Blue Star SC players were beaten by unruly spectators at the end of their 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace FC in the Dialog Champions League 2018 at the Jayathilaka Stadium, Nawalapitiya.
Read More: Ajhmir gives Blue Star a win home away from home
The incident had happened after the Blue Star fans and players celebrated the victory and were making their way into the dressing room. Apparently, around a dozen or so spectators had then started to beat the players with poles and buckets.
“After celebrating we were going to our dressing room when ten or twelve people started attacking us with poles, stones and buckets. We tried to get away from them, but they kept attacking us. Both our goalkeepers are badly injured,” Lahiru Tharaka, a Blue Star SC player said exclusively to ThePapare.com.
According to Tharaka both their goalkeepers Mohamed Rizvi and Manjula Fernando had sustained significant injuries to head and hands.
“We could have fought back but we were playing away from home. There were no police protection at the ground. No Crystal Palace official or players came to help us. They just watched us getting beaten from their dressing room, like watching a movie. That’s the sad part,” he went onto say.
Blue Star v Colombo FC ends with referee assault
Ugly scenes marred the Blue Star vs Colombo FC Dialog Champions League 2018 …
According to the tournament rules by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) it is the home team’s responsibility to provide adequate safety including police protection for the ground, players & referees.
A similar incident occurred a month back when fans assaulted the referee amidst Blue Star’s equalizer against Colombo FC. During the unrest it was the Blue Star players who gave the Colombo FC players protection and gave them an escort off the ground.
>>For more Dialog Champions League News Click Here<<
