Melbourne Victory given show cause notice by Football Australia after derby riot

Melbourne Victory matches could be played without fans behind closed doors as one penalty after Football Australia issued the club a show cause notice following the “horrific” pitch invasion during Saturday’s A-League derby with Melbourne City.

Victory could face financial penalties, loss of competition points and be potentially forced to play matches behind closed doors or on neutral territory as a result of the incident in which more than 150 spectators rushed onto AAMI Park, forcing the match to be abandoned after just 22 minutes.

The show cause notice has been sent after Football Australia reviewed all available footage and imagery from the match and received detailed incident and match reports from the match commissioner, match officials, AAMI Park management and the Australian Professional Leagues.

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said the incident tarnished…