FAS charges Lion City Sailors, Tampines Rovers over alleged headbutt fracas; police investigating incident

SINGAPORE: The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on Monday (Jul 25) charged Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers over an altercation that took place at the end of a Singapore Premier League (SPL) match between the two teams.

Video footage from SPL's official match highlights showed Sailors head coach Kim Do-hoon and Rovers assistant coach Mustafic Fahrudin initially in close proximity, with Fahrudin's left hand on Kim's shoulder. 

As the two men squared up to each other, Kim appears to move his forehead towards Fahrudin's face.

Fahrudin then keels over, clutches his face and steps away from the scene.

All this took place in the technical area of Jalan Besar Stadium in the 87th minute of a match won by the Sailors.

Both men were charged by FAS for violent conduct, while the Sailors and the Rovers were also handed charges for the conduct of their team. In addition, the Sailors were charged for the conduct of their spectators.

All parties have until 6pm on Wednesday to provide any written responses to the FAS disciplinary committee.

All the cases will be heard at a meeting of the disciplinary committee, which will be held on Thursday.

"As the matter is now before the (disciplinary committee), no further comments will be made till the completion of the judicial process," said Aloysius Vetha, FAS director of competitions.

The police also confirmed on Monday that a report was lodged and that investigations are ongoing.

In a statement on Tuesday, Lion City Sailors CEO Chew Chun-Liang described the scenes as "unsavoury" and said the club is "regretful that this happened".

"Both teams contributed to the scenes, but we must expect better of ourselves," he said in response to CNA's query.

Mr Chew added that the club has started its own investigation into the incident.

"As a club, we are already taking steps to ensure that such scenes are not repeated, and that we continue to match the high standards that our fans expect of us both on and off the field," he said.

"The scenes at Jalan Besar unfortunately overshadowed what was a good contest between two teams, and while we reflect upon the incident, we aim to keep our focus on football, and our target to defend the SPL title and fly the Singapore flag at the (AFC Champions League) again."