Pakistan’s sports bodies probing ugly incident after football match

A brawl erupted after the National Games football semi-final in Karachi between Pakistan Army and WAPDA teams, injuring players and officials. The Pakistan Football Federation and Olympic body are investigating, with disciplinary action expected over the referee assault and on-field violence

Karachi: The Pakistan Football Federation and the country’s apex Olympic body are probing an ugly incident that took place after a semi-final match between Pakistan Army and the WAPDA team in Karachi, with several players and officials sustaining injuries.

Players from both sides got into a fight with officials also jumping in as they punched and kicked each other after the National Games football semi-final at the KPT sports complex.

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As the match was being shown live the ugly scenes were captured and later circulated on social media, with many demanding action against the two sides.

The fighting started after some members from Wapda expressed their anger at the Army players’ celebration following a narrow victory in front of their dugout.

An official in the PFF said that they had taken note of the incident and the Pakistan Olympic Association would also be probing the matter as the National Games fell under its preview.

“We will carry out our own inquiry and disciplinary action will be taken against players and officials found involved in instigating or starting the fight,” he said.

The video showed some Wapda players chasing the match referee into his changing room and he was also reportedly physically abused by them before being rescued by other officials and players.

The Wapda players were unhappy at the referee awarding a penalty kick to their opponents.