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SINGAPORE: It was supposed to be a football contest.
But Tuesday night's Great Eastern-Yeo's S-League match between the Young Lions and Beijing Guoan at Jalan Besar Stadium disintegrated into a brawl, forcing referee Zaid Hussein to abandon the game minutes before the final whistle.
Young Lions' midfielders Gabriel Quak and Faritz Abdul Hameed were sent to hospital after they were injured.
An investigation was launched almost immediately and in a statement issued last night, the Football Association Singapore (FAS) said: "The FAS takes a serious view of this gross misconduct by the players. We are conducting an investigation into this matter and the perpetrator's will be dealt with severely."
Players and officials from both sides, including match commissioner Clement Teo, will be interviewed and video footage will also be used.
Watched by 814 spectators - the official attendance figure given - the melee involved players and officials from both sides and erupted after Young Lions' Afiq Yunos grabbed an 88th minute equaliser to cancel out Zhang Ye's 48th minute opener for Beijing.
It is believed the equaliser caused Beijing's frustrations to boil over, leading to late tackles and eventually the melee, which also saw Young Lions' team manager Eugene Loo pushed to the ground.
Gabriel suffered an injury to his arm while Faritz sustained a head injury.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a fan who saw everything unfold, said: "After going a goal up, Beijing were under siege from the Young Lions and there was a lot of time-wasting from them, plus a series of niggly skirmishes.
"After the equaliser, two separate fights broke out almost simultaneously, and the referee, his assistants and the fourth official all went onto the pitch to try and quell the situation.
"However, they couldn't control things and some players were even chasing each other around the pitch. Thankfully, it was all over in about three minutes."
According to the FAS, the match will now be rescheduled. - CNA/fa
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