A University disciplinary committee has fined 3 players for fighting in the final of the intra-mural 5 a-side football competition last term. The committee also decided to ban both teams and all their players from entry into the competition this term.
The fight took place in the final minute of the game when Stefan Davy from the “You’ll get murked” (YGM) tried to shield his teams fragile 5-4 lead by holding the ball in the corner of the pitch. Two opposition players clattered into his back and then one of his own team returned the favour by attacking the assailant.
The violence escalated with all the players getting involved and watching fans storming the pitch to get involved. In total there were over 20 people involved, many of whom were just spectators. At least three people were wrestled to the floor and there were a number of punches thrown. One angry fan reportedly told one of the opposition players “I am going to put you in a skip”. The players were so incensed that the referee could not regain control of the game and another sports centre official had to be called in.
Sam Green, captain of the winning team, condemned the punishment, “the idea of fining people for this is ridiculous. It got out of hand and we have all apologised and accepted our ban. No damage was caused and we are all friends again now”. When asked about the fight he replied “It’s a complete blur really, it just all kicked off so quickly”, “and most people were trying to break it up so it looked a lot worse than it was.”
When the game eventually restarted both teams were restricted to 4 men for the final 40 seconds in which Chipatti Party missed a clear chance to level the game at 5 all. The final few seconds were played out in a hostile manner but eventually the referee blew the final whistle and YGM were declared champions. Green again said “it wasn’t the nicest atmosphere but we are still really proud to win the tournament.”
It appears that Chipatti Party have a history of controversy. In an earlier round the external referee again had to be consulted when they conceded a seemingly legitimate goal in the final minute, only for the players to claim that time was up. Adam Klug, captain of Ruel Fox, the losing side that day, said of the heated atmosphere “it is such a quick and intense game that sometimes things get heated. We felt aggrieved at the time but afterwards everyone are friends again.”
