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Soccer authorities and police are investigating a brawl involving players and spectators during a Chatham Cup match in Queenstown that led to three arrests.
Two Queenstown Rovers players and a supporter were arrested and charged with assault after a bruising match against Invercargill team Queens Park on Saturday.
Several Queens Park players had been cautioned after several nasty incidents when a brawl erupted early in the second half involving about 50 players and spectators.
Soccersouth, which administers the sport in the southern half of the South Island, is investigating the incident with the governing body, New Zealand Soccer, and the police.
Soccersouth general manager Wilson James said that after a "serious incident" involving two or three players several other players and spectators had rushed on to the field to try to calm the situation. "They probably should have left that to the referee."
Mr James said match officials had to separate the teams and spectators, but the referee allowed the match to continue after consulting captains and coaches.
Five Queens Park players received yellow cards and two were sent off for repeat offending. One Queenstown player was sent off for violence and two others were yellow-carded.
"We're taking this incident very seriously," Mr James said. "We don't condone any violence in our soccer games at all."
Soccersouth was working with the clubs, referee and match officials to set up a "judicial process" to thoroughly investigate the incident.
"This behaviour doesn't belong in soccer. It doesn't belong in any sport and we want to make sure this is a total aberration and it does not occur again in the future," Mr James said.
It was hoped Soccersouth's judiciary committee would meet this week to discuss the incident.
Mr James said one of the Queens Park players had attended a meeting in Invercargill on Monday, but the committee was awaiting a written report.
"We want to make sure we have all the information and reports available to us before we have the initial meeting," he said.
Queens Park and Queenstown Rovers played in different soccer leagues and Mr James said he knew of no historical animosities between the teams.
He said they would play against each other only seldomly, such as in the Chatham Cup knockout tournament they were involved in on Saturday.
Queenstown police confirmed three people had been charged with assault. Two were remanded in Queenstown District Court on Monday and a third person had been offered police diversion.
- NZPA
