Police charged three males on Monday following a violent pitch invasion that left a goalkeeper and a referee injured and compelled an Australian top-flight soccer match between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory to be deserted on the weekend.
Video on social media confirmed a person throwing a metallic bucket of sand at Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover through the melee at AAMI Stadium on Saturday evening.
Glover was taken off the sector dazed and bleeding and later acquired stitches to a facial laceration. He was again at apply with the membership on Monday.
About 150 individuals rushed the pitch across the 20-minute mark, when City led 1-0.
Victoria state police reviewed safety video earlier than asking for public assist to establish eight individuals needed for questioning. Three males, aged 23, 19 and 18, subsequently reported to native police stations and had been charged with a variety of offenses.
All three got bail and can seem on the Melbourne Magistrates Court in February.
A 23-year-old man accused of throwing the bucket of sand at Glover was charged with violent dysfunction, discharging a missile, illegal assault, public nuisance and riotous conduct.
The two teenage males had been charged with offenses, together with assaulting the goalkeeper and the referee.
Both units of followers had been throwing flares onto the sector, however the scenario escalated when a flare appeared to hit a tv digicam operator. Glover later picked up one other flare off the bottom and threw it again into the stands.
Fans then rushed the pitch, and Glover was struck by the metallic bucket containing sand, which is used to extinguish flares.
Football Australia has vowed to impose heavy punishments towards these discovered accountable and has ordered Melbourne Victory to indicate trigger by Wednesday why it mustn’t face extreme sanctions for the conduct of its supporters.
Victory may face a monetary penalty, factors deduction or presumably have followers locked out of stadiums.
The incident has blighted an in any other case upbeat time for soccer within the nation, coming two weeks after Australia’s robust World Cup exhibiting in reaching the spherical of 16 earlier than a slender 2-1 loss to eventual champion Argentina.
