A fight broke out in the world’s biggest youth football tournament, the Gothia Cup.
The police had to be called to the scene due to a fight that occurred at the soccer tournament. Illustration image. JAAKKO STENROOS / AOP
In the youth football tournament Gothia Cup, a fight broke out between two teams on Friday in Stockholm, Sweden, reports the Swedish Göteborgs-Posten.
The fight arose in the 17-year-old boys’ match between American FC New England and French VGA Saint Muir.
– Several people were involved, the spokesman for the police of the western region of Sweden Anna Göransson told Göteborgs-Posten.
The brawl started after the penalty shootout, when the players of the losing French team attacked the players of the winning team. Former expert of Norwegian TV2 Jan Årsæther recorded the events with pictures and video for the police.
– It took half an hour before the police took control. After the commas, ten French players surrounded one American player, punched and kicked him, he said for Dagbladet.
The fight spread around the field. The tournament organizers and spectators also tried to intervene.
– They tried to stop it, but they (the French players) started kicking and hitting them too.
The situation calmed down for a while, but started again when the French started chasing the Americans who had left the area.
One person was slightly injured in the incident. The person acting as a guide for the other team told Göteborgs-Posten about the incident.
– Our players and parents were injured. A few youngsters were injured and one parent needed stitches, he said and continued:
– This should not happen on the football field. They have fun there and don’t kick people.
According to the Gothia Cup, the team that started the fight is no longer welcome in the tournament in the future.
Around 1,700 teams from more than 50 different countries participate in the tournament every year.