Toronto FC: Supporters group shouldn’t face punishment

Toronto FC came down hard on their now former supporters group Inebriatti, as the club sanctioned them on Thursday for last month’s incident in Ottawa.

Toronto FC responded to the situation that took place during the opening leg of the Canadian Championship semi-final against Ottawa FC. During the fixture, supporters ignited fireworks that caused small fires at Ottawa’s ground, TD Place.

The Reds responded to the incident earlier this week, by handing out sanctions to Inebriatti and removing their season tickets. As a result, the group of supporters came together to form a statement claiming unfair jurisdiction from TFC, as reported by Sportsnet:

"“We took responsibility for the events because our members brought the flares and the other groups should not have been punished for the actions of one group of individuals,” Inebriatti said in a statement. “One person was responsible for the flare on the pitch and only a very small portion of our members travelled for the game.“We co-operated fully with the (TFC) front office throughout the entire investigation and the individual has since come forward, presented himself to police and has been removed as a member. The incident remains under investigation by Ottawa police.”"

It’s very good reasoning, but it’s hard for Inebriatti to gain any sort of reliability, especially after a few individuals from the group were involved in the incident. A handful of supporters claimed responsibility for their actions, which caused them to be banned from BMO Field.

That should have been it. People came forward, punishment was handed out and the Reds went back to focusing on their football. Obviously, it didn’t happen that way. As mentioned before, however, there was no reason for Toronto to take the extra steps.

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In this case, the actions of certain individuals should not have harmed the entire group. It’s one thing to inflict a sort of “learn your lesson” style of punishment, but what lesson is going to be learned from those who weren’t involved? Should they have not been affiliated with the individuals who set off the fireworks in the first place?

That’s hard for an entire supporters group to change. Assumptions cannot be made in that area, as again, the police and the club know who was involved. The supporters group couldn’t have known that anybody was going to do this; it just happened.

Plus, Inebriatti working with the Ottawa police only for them to receive punishment themselves, has to be the ultimate slap in the face. The values of honesty and co-operation by the group were undone by being punished by the Reds.

From the sanctions given out by Toronto FC, they think they’re doing the right thing, but the reality is they’re losing a loyal set of people. Supporters groups are behind any club they have a passion for; whether that is home or away.

Energy, passion and care are given each match-day from loyal sets of fans all over the world. It’s what they do, and it’s a huge chunk of their lives. TFC went for actions rather than thoughts, and it may hurt the club at the end of the day.

Do you think the punishment Toronto FC gave Inebriatti was fair? What would you have done in TFC’s position? Let us know in the comments section below.