation (AFC) takes the incident seriously in Pahum Thani, Thailand, by reminding each host team to increase security for all parties, especially the visiting team, officials and supporters who travel to the opponent’s venue.
Datuk Windsor Paul John, General Secretary of AFC, when contacted by Harian Metro admitted to being surprised by two incidents that occurred before and after the action between BG Pathum United and Johor Darul Ta’zim at Pathum Thani Stadium, Thailand last Tuesday.
In two different incidents, JDT supporters nicknamed ‘Boys Of Straits’ or ‘BOS’ for short were attacked by a group of unknown home supporters leading to an incident of punching and throwing firecrackers.
Based on a video that went viral on social media, JDT supporters were walking outside the grounds of the Leo Stadium which is also the venue of the BG Pathum United club but suddenly the group of Harimau Selatan supporters were attacked.
“The normal SOP (standard operating procedure) when there is an incident of a supporter attack is that we (AFC) will wait for a report from the match officials from there, then we will take it to the Disciplinary Committee for further action.” Datuk Windsor John said.
“It is natural that any home team needs to ensure the safety of everyone who attends the stadium in a safe condition.”
“Furthermore, security needs to be tightened for the visiting team and visiting supporters who come as well. I remind and advise that every team that is the host or the non-host, to always focus on security so that there are no unwanted incidents,”
“I haven’t received a report on the matter yet, but we are serious about not allowing something like that to happen. As I said earlier, everyone’s safety, including the team’s officers, needs to be tightened,”
Source : Harian Metro
Credit Photo : AFC
