Football Australia has launched an investigation into the behaviour of Sydney United 58 fans who chanted songs with fascist links and displayed apparent Nazi salutes during the Australia Cup final.
The organisation also condemned the booing of the Welcome To Country at CommBank Stadium, while the NSW Board of Jewish Deputies described supporters’ conduct as “reprehensible”.
NPL NSW side United became the first non A-League Men team to reach the tournament’s final but their achievement was overshadowed by the behaviour of a section of their supporters as they suffered a 2-0 loss to Macarthur FC.
Some followers of United, formerly known as Sydney Croatia, sang Za Dom Spremni (For Homeland – Ready) – a chant used by the far-right Ustase movement in Croatia in the 1930s and 1940s.
Images and videos circulated on social media also appeared to show fans carrying out fascist-style salutes.
“Football Australia is today assessing all footage and images available of certain individuals which are of concern to our organisation and the broader Australian football community, including the displaying of the Hitler salute,” Football Australia (FA) said in a statement.
“Football Australia is working closely with the management of CommBank Stadium and NSW Police to determine strong and swift action on any identified anti-social behaviour, which may also be deemed as illegal in the state of NSW.”
Read the article by George Clarke in the Gloucester Advocate.