If you are a football fan in Canada, you have heard of the incident that happened in Ottawa in the Canadian Championship Semi-Final between the Ottawa Fury and Toronto FC. TFC supporters lit flares and set off firecrackers in their section (including throwing a flare on the pitch, causing damage to the stadium and their own banners). The Inebriatti supporters group have since claimed responsibility for this incident, which came as a U-turn to their previous statement where they claimed they had nothing to do with it.
The incident itself is not what I want to focus on. What I want to focus on for this post is the indefinite banning of supporters group privileges by Toronto FC to all recognized supporters groups while the investigation into what happened at TD Place is taking place. This means that there will be no flags, banners, drums, or other noisemakers at BMO Field during matches until the club decides to lift these sanctions.
UPDATE: Toronto FC have lifted the sanctions from supporters groups who did not have members in the away section at TD Place. Other supporters groups that had members in Ottawa still have the sanctions in place.
This is quite the heavy-handed response from the club by punishing all members of recognized supporters groups for the actions of a few people. What is TFC's end goal? Are they really trying to eradicate unruly behaviour? Is this a power move by the club to show the supporters who is really the boss in this relationship? Or is this yet another measure to suppress the TFC atmosphere in order to turn the experience into something like going to Leafs and Raptors games, where the atmosphere is corporate, and exuberance is few and far between.
One of the major reasons why TFC is such a success in Toronto is that the atmosphere is such a positive contrast to the "westernized fan experience" of Leafs and Raptors games. You feel real passion in all the singing, chanting, drumming, and flag-waving that the supporters in the south end take part in, compared to the robotic "cheer and boo" in Leafs and Raptors games. For years, I have felt that Toronto FC and MLSE have been trying to change the atmosphere from a more supporter-focused target market, to a more tourist-focused target market. Increasing ticket prices mean that you substitute more rowdy supporters with people who generally are not bothered to take part in any support of the club/players. The Tunnel Club and the new suites in the south end are attracting more of a business crowd. Toronto FC feels like more of an attraction than a football club. I understand the punishment that TFC has dealt to the supporters groups, but having no supporter privileges will negatively affect the club, and the players, who feed off that energy.
The Inebriatti, in particular, are so vital to the Toronto FC experience and represent the last vestige of unchained, unbridled support and love of the club, whether people like the group or not. Contrary to other opinions, there is a place in the south end for ultras-style support; however, they need to cut the unruly behaviour out. Every time they are involved in an incident where it negatively affects the club, they lose their advantage on suggesting any improvements to the supporter experience to the club, such as General Admission seating. When these incidents occur, it tells the club that supporters may not be mature enough to deserve any improvements to the supporter experience. I have heard some Toronto FC fans are pressuring the club to remove the Inebriatti as a recognized supporters group permanently, but I believe the club knows how valuable their support is to the players and the supporter experience in general, so they put up with it.
The last thing I want to mention is that the current rules for supporter conduct are strict. In particular, I take issue with the fact that bringing flags and banners into the stadium have to have club approval. It seems like Toronto FC and MLSE need to have some authoritarian control of any messaging that may disparage the club in any way. TFC may say that this rule is in place in order to prohibit any offensive or obscene material, but I believe the reason why this rule is in place is to avoid any situations where supporters may 'protest' actions taken by the club in the stadium. It is an ineffective rule because supporters can easily get around it if they do decide to protest. In addition, public condemnation is more than enough punishment for displaying obscene or offensive material (such as the Montreal two-stick banner at BMO Field in 2016).
Toronto FC and MLSE crave power and control over the supporters groups situated in the south end of BMO Field. They have a neurotic craving to control the message in any way, and you see that in the in-stadium experience, and in their social media updates. They keep the supporters on a tight leash, which is only getting tighter, inhibiting unique supporter expression in the stadium. The amenities that you see at BMO Field that can be considered part of 'modern-football' is in conflict with what I believe is the heart and soul of the club, which is the supporters who are always singing and chanting no matter what. Reading the news surrounding the incident and the response from the club got me thinking about the relationship between Toronto FC and the supporters, which surprisingly, no one was mentioning. I had to look beyond the headlines and look at the bigger picture. Toronto FC and MLSE are insecure, and although some TFC supporters have done some dumb shit over the years, I think the organization tends to over-react, to the detriment of many stakeholders. It will be interesting to see how this relationship evolves (or devolves) in the near future.
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