Fan brawl puts clubs in trouble

Fan brawl puts clubs in trouble

Muang Thong's Sarach Yooyen, right, vies with Port's Wuttichai Tatong. JIRAWAT SRIKONG
Muang Thong's Sarach Yooyen, right, vies with Port's Wuttichai Tatong. JIRAWAT SRIKONG

A leading official of Thai giants SCG Muang Thong United has warned that any unlawful and heavy-handed action by the Football Association of Thailand following a fight between the team's supporters and Port's fans could lead to the dissolution of the club.

The incident involving the fans of the two clubs took place outside Muang Thong's SCG stadium, where the Kirins edged Port 2-1 to qualify for the League Cup final with a 3-2 aggregate.

Muang Thong are now slated to meet arch-rivals Buriram United, who were held to a goalless draw on Wednesday night by second-tier Songkhla United but went through on a 3-1 aggregate, in the title showdown.

The post-match free-for-all between the supporters of Muang Thong United and Port stole the headlines from the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals itself.

This is the second time that such an incident involving the fans of the two teams has taken place.

A similar fight two years ago had led to both Muang Thong United and Port each being docked nine points and fined 300,000 baht. They were also ordered to play three matches each at neutral venues.

FAT president Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang said yesterday he would wait for a report from a team of investigators before issuing an official ruling.

Following a meeting, Somyot said: "I will give Pol Lt Gen Amnuay Nimmano, who is the chairman of the FAT disciplinary committee, some time to investigate the incident first.

"Our investigations will include reports from the match commissioner, team of Muang Thong United security officials, police and others. This must be done as soon as possible and we must be fair to both teams."

Somyot added: "I don't have any answers to questions related to the incident at the moment.

"We will have to let the disciplinary committee make its recommendations in the light of available evidence. They should stick to the regulations and refer to the decisions made in the past.

"The regulations clearly state that the host team must be responsible for security but it may not be as simple as that."

Meanwhile, Muang Thong chief advisor Rawi Lothong said yesterday that if the FAT awarded a ruling which didn't conform to the Fifa rules and had a major effect on the two sides, he will dissolve the club immediately.

Muang Thong currently lead the league standings.

"We are very sad about the incident but believe that it was instigated only by a certain section of crowd."

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