Scenes of "violence and intimidation" by fans of the A-League Western Sydney Wanderers football club have forced Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione to "bolster officer numbers at future matches," according to Mark Morri of the DAILY TELEGRAPH. Video of fans "terrorising families before Saturday night's A-League derby at Parramatta came to light" Monday. More than 100 Wanderers supporters were filmed "surrounding an outside section of a restaurant, yelling, swearing and spitting." A plate and a glass "were thrown, hitting a Sydney FC fan who was dining with friends." One of the diners who filmed the incident, an ex-policeman who wished to be identified only as "Paul," described the melee outside the Ribs and Rumps restaurant as "pretty frightening." Paul said, "The fans were aggressive, spitting and hurling abuse. I had my two daughters, nine and 11, and other family there and I was worried it could explode." The violence "was not limited to outside the stadium," with more troublemakers -- including pitch invaders -- "arrested inside during the match." Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop described the incident as the "antics of a few morons," despite the images clearly showing there were "vastly more than a few responsible for the disturbing scenes" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 3/26).
