Toronto FC: Everyone suffers for the actions of a few idiots

Thanks to the actions of a few fans in Ottawa on Wednesday night, Toronto FC have suspending supporter group privileges indefinitely.

Wednesday night should have been about celebrating an invaluable 1-0 win in Ottawa, in the first leg of Toronto FC‘s Canadian Championship semifinal series. Instead, the actions of a few idiots in the stands, took away from the achievement on the pitch.

During the second half of the game, a group of TFC supporters reportedly lit several flares and smoke bombs in their section of TD Place. As reported by the Canadian Press via Sportsnet, this led to several small fires in the stands and even on the pitch.

Consequently, the match had to be delayed for around five minutes, while the fires were extinguished by security staff. As you can imagine, there was a lot of panic in what was an embarrassing incident for everyone associated with Toronto FC.

As a result, TFC have been forced to take immediate action, with president Bill Manning issuing a statement on Thursday. As reported by Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, the statement read:

"The safety of our fans, employees and supporters is the highest priority for TFC. The events which took place in Ottawa last night involving TFC supporters were unacceptable and needlessly put the safety of others at risk. Due to the seriousness of this incident we are left with no choice but to suspend all recognized supporter group privileges indefinitely as we conduct a thorough review of TFC’s recognized supporter program. We are fully cooperating with the Ottawa Police Department as they investigate this incident and work to identify those responsible."

Thankfully, no one was injured. Regardless, the actions of the idiots involved cannot be dismissed, for fear of them repeating their actions elsewhere.

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Another thing that is concerning, is how the fireworks got into TD Place in the first place. The Ottawa Fury advised that all visiting supporters underwent bag checks and security scans before entering the stadium, but no fireworks or other devices were detected.

As per the Canadian Press, Constable Chuck Benoit said the investigation is ongoing. No one is in custody yet and no charges have been laid at this stage.

One of TFC’s most prominent supporter groups, the Inebriatti, issued a statement on Facebook, to distance themselves from the incident on Wednesday night. The statement read:

"Inebriatti does not condone interfering with the play of any match that we attend. We had no part in the flare that was thrown onto the field or the explosion at last night’s match in Ottawa. We are communicating with the relevant parties to understand what happened at the match last night and how to move forward once that is established."

Let us all hope this incident concludes with those responsible being caught and prosecuted. There is no reason why a few boneheaded individuals should ruin the fun for everyone else.

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If and when the offending Toronto FC fans are found by the police, what would you do? Suspend them for a certain period of time, or ban them permanently from all future games? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.