A fight is going on between the Adelaide Oval and police over the reintroduction of canned alcohol

Adelaide Oval wants to bring back canned drinks for football fans, quietly moving to change its liquor license to allow it to sell beer in aluminum cans.

Key points:

• Police union fears canned drinks could be used as missiles
• The Oval says moving to cans will reduce waste
• The state government will carefully consider the proposal

But the move was opposed by the South Australian Police Association, which today raised concerns that the decision puts the officers on patrol at the risk at risk.

Association president Mark Carroll said the sale of canned beer was previously banned after it was used as a projectile against police.

The Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority said selling the cans would reduce the amount of waste that has to be processed and be more environmentally friendly.

But Mr Carroll argued it was a policy that would end up hurting someone.

“It’s a romantic notion isn’t it, but there’s a reason aluminum cans are banned from stadiums across Australia and that’s because they can be used as dangerous projectiles that can injure police, the public, players and officials,” he said.

“This is what happened in the past and this is why they were banned in the first place.”

Mark Carroll warns bringing back canned drinks is a safety risk for spectators, players, police and officials.(ABC News: David Frearson)

Mr Carroll said trials had recently been carried out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and at Docklands in Melbourne, which resulted in a woman being injured.

“There is civil action taken against the stadium in relation to that,” he said.

“I just don’t understand why anyone would think this is a good idea, it could only have some sort of commercial payoff for the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority.”

Minority who behave badly

SA’s Best Member of Parliament Frank Pangallo supported the concerns of the police association and urged the state government to intervene for safety.

“That’s a crazy idea, the reason they were removed was because they were endangering the people in the stadium,” he said.

“You are putting the safety of spectators, players on the pitch, police officers at risk – it makes no sense.”

He said while most football fans were well behaved, changing policies would create a risk for a minority of fans who might want to cause trouble.

“It could cause quite a bit of damage. Banning these missiles will protect people going to the game… families can still go out there and have fun,” he said.

“If they allow the consumption of canned beer, full-strength alcohol, you’re only opening it up to a minority of people who are misbehaving.”

Pangallo also questioned whether being more environmentally friendly was really the main reason behind the move.

“I suspect it will be more than that, maybe they are negotiating a new deal with the sponsor and it will benefit the sponsor to have branding on their product,” he said.

He said he would write to SA Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas and the Attorney General asking them to reconsider the policy.

SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo wants the South Australian government to step in. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)

The Prime Minister responded today, saying the state government would examine the evidence to get the right decision.

“It’s about getting us to have policies that are environmentally appropriate, it’s about making sure that protective safety is also right and getting that balance right,” he said.

“That’s what we’re trying to achieve here.”

The Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority said the policy was still under consideration and was inappropriate for comment at this time.

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