A brutal assault on the goalkeeper forces the suspension of the Melbourne derby

Australian football is in the news this Saturday and not for sporting reasons, but for the shocking images of the attack on the Melbourne City goalkeeper during the derby against Melbourne Victory.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
17 December 2022 Saturday 05:32
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A brutal assault on the goalkeeper forces the suspension of the Melbourne derby

Australian football is in the news this Saturday and not for sporting reasons, but for the shocking images of the attack on the Melbourne City goalkeeper during the derby against Melbourne Victory. In these you can see how the player receives the brutal impact of a metal bucket on the head, causing a deep wound, and how he has to leave the field of play accompanied while an avalanche occurs on the field of play.

Some chilling images that originated around the twentieth minute of the game, when a flare fell from the stands on the area of ​​the City goalkeeper, Tom Glover. He picked it up and returned it to the stands, causing the metal bucket to be thrown and an avalanche of fans who jumped from the stands.

Melbourne Victory fans invaded the pitch and the players and the referee had to leave the game to take cover. Minutes later, the derby was considered suspended. City were leading 1-0 at the time of the incidents.

The Australian Football Federation was quick to condemn the attacks that occurred during the A-League match, the country's top division: "Such behavior has no place in Australian football, with a full Football Australia investigation to begin immediately , where strong sanctions will be imposed", they explained in a statement informing of the suspension of the match "according to Law 5.3 of the Laws of the Game to protect the integrity of the match".

The Australian Professional League has also joined the reactions, which has issued a brief statement informing that it is coordinating with the federation given "the ramifications of these events."

Australian fans are up in arms against the recently announced decision to take the title Grand Finals to Sydney until 2025, a deal that has been heavily criticized by fans.

In the Melbourne derby, both fans had originally planned to leave the match 20 minutes into the game in protest.

The men's and women's A-League competitions have traditionally played their decisive championship games at the grounds of the highest ranked teams.