FFA shooting itself in the foot AGAIN

[DJC]

You're right the behaviour was indefensible on every level but I will say the keeper should not have tossed the flare back into the crowd, that was pure stupidity on his part and should be sanctioned.
The players should all agree on a new rule that from now on, first sign of a flare and they run off the ground and the game is cancelled and made null and void (ie scores cancelled as the crowd could use it to an advantage). I would then reschedule the game with no crowd (competing teams to foot the bill).

Tossing the flare into the crowd was foolish and dangerous.  Players should have strict instructions on what to do when flares are thrown onto the ground and tossing them back shouldn't be an option.  Leaving the field when a flare is set off may encourage the nutters to deliberately sabotage games but your suggestion is worth a try G2C.

Listening to the wireless this morning was enlightening.  Apparently, after many supporters had left, those remaining were families with young children who stayed in the hope that the game would re-commence.  It's not fair to those young soccer fans that the airheads with axes to grind spoil the game and, potentially, the competition, for them.

Surely flares can be detected during the entry security checks and action taken against the carriers.  It's an offence to discharge a distress flare inappropriately and, if it's not already, it should be an offence to be in possession of a distress flare other than for its intended purpose.  One of the problems is that distress flares have an expiry date and there's not mechanism for returning expired flares.  That means that there is an ever-increasing quantity of flares and it's inevitable that some will end up in the wrong hands.