Toronto FC suspends supporters-group privileges in wake of Ottawa explosion

It’s like how it used to be in elementary school; if there’s one bad apple in the bunch (or a few bad apples), everyone in the class gets punished.

Toronto FC announced Thursday that it is temporarily suspending privileges for all of the club’s recognized supporters groups. The decision comes after an incident during Wednesday’s Canadian Championship game in Ottawa, when flares led to fire and even an explosion in the stands, incidents which were caught on video.

“The safety of our fans, employees and supporters is the highest priority for TFC. The events which took place in Ottawa last night involving TFC supporters were unacceptable and needlessly put the safety of others at risk,” TFC President Bill Manning said in a statement that was issued to the media by the club. “Due to the seriousness of this incident we are left with no choice but to suspend all recognized supporter group privileges indefinitely as we conduct a thorough review of TFC’s recognized supporter program.”

Manning said the club is working with Ottawa Police to help identify the fans responsible for the fires and explosion at TD Place.

Inebriatti, a supporters group that has been linked to the incident via social media, released this statement on its Facebook page.

“Inebriatti does not condone interfering with the play of any match that we attend. We had no part in the flare that was thrown onto the field or the explosion at last night’s match in Ottawa. We are communicating with the relevant parties to understand what happened at the match last night and how to move forward once that is established.”