Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said she would overturn a ban on screening the Socceroos’ FIFA World Cup matches at Federation Square, the report says. Allan wrote on social media that police and security would be on site and that there would be “zero tolerance” for bad behaviour, adding “The World Cup should bring us together, not keep us apart.”
That reversal came after Melbourne Arts Precinct director and chief executive Katrina Sedgwick had confirmed Federation Square would not hold public screenings, citing poor behaviour by attendees in past years. “After careful consideration, we’ve made the decision not to show the World Cup on Fed Square’s Big Screen this year,” she said, and later doubled down on that position, the report says.
The initial decision prompted backlash from fans, players and organisers, per the report. Football Australia expressed disappointment with the state government and Melbourne Arts Precinct, and its chief executive Martin Kugeler said that “Federation Square has created some of the most memorable moments in Australian sporting history,” according to the report. Matildas captain Sam Kerr was among those frustrated by the move.
Former Socceroos captain Craig Foster welcomed the reversal, thanking the premier and writing on X that “Every major city needs fan zones and events to cheer on our national team in the most important sporting event there is,” the report says. The venue has hosted thousands of fans for men’s and women’s team fixtures since 2006, and video of widespread celebrations during the 2022 tournament was shared widely, although several incidents that year included revellers setting off projectiles and lighting more than 100 flares at a single event, per the report.
The report notes the Socceroos will make their seventh World Cup appearance and have been drawn with Türkiye, the United States and Paraguay in the group stage of the tournament to be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19, per the report.
