BOHEMIANS FANS ARE in danger of being banned from attending one of their club’s upcoming Premier Division away games as a result of disorder during Friday’s win over St Patrick’s Athletic.
And the Inchicore club are also likely to be hit with a significant fine after play had to be halted for five minutes in the second half when both sets of supporters threw pyrotechnics onto the pitch and produced banners criticising the FAI.
The two clubs had to fork out €30,000 to put towards pitch repairs at Aviva Stadium after damage caused by pyro at last season’s FAI Cup final, while one St Pat’s fan group was left angered by their pre-match tifo display being pulled on safety grounds in the hours before kick-off.
Tensions spilled over on Friday and Bohs player Cian Byrne was fortunate to avoid serious injury after being struck by a flare thrown by his own supporters from the away end at Richmond Park.
The 42 understands that a ban on Bohs fans attending a future away fixture will likely be discussed as a potential sanction when the FAI’s Disciplinary Control Unit meets.
It would follow the precedents already set last season when Drogheda United fans were banned from an away game at Shamrock Rovers following a similar incident during the Louth derby with Dundalk at Oriel Park.
On that occasion it was a match official who was hit by a pyrotechnic from the away section.
Cork City also faced a partial closure of their home stadium when St Pat’s winger Mark Doyle was struck by a bottle during their FAI Cup semi-final clash at Turner’s Cross last term.
Both of those sanctions were enforced on the back of an Independent Disciplinary Committee, and now Bohs look set to await their fate.
Speaking after his side’s 1-0 win, Bohs boss Declan Devine said: “There were flares on both sides and this is something that the league are going to have to understand – it’s not just Bohs fans throwing flares.
“It’s a league problem, not a Bohemians problem. As a league we have to understand that it seems to be more common and it’s going on. Decisions have to be made.
“I don’t condone a player getting injured with a flare but if you throw a flare on at any stage of a game, you have the possibility that someone will get hurt.
“I’m not going to slag my own fans – it’s not just our fans, every fan in the country is lighting flares and bringing them into games. How they get them in is another question and how the game is managed by referees and the association is going to be another question.”
