I think this story is quite reasonable, though I'm sure many will keep going with the anti-AFL attitude: https://www.sen.com.au/news/2019/06/17/marvel-stadium-initiated-fan-crackdown-not-the-afl-mcclure/Sorry, but where did the directive to clamp down on loudness, language or extra aisle patrols come from?
I notice lately all the press has been about Marvel, but this was already happening at the G.
Does anyone seriously think the contracted security firm decided on its own to change things? To ramp up aisle walks? To eyeball fans?
There is only one way such a change in behaviour of the contractors occurs. From the employer.
If the employer is the stadium, then they see no need to change things, at extra cost, unless the renter of the venue decides they want a change.
All roads lead back to the AFL, and by extension, the head of the AFL.
To think otherwise is to ignore the facts.
Marvel Stadium management are responsible for the sudden crackdown on crowd behaviour and not the AFL, according to SEN Time On host Sam McClure.
An increased security presence over the weekend has heightened tensions amongst outraged fans, with Behavioural Awareness Officers spotted at Marvel Stadium on Friday and Saturday night.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has denied claims the league is responsible for the intensified security visibility at the AFL-owned venue, after Marvel Stadium CEO Michael Green took ownership of the matter on AFL Nation yesterday.
“Marvel Stadium, as of this morning, has agreed to tone down its security presence after a frustrated CEO Gillon McLachlan essentially summoned Michael Green, the CEO of Marvel Stadium, to his office this morning,” McClure told SEN’s Time On.
“The AFL has consistently told us that at no stage did it initiate a crackdown on fan behaviour. A lot of us haven’t believed the AFL, but what we can tell you now is that the league is telling the truth.
“The crackdown came from Marvel Stadium and the MCG, so essentially Melbourne’s two main football stadiums.
“The MCG also increased their security protocols; not increased their raw numbers. The MCG also changed their protocols, but no one has complained about that, because they’ve got the balance right.”
The AFL is the tallest of tall poppies, and there will always be people willing to trying and cut them down. I'm not exactly a fan of the head of the AFL (I don't dislike him either), and of course I know they will try and "spin things" when they think it's necessary, but I just don't always believe that they are to be blamed for anything the fans are unhappy about!