Massive brawl dents FANCA spirit

Local Sports

A massive free for all brawl erupted in the FANCA Muslim Nations tournament at the Churchill Park last night.

A war of words broke out among the rival fans during the USA and Australia game.

Tensions quickly escalated and the players from both the teams joined in the brawl that was captured live on FANCA stream and the video circulating on social media platforms shows the mayhem.

Players were throwing punches, kicking and screaming as families including children were asked to steer clear of the imminent dangers of getting caught in the situation.

A few Police officers were in the melee trying to deescalate the situation, who appeared shorthanded.

Pockets of infighting also spilled on the concourse and field level.

A reliable source to Sportsone said the viral videos on social media is just a snippet of the severity of the brawl that occurred in a tournament that is otherwise all about unity.

“Embarrassing is understatement, shame on the Australians and the USA teams turned hooligans who showed the world what they are. FANCA is anything but unity."

The social media is a buzz, venting their displeasure at the teams, fans and the organizers for not having enough security personnel for crowd control.

FANCA president Mohammed Yusuf made a statement saying that it strongly condemns any act of violence that affects the tournament.

“Whatever happened last night is not good for football, community, humanity and organization, we strongly condemn the violence on, off the field where women and children were involved.”

“In the interim the board has expelled the Australian and the USA premier team from no further participation in the tournament and their individual players will be dealt with by the consultative committee which has the powers to further action on all the individuals who instigated and created the whole violence."

New Zealand qualified for the final and awaits the winner from the Fiji and Canada semifinal game to play in the grand finale tomorrow.