AAA<\/p>\n
Soccer fans will be able to watch this year\u2019s World Cup at Federation Square after the state government overturned the venue\u2019s decision to ban screenings of the tournament due to poor behaviour from viewers in past years.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday Melbourne Arts Precinct decided that Fed Square won\u2019t show Socceroos matches<\/a> on the big screen,\u201d Premier Jacinta Allan said in a statement. \u201cI disagree with that \u2013 and I am overturning it.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always the risk of bad behaviour from a few dickheads at every public gathering, but police and security will be on-site and there\u2019ll be zero tolerance for it.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision to cancel the traditional screenings at Federation Square by the Arts Precinct prompted Football Australia and former Socceroos captain Craig Foster to directly call on the state government to intervene.<\/p>\n Matildas star Sam Kerr also slammed Wednesday\u2019s ban, sharing an Instagram post announcing the news captioned with: \u201cBooooooooooo\u201d.<\/p>\n Melbourne Arts Precinct director and chief executive Katrina Sedgwick said on Wednesday the decision was made because of inappropriate fan behaviour at previous viewing sessions<\/a>, including the lighting of more than 120 flares or fireworks during one match. She said the decision was made without consultation with Football Australia or the state government.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the last Socceroos [World Cup] game that we screened, we picked up over 120 flares or fireworks, so we weren\u2019t talking about a small issue \u2013 it was very significant,\u201d Sedgwick told 3AW on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Patrick Clancy, the chair of Football Supporters Association Australia, called Allan\u2019s decision to overturn the ban a \u201cfantastic win for common sense\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome the Victorian government\u2019s decision. All football fans in Melbourne and Victoria very much look forward to … watching the Socceroos in action,\u201d Clancy said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis clearly demonstrated how important Federation Square live sites are to Melbourne football supporters … It is an iconic place to watch the World Cup, whether it\u2019s men\u2019s or women\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Foster, the former captain who initially called the ban ridiculous, welcomed the news as \u201cthe right decision\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, I will stress that I don\u2019t support any behaviour from anyone, football fan or otherwise, that puts the safety of anyone at risk,\u201d he said on X.<\/p>\n In a post on X on Thursday morning, the Socceroos thanked the premier: \u201cFed Square is BACK.\u201d<\/p>\n The Socceroos qualified for this year\u2019s World Cup with a win against Saudi Arabia last June, marking their sixth successive appearance at the tournament.<\/p>\n The World Cup is scheduled to kick off on June 11, with matches played across Canada, the United States and Mexico. The Socceroos will face Turkey in Vancouver on June 14 in their first group stage match.<\/p>\n Melbourne Arts Precinct has faced criticism in the past for cancelling events at Federation Square. Last November, a free performance by Australian rock band Amyl and the Sniffers was cancelled minutes before it was scheduled to commence due to safety concerns.<\/p>\n The Melbourne Arts Precinct and Sedgwick have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Socceroos](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/55a09ce520e574b528d6872c7bbdf63bfc32981d.jpeg\")
Socceroos fans celebrate at Federation Square after Australia beat Denmark in 2022.Luis Enrique Ascui<\/p>\n![\"Premier](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c9881280c1a8bd4754bb673ebc805b83ef8b4fa7.jpeg\")
Premier Jacinta Allan and Socceroos coach Graham Arnold (second from right) before a match in 2024 at AAMI Park.AAP<\/p>\n![\"Angus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768742719_841_9074e55c39477e8cc871ddc5bc231809f9f522a3.png\")
Angus Delaney<\/a> is a reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated May 7, 2026 \u2014 11:07am,first published 10:18am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-654532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}