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Four Punishments from Orlando-Tampa Bay Soccer Scuffle
Friday, July 11, 2014
By: Amy Kiley


July 11, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando -- Orlando City Soccer is cracking down on fan conduct following four arrests over the weekend. The fall-out stems from a scuffle during Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

In an open letter, Lions President Phil Rawlins says the four arrested fans are banned pending legal outcomes.

Also suspended for now are the supporter groups of which they’re reportedly members.   The Ruckus and the Iron Lion Firm are out until they agree to a new Fan Code of Conduct.  It has input from Major League Soccer, which the Lions will join next year.  In the meantime, members of those groups can still attend games and sit in the supporter section of the stadium -- just not with their previous group privileges. 

And, the privileges of all official supporter groups are temporarily on hold.  Those include the use of drums, flags and large banners.  At Sunday’s game, one fan allegedly struck a police officer with a flag pole.

Rawlins seems correct in writing that only a “small portion” of fans were involved.  16 people were ejected.  Average home-game attendance in St. Petersburg is about 5,000.

 

The open letter is at http://bit.ly/1w6zeDk.  The four-punishment excerpt from it is below.

  • The four fans arrested have been suspended from all future Orlando City games pending the outcome of legal proceedings;
  • Both current Supporter Groups – The Ruckus & Iron Lion Firm - have been indefinitely suspended pending their agreement to a new Fan Code of Conduct which follows MLS Supporter Group guidelines;
  • All privileges associated with being a Supporter Group (e.g., use of drums, flags, large banners, etc.) are temporarily suspended. The Club is in the process of implementing new guidelines to become a “Recognized Supporter Group” which will involve privileges (such as use of drums, flags, large banners, etc.) for those groups that comply in the future;
  • A copy of the new Fan Code of Conduct is being distributed to all fans.