‘Senseless’ vandals and ‘flare-throwing idiots’ ruin World Cup party

afr.com:

Senseless vandalism that made a nightmare of the journey home from the Matildas’ joyous World Cup semi-final in Sydney and idiotic spectators at Melbourne’s biggest fan site turned what should have been a night of celebration sour for many.

Two men have been charged after a “senseless act of vandalism” threw the Sydney rail network into disarray, forcing long delays for Matildas fans leaving Olympic Park.

The incident at Ashfield affected trains from about 10pm on Wednesday, the same time the Women’s World Cup semi-final between Australia and England was wrapping up in front of a crowd of more than 75,000.

In Melbourne, more than 50 flares were thrown into the crowd of thousands of people watching the historic clash at Federation Square in the city centre, putting the screening of the Matildas’ next game in doubt.

Two men, aged 47 and 33, have been charged with a slew of offences including aggravated break and enter, endangering the safety of a person on a railway and destroying or damaging property.

The men were questioned by police after officers were told cables in a railway signal box had been cut and equipment damaged.

City-bound trains from the Olympic Park precinct, where the game was held, were diverted via the Bankstown line and there were flow-on delays at other stations, Transport for NSW said.

Transport chaos at Sydney Olympic Park rail station after the Women’s World Cup semi-final 

Recently appointed Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray said the system was vandalised after someone accessed a computer room.

“It’s a brick, single-storey dwelling about the size of a single garage and someone’s gained access to that and then set about going to work on the server racks that are in there,” he told 2GB Radio on