Viewers attack assistant referee with stone

source: myrepublica.com

Assistant referee Shakour Heidar of Bangladesh was injured on Sunday after he was hit by a stone pelted by viewers in the AFC U-19 group ´A´ qualifiers held at the Dasharath Stadium.

The audience hit Heidar with stone after the Jordan team limited to nine men took the unexpected lead while the match was in 2-2 draw.

The stone attack was provoked by the celebration of the Jordanian team. Haidar, who sustained injuries on the head, was rushed to the nearby hospital. His job was taken over by the fourth official Saleem Ali of Maldives.

Earlier, Mustafa Anwar after conceding the second yellow card had kicked a water bottle which went straight to the parapet of the stadium. The viewers got more annoyed after the host ANFA officials delayed while sending him off the ground.

Meanwhile, another player of Jordan Jaid Mohmood picked up an injury on his face after he collided with his team mate while celebrating the winning goal. However, the Jordan team claimed that he was injured after he was hit by a lighter hauled by Nepali fans.

The ANFA officials informed that three viewers, who had allegedly thrown stones,were caught while fleeing from the stadium.

The Metropolitan Police Range, Kalimati, refused to disclose the identity of those three handed over to them by the ANFA.

Soon after the completion of match Commissioner Ahmed Shahir deputed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held an emergency meeting with the Armed Police Force officers deployed for security. “We said in the meeting that viewers pelted stone at Mustafa (who conceded the second red card) after the Jordanian player misbehaved with the audience. We argued that the stone was targeted at the Jordanian player. But the match commissioner asked for video clip as a proof of the incident,” said a reliable ANFA source.

Earlier, ANFA was slapped with a fine of US $ 7000 after viewers hit the Kyrgyzstan player during the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers 2010 with water bottle and coin at the Dasharath Stadium on March 28.