Police report made after Singapore Premier League match ends in altercations

SINGAPORE - The fallout from the heated end to the Lion City Sailors' 2-1 win over Tampines Rovers in the Singapore Premier League on Sunday evening (July 25) has continued with a police report being filed, The Straits Times has learnt.

Towards the end of the football match played at Jalan Besar Stadium, Sailors head coach Kim Do-hoon appeared to headbutt Tampines assistant coach Mustafic Fahrudin as a skirmish for the ball took place between players from both teams.

Fahrudin, a former Singapore midfielder, was seen clutching his face after the incident.

Kim was shown a yellow card by referee Ahmad A'qashah before play resumed.

And while matters appeared to cool down after the game and both Kim and Fahrudin shook hands, tension soon built again with both sets of players and officials engaging in shoving matches both on the pitch and sidelines.

Fahrudin, 41, was also seen squaring up to Kim on the Sailors' bench, with eyewitnesses alleging he grabbed the 52-year-old former South Korea striker by the neck.

Sources told ST that Tampines officials lodged an incident report on the alleged headbutting after they left Jalan Besar.

When contacted on Monday morning, Tampines chairman Desmond Ong declined to comment on the matter or confirm whether a police report had been filed.

When contacted, Sailors chief executive officer Chew Chun-Liang said the club regretted what happened and is looking into the incidents.

"It is clear that the unsavoury scenes witnessed at the Jalan Besar Stadium near the end and after the match on Sunday evening do not help the Singapore football cause, and we are regretful that this happened," said Chew.

"Both teams contributed to the scenes, but we must expect better of ourselves.

"As a club, we are already taking steps to ensure that such scenes are not repeated, and that we continue to match the high standards that our fans expect of us both on and off the field. We are conducting internal investigations on the matter as we speak."

He added that the post-game altercations overshadowed "a good contest between two teams", and that the club aimed to keep their focus on football and defending their SPL title even as they reflect upon what took place.

In the wake of the match, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) issued a statement saying it was aware of the incidents that occurred after the game, and would await the relevant reports from the match commissioner and review video footage.

ST has also reached out to FAS for updates on its investigation.

The post-game incidents marred a pulsating match which the league-leading Sailors won deep in injury time with a goal by defender Pedro Henrique.

Song Ui-young had opened the scoring for the Sailors before Taufik Suparno levelled for Tampines with just 13 minutes to go.

But they grabbed a winner deep into added time when Henrique stormed forward from defence on a counter-attack and blasted a cross by substitute Maxime Lestienne home.

The result helped the Sailors, who had drawn their previous two games, return to winning ways and restored their five-point lead ahead of Friday's top-of-the-table clash with second-placed Albirex Niigata.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.