Two teams clashed in a big brawl after a match in the Gothia cup.
A male spectator in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of assault.
– There were some who took off their shoes and started hitting with the studs, says a witness to TV4 Nyheterna.
It was at half past seven on Tuesday that the police were alerted to a Gothia cup match in eastern Gothenburg that had gone off the rails.
A team from Spain and a team from the United Arab Emirates played for a place in the A finals of the tournament, and when the Spanish team narrowly lost, the whole thing degenerated.
– When they lost, the others started to incite. They went over to their bench and started mocking them, and then a fight broke out, says a witness who stood on the side of the pitch and filmed the whole thing, to TV4 Nyheterna.
Hit with the studs
The witness – who is present at the Gothia cup as a player in another team – says that it then calmed down after a while when parents of the players in the teams entered the field.
But soon after, it started again.
– Then there were some who took off their shoes and hit each other with the studs… it was a real fight. Our coaches said it was one of the worst things they’d ever seen,” said the witness, who says the brawl went on for three minutes before being told by their coaches to leave.
– But it continued, we heard them screaming when we left.
Afterwards, the police announced that they had arrested a male spectator in his 20s on suspicion of assault.
Both teams have now been disqualified from the tournament.
“Has zero tolerance”
Linn Ohlsson is press officer for Gothia cup.
– We created a picture of what had happened during the evening and we came to the conclusion that participants from both teams were involved and since we have zero tolerance for violence, it resulted in them being washed up, she tells TV4 Nyheterna.
She says that it has otherwise been very quiet during the tournament.
– It’s been very quiet and it’s sad when we play close to 5,000 matches and work a lot with the climate and security issues that there is a match like this that gets the attention.