Australian football fans to stage protest over "naming and shaming" of evicted supporters

Australian football fans will stage a walk-out during A-League matches this weekend in response to what they see as unfair treatment from the Football Federation of Australia (FFA).

Supporters of Melbourne Victory and the Western Sydney Wanderers will walk out at a specific point of their matches over the weekend and won't return to future games until a resolution is reached with the governing body.

The protest comes after the publication of a newspaper report which named and shamed 198 fans who had been evicted from previous A-League games, many of whom belonged to either Victory's North Terrace group or the Wanderers' Red and Black Bloc.

The two sets of supporters want the FFA to step in and investigate how the 198 names were leaked, and also to condemn the media organization which published the list.

"Some things are bigger than one match of football. We cannot continue to ignore the situation where our basic rights are trodden on and our banned supporters are left in the dark," the North Terrace statement read.

The statement listed their three demands of the FFA: that the governing body condemns the media report naming and shaming the evicted fans; that it launches an investigation into how the names were leaked; and that it introduces an "independent and transparent" appeals process for those supporters who feel they have been banned unfairly.

"People's lives and livelihoods have been jeopardized due to the existence of a list that has been created without due process. Many of these fans, some of which are under 18, have not been charged or convicted of offences," the Red and Black Bloc statement read.

The FFA is currently able to issue bans where there is no avenue to appeal for fans, which has long been criticized by supporter groups. The weekend protests are likely to involve up to 2,000 fans at each game. Endi