Picture Credit: Twitter
Football Australia has launched an investigation following Saturday night's A-League Melbourne derby after spectators stormed into the AAMI Park pitch, leaving City goalkeeper Tom Glover with a head injury and suspected concussion .
Notably, Saturday night's match between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory came to a halt just after the 20-minute mark with the City leading 1-0, as the fans marked their protest against the controversial decision to move the A-League Men's grand final to Sydney.
While the fans from both clubs hurled flares onto the pitch, City goalkeeper Thomas Glover threw a flare back into the Victory fans area at the northern end, which triggered a wild reaction as Victory fans rushed onto the pitch and gathered around Glover in scary scenes. As per the video going viral on internet, a Victory fan grabbed a metal bucket and threw it at Glover, instantly cutting the City keeper's face wide open.
Following the horrific scenes, all the players and coaches were forced to leave the pitch and technical area. However, City later confirmed that Glover was receiving medical treatment in the dressing room and 'has a concussion'. While Glover required stitches for the cut, officiating referee Alex King too sustained a cut to his right eyebrow during the wild and scary scenes.
FA released a statement on Saturday night, stating the event as 'shocking.' "Such behaviour has no place in Australian football, with a full Football Australia investigation to commence immediately, where strong sanctions to be handed down," read FA's statement.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Victory too released a statement and describe the incident as 'devasted.' "The actions that occurred, that saw spectators enter the pitch and injure a Melbourne City FC player, an official and a Network Ten cameraman, are not acceptable under any circumstance and have no place in football," Melbourne City FC's statement read.
