A letter was circulated this week from Gina McFarlin, Director of Safety & Security for Toyota Stadium, confirming sanctions against traveling Houston Dynamo supporters for the next four visits to Toyota Stadium. Despite the announcement coming from FC Dallas, it appears that the decision was actually made by Major League Soccer.

The letter states that the Dynamo's three recognized supporters' groups, Texian Army, El Battalion, and Brickwall, will be prohibited from bringing musical instruments and flags into Toyota Stadium. There will also be a restriction of 100 tickets between those groups. Dallas fans who travel down to Houston are well aware that similar restrictions already exist for FC Dallas fans at BBVA Compass Stadium.

The letter from Gina McFarlin to Matt Fineran at the Houston Dynamo regarding the ban on privileges for Houston Dynamo recognized supporters' groups.

The letter actually fails to address is why the sanction was made. Houston fans have had their issues in Frisco, however FC Dallas' VP of Media & Communications, Gina Miller, stated that this judgement was made by MLS purely on the most recent Dynamo visit, related to breaching an agreement that MLS places in these situations.

For any team expecting more than 50 fans to travel, there is a mandatory call between representatives of all traveling supporters groups, security for both the home and away sides, and Major League Soccer. As part of this agreement, the three supporters groups were given a long list of items not to take to Toyota Stadium, and the surrounding privately-owned land. This is a standard set of rules for all away fans in MLS. Among these items not permitted for away fans in the land at Toyota Stadium are:

15. Flares, incendiary devices, smoke bombs, sparklers and fireworks of any kind.

FC Dallas fans have stated a desire to have smoke bombs in the stadium, however the City of Frisco Fire Marshal prevents this practice. The Marshal's office states that all devices that produce a flame or spark require a 48-hour fire watch, and can only be lit by persons who have received training and a permit. There is a cordon around the stadium where this applies, much like there is with smoking.

The FC Dallas supporters' groups tailgate in the northeast corner, outside of this area, but Houston fans were located much closer to the stadium itself, and close to the construction site for the National Soccer Hall of Fame. The fine for unauthorized incendiary devices is $500 per device. El Battalion were found to have lit two smoke bombs and one flare.

The first sentence of that letter states that FC Dallas made a decision, which strangely has been refuted by FC Dallas. Miller stated FC Dallas' position in that this regards the standard agreement presented across Major League Soccer, and the consequences of breaching it are set by the league. Major League Soccer VP of Operations, Ray Whitworth, is the man responsible for these decisions from the league. This does beg the question, why didn't MLS simply put their name on the letter, and why were the offending fans not notified until the letter began to circulate on Tuesday.

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3rd Degree is an independent FC Dallas blog. Founded in 1997, 3rd Degree has been in partnership with the Dallas Morning News since 2012. You can follow us on Twitter @3rdDegreeNet.