Rampage by Mioks supporters wrong

I REFER to the letter “Ref at fault” (The National, Aug 9) by “Mioks fan”.
The writer said the premature end of the bemobile Cup game between the Vipers and Mioks was a result of a bad decision by the referee.
If the decision was so obvious, why didn’t the Mioks officials bring it up through the right channel?
While the referee may have been at fault, it does not give the Mioks supporters the right to rampage and belt the referee.
This is not the first instance of violence stemming from supporters angered by a decision.
Such blatant disregard for sportsmanship is totally uncalled for and brings the game into disrepute.
Such behaviour does more harm than good for our NRL bid.
It really does fly in the face of the good efforts undertaken to date.
Supporters must grow up and behave, otherwise they can stay at home and watch the match on TV.  
Teams should be severely penalised if their supporters continue to misbehave.
We don’t need violence in rugby league or any code.
The root cause of violence should be identified and addressed.
If it is alcohol, let us police the gates and ensure drunks do not enter.
If it is an attitude problem, then the NRL bid team should be focusing on creating awareness on the subject with supporters.
Such bad press sends the wrong message to the NRL.
Violence is not a part of the modern game. 

 
Bop
Port Moresby