Singapore Premier League outfits Lion Cityy Sailors and Tampines Rovers got into a brawl near the culmination of their match, with players and coaches fighting each other on the pitch side.
It all kickstarted in the 87th minute of the match, with the score tied at 1-1. as Tampines Rovers striker Boris Kopitovic confronted Lion City Sailors defender Nur Adam Abdullah.
Other players, staff and coaches from both sides then got involved in the fracas, with Lion City Sailors head coach Kim Do-hoon then appearing to headbutt Tampines Rovers assistant coach Mustafic Fahrudin.
Fahrudin was seen holding onto his face in pain as he returned to the bench, and Kim was then shown a yellow card by the referee.
A police report was then filed by officials from Tampines Rovers for the alleged headbutt, according to The Strats Times.
The match eventually ended 2-1 to the Sailors via a last-minute winner by defender Pedro Henrique, and Kim and Fahrudin were seen shaking hands after the match.
But the tensions soon resumed yet again as players and staff from both sides then started confronting and shoving each other again.
Football Association of Singapore’s statement
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is aware of the alleged incidents that occurred in the technical areas as well as after the Singapore Premier League match between Lion City Sailors FC and Tampines Rovers FC on 24 July 2022.
The FAS is awaiting the relevant reports from the match commissioner and will review video footages to assist in the internal investigation. #SPL
Lion City Sailors’ statement
Emotions ran high in a game of huge significance with both sets of players involved in some unsavoury scenes after the final whistle, as Coach Kim apologised for what transpired.
“Results aside, we would like to apologise to the fans for showing such emotions,” he said.
“Emotions can get rough during a game and it’s up to us to control it. It got a bit heated, but we’ll make sure this won’t happen again.”