‘Crusade’ against unruly fans

Ħamrun Spartans have vowed to step up their efforts to curb unruly behaviour by fans.

The Premier League club yesterday took the unusual step of calling a news conference to launch a “crusade” against football thugs, including a minority of trouble-makers among the Spartans supporters.

“We are here to launch a crusade against unruly fans, not only those who pretend to support Ħamrun but also those who follow the fortunes of other clubs,” Emmanuel Fenech, the Spartans’ media officer, told reporters.

Gejtu Debattista, the senior vice-president of Ħamrun, said the club wanted to underline their zero-tolerance stance on unsporting behaviour by fans.

“We want to issue a stern warning to the few who come to the stadium with the intention of causing problems,” Debattista said.

“Together with the authorities and the Malta FA, we will increase our efforts to try and educate these people. But, our message to the culprits is that Ħamrun Spartans will never condone their actions and they can’t expect to seek refuge in this club when disciplinary action is taken against them.”

Last month, Spartans follower Sandro Cauchi stole the attention for the wrong reasons after running on to the pitch during the match against Floriana, won 2-1 by the latter.

Cauchi was banned from all football grounds for one year and fined. Five other supporters were also handed three-month bans over incidents during the same game.

Debattista also revealed that, in the coming days, the club will be hosting some distinguished foreign guests.

“These individuals could join forces with us in the near future and we don’t want them to get the wrong impression of the club because of some stupid act,” Debattista said.

For his part, Victor Cassar, also a vice-president at Ħamrun Spartans, echoed Debattista’s condemnation of any kind of violence in football.

“True fans don’t commit acts that harm their club,” Cassar said.

As he paid tribute to the company that manages the Tedesco Stadium, Cassar said that plans are in the pipeline to double the capacity of the ground as well as to apply for EU funds to construct a canopy that would be covered with photovoltaic panels.

Asked to give an update on a compensation claim a host of Dutch clubs lodged against Ħamrun over their former Dutch winger Sylvano Comvalius, Cassar said the club are finding great support from the Malta FA’s newly-set up legal department, headed by Dr Chris Bonnett.

The Spartans have presented their arguments to FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber and a decision is expected soon, Cassar said.