A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers put fan group Red and Black Bloc "on notice," declaring it will shut down the group's reserved area if there is "any sign" of antisocial behavior during the club's friendly against Premier League club Arsenal on Saturday, according to Dominic Bossi of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. With a global TV audience and more than 80,000 spectators at the game, "all eyes will be on the Wanderers, and their supporters," and the club is "determined the showpiece will not be marred by unruly fans." In a "strongly-worded letter" sent to all club members on Wednesday, Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas declared the club had lost faith in the RBB's leadership due to its "history of anti-social incidents," saying they had "no control or, worse, have no regard for the future of the Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club." He added, "Notice is hereby given that should any of these incidents happen this season ... then the club reserves the right to close down the active support area for an indefinite period." The club "has lost sponsorship and commercial partnerships as a result of the actions of the RBB" and it has "been fortunate not to have been docked competition points" due to previous crowd behavior problems. Western Sydney University removed its advertisements from the club's A-League team in response to the RBB banner displayed in February and Tsatsimas suggested the costs of security "had soared," preventing the club from hosting preseason games (SMH, 7/12).
