By Alesha Capone
A TEENAGE football player was left with a broken hand after a brawl broke out during a match at Galvin Park.
The fight occurred during a Western Region Football League match at Galvin Park between under 16 teams Werribee Centrals and Albion.
A spectator at the match, who asked not to be named, told Star a player from the Werribee side was sent off the ground for a late tackle when another spectator yelled at him.
The offending spectator allegedly racially abused the younger player and told him to “come over”.
After the teenage footballer walked over, the spectator allegedly grabbed his neck, pulled him into the crowd and started hitting him.
The Werribee Centrals player then began to verbally defend himself, although he did not hit the other man.
After the incident, the Werribee youth was left with a broken hand and concussion, which was treated at the Werribee Mercy Hospital.
However, a police officer who attended the incident said there were no injuries and as the fight began during a game, police were happy for the club to deal with it.
A representative from Werribee Centrals said he preferred not to comment until the issues from the fight were dealt with.
The teenage player, who was left with a broken hand, faced the tribunal last week and was suspended for 10 weeks.
WRFL chief executive Bob Tregear said as far as he remembered, the teenager was reported for refusing to leave the ground and for threatening behaviour towards an umpire, although he did not physically threaten him.
The WRFL’s operations manger, David Newton, said the tribunal was an independent body of the WRFL.
“We don’t want to go into the details,” he said of the incident.
“You’ve got to understand that these guys are kids, and they’re under 16 so we’re not going to divulge exactly what occurred into every incident except for the fact that they were charged with what they were charged with and the tribunal dealt with them effectively.”
