Thai Premier League officials finally show some spine

The fans of the two TPL clubs clashed after Muangthong’s 3-1 home win at the SCG stadium last Saturday. Crowd trouble is nothing new in this country. It has been scourge of the game for a long time but what drew particular attention was that the fighting, which left many of the fans from both sides injured, broke out outside the football ground for the first time.

The Thai football authorities have rarely done things right in the past but this time they deserved a great deal of credit for taking a swift and decisive action against hooliganism that seemed to be getting worse.

Nevertheless, it initially looked like a repeat of a same old story when the TPL’s disciplinary panel decided to defer its decision until Monday’s meeting, claiming they needed more evidence from the police before considering any sanctions.

 It was a sign of indecision that did little good to improve the credibility of the TPL officials when it came to dealing with cases concerning football-related violence. Many believed that the continued trouble on terraces is partly due to the authorities’ indecisiveness and inadequate punishment.

A question arose whether the officials decided to delay the decision because Muangthong, the team some call a “privileged” club due to its close connection with those in charge of the Thai FA and the TPL, are involved in the case.

However, two days later, the disciplinary panel surprised many when they came up with what was seen as a “landmark” verdict to hand both Muangthong and Singhtarua a nine-point deduction plus a fine of Bt300,000. The supporters of the two clubs also received a three-match ban from attending the game.

It was the heaviest punishment handed out to the Thai club since Nakhonpathom FC had its license revoked for two years following crowd violence in their promotion play-off match against Srisaket FC in 2010.  

Some people doubted whether the officials would be strong enough to take tough action against Muangthong, speculating a reduction of punishment on appeal. However, the authorities managed to confound people for the second time by upholding the sanction against both clubs.

Even so, some sense a conspiracy theory. They say that the officials dared to act against Muangthong because they were less affected by the sanction. Seemingly out of title race this season, the point deduction only effectively ended any remaining hopes Muangthong had of reclaiming the league title. On the contrary, Singhtarua will be in real danger of being relegated when the points are docked at the end of the season next month.   

Whatever people say, it cannot take away the credit the TPL officials deserved for showing some spine and taking a strong stance against hooliganism. The latest action would not get rid of the problem from the game immediately but it certainly has sent a strong message that there was no place for violence on football field.