Sportsmanship is a prized trait among athletes.
But when you’re running around the field too much and all the blood flees your brain to your legs, impulses may loosen and lead to intense scuffles out on the field.
The recent Singapore Premier League (SPL) match between Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers can be best characterised as such.
What Happened?
Roughly 87 minutes into the match, the score was even at 1 to 1 between the two teams.
It’s unclear what provoked the argument at first, since the match broadcast was having a televised replay of Lion City Sailors’ goalkeeper Hassan Sunny blocking a shot with a slide and a kick, which sent the ball into the air.
Sunny later catches the ball in the mid-air as Tampines Rover’s forward Boris Kopitović jumps in an attempt to headbutt the ball. The latter falls onto the ground while clutching his head, although he made no physical contact with the opposing goalkeeper.
The perspective then changes to a confrontation happening in the middle of the field, with the players shoving each other while the referees work to break up the verbal spar.
The coaches intervene too, but the argument turns physical as Sailors’ head coach Kim Do-hoon knocks his head against the Tampines’ assistant coach Mustafic Fahrudin.
It’s not a light tap either, because Fahrudin hunches down immediately and holds his injured forehead with both hands, before he makes his way back to the bench.
In what can be described as “yeah, there will be consequences for this” smile, the referee gives Kim a yellow card as he tries to protest with a shrug of his shoulders.
The coaches eventually reconcile as they are captured shaking their hands after the match and things should have ended there.
Unfortunately, tensions escalated again as the players and staff from both sides began shoving and pushing each other.
In fact, Fahrudin was seen squaring up to Kim again at the Sailors bench, with eyewitnesses claiming that he grabbed the Sailors’ head coach by the neck.
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Police Report Lodged
According to The Straits Times, the Tampines Rovers officials filed a police report against the Lion City Sailors for the alleged headbutting incident.
Tampines chairman Desmond Ong neither confirmed nor denied the statement when he was contacted by the media.
After the match, Tampines head coach Gavin Lee stated that there was some “disgraceful behaviour” that instigated the incident but asserts that it’s not his duty to address that matter because “it is not on [them]”.
He added that his team managed to cool off and continue playing the game, but things heated up again at the end of the match.
At the end, Lee disavows any responsibility to look into the matter, saying that it was the league management and the authorities’ burden to investigate it.
On the other hand, Kim apologised for his conduct, saying, “I want to apologise to the fans. Obviously in sports, emotions can get a bit heated but it’s still up to us to control it.”
He tacks on that he “will make sure it won’t happen again” and stresses that he has made amends with the opposing team by apologising to the Tampines Rovers after the game.
The Sailors chief executive officer (CEO) Chew Chun-Ling has issued a similar public statement, saying that the club regretted what happened and described the scene at Jalan Besar Stadium as “unsavoury”.
The PR team must have been busy at work as Mr Chew adds, “Both teams contributed to the scene, but we must expect better of ourselves.”
The CEO goes on to say that they’re already taking steps to ensure that this incident won’t repeat itself—anger management classes or therapy maybe—and they will live up to the standards set by their fans, both on and off field.
The post-game scuffle may have overshadowed the “good contest between two teams” but the Lion City Sailors aim to have their fullest attention on football and defending their SPL title, while reflecting on their misconduct.
Football Association of Singapore are Investigating
Given the uproar that the tussle has caused, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has no choice but to step in.
On 24 July, they issued a Tweet, “The FAS is awaiting relevant reports from the match commissioner and will review video footage to assist in the internal investigations.”
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Featured Image: YouTube (Singapore Premier League)
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