S.League football: Mass brawl forces ref to abandon Young Lions vs Beijing Guoan match

By Les Tan/Red Sports

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09aPEtbyIME

Jalan Besar Stadium, Wednesday, September 8, 2010 — The S.League game between the Young Lions and Beijing Guoan was abandoned in the 89th minute when a bench-clearing brawl broke out.

The score was 1-1 at the time.

Two Young Lions were sent to hospital as a result of the mass brawl. Gabriel Quak suffered an arm injury while Faritz had injuries to his head, according to todayonline.com.

The teams’ discipline deteriorated in the final 10 minutes of the game when the first fight broke out in the 84th minute, with Young Lions’ Khairul Nizam (#19) seen in the thick of it with raised hands.

The game then continued with the Young Lions equalising through Afiq Yunos in the 88th minute. However, a tackle by Beijing’s Yu Tianzhu on Young Lions’ Nazrul Ahmad Nazari in the middle of the field saw the game degenerate into a brawl involving both teams, including reserve players.

According to the video, several Beijing players went in with flying kicks on Gabriel Quak. Young Lions team manager Eugene Loo stepped in to help but was in turn kicked in the back as well and fell over.

Young Lions’ substitute Fairoz Hasan (#5) was also seen entering the field of play and kicking out at a Beijing player.

In another portion of the video, A Beijing player was seen kicking Faritz in the head while the latter was on the ground. The Beijing goalkeeper Su Boyang was also spotted attempting to punch Khairul Nizam.

Beijing’s Yu Tianzhu (#4) was also caught on camera throwing a flailing punch at Young Lions substitute Fairoz Hasan (#5).

Members of the public were also spotted jumping into the fight but a Football Association of Singapore spokesperson said that their preliminary investigations show that this was not the case.

Even a medical personnel lost his cool and had to be held back. He was seen escorted away from the pitch while challenging the Beijing players to a fight.

Before the fight, Beijing’s Meng Yang was seen making provocative gestures at the crowd while being substituted.

In a statement released after the game, the FAS said: “FAS takes a serious view of this gross misconduct by the players. We are conducting an investigation into this matter and the perpetrator will be dealt with severely.”

In another statement released today (Sept 8), FAS said: “We have given both the Young Lions and Beijing Guoan Talent until Tuesday 14 September, to file their respective reports on the incident that took place on Tuesday 7 September.

The FAS Disciplinary Committee will then review the reports and videos before formally laying charges against the players involved in the incident. The disciplinary hearing is scheduled to take place in a fortnight’s time.”

Both teams have sinced apologised for the fight.

Said Young Lions captain, Hariss Harun: “We are very sorry for the incident. As players, we understand that we must maintain our discipline and professionalism at all times. We apologise to our fans, coaches and technical staff for the incident. We know that such behaviour was unacceptable and we are regretful of our actions.”

The Young Lions have been selected to take part in the Asian Games in Guangzhou come November while Beijing Guoan are a new team that took the final 12th spot in the league at the expense of the Korean Super Reds.

All FAS-sanctioned games involving both teams will be postponed until the disciplinary hearing is convened.

The news of the fight has since been reported by news agencies and other media outlets in Malaysia, the United Kingdom and China.

Ed’s note: Story has been updated several times throughout September 8th, 9th and 10th.