AN AFL-trained Investigations Officer has declared nobody in the fight at the conclusion of the Central Murray Football Netball League (CMFNL) will have a case to answer.
The CMFNL board has vowed to increase security and safety protocols at the annual Swan Hill Recreation Reserve event to prevent such incidents from occurring again.
Local police investigated the incident and did not lay charges, leaving it to league officials to weigh up their options.
CMFNL chairman John Brookshaw said the report had been accepted by the board and it had acted upon the findings.
“We are of the opinion that it is our grand final procedures that need reviewing and improving,” he said.
“Punishing these clubs will serve no purpose. A more productive outcome will see the board review our procedures on grand final day and alter these to reduce the chances of players being bumped into the crowd.
“In next year’s grand final, there will be a more visible presence of security personnel around the ground and they will be instructed to ensure all spectators stay in the designated areas and don’t creep toward the playing surface. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of players and spectators.”
The CMFNL described the event as a ‘melee in the dying minutes of the 2016 grand final’ which eventually spilled into the crowd. Up to 15 people who were at the centre of the brawl were interviewed.
The Investigations Officer said he was unable to identify any individual that ‘has a case to answer in respect of a breach of the CMFNL Code of Conduct’, describing the event as ‘a push and shove type incident that resulted in these players being pushed across the boundary line by another player’.
The players landed into a group of spectators at the centre of the ruckus.
Under CMFNL Bylaws, clubs are responsible for their conduct at football games which includes players, parents/carers, coaches, officials and spectators.
The event followed a horrid year for the league where clubs were cited for breach of code of conduct laws, multiple racial vilification events and abuse of umpires.
Mr Brookshaw said the CMFNL would do everything in its power to avoid any repeated accidents in the future.
