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. The
game continued with the Young Lions equalising through Afiq Yunos
in the 88th minute. However, a tackle on a Young Lions player in
the middle of the field saw the game degenerate into a brawl
involving both, including reserve players.
According to the video, one Beijing player went in with a flying
kick 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. A few follow-up kicks from Beijing players followed.
A Beijing player was seen kicking Faritz who was on the ground
while the Beijing goalkeeper Su Boyang was also spotted attempting
to punch Khairul Nizam.
Beijing Yu Tian Zhu’s (#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.”
“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,” said Young Lions captain, Hariss
Harun.
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.
