A father ended up in hospital after a fight broke out at boys soccer game in Dundrum, South Dublin earlier this week.
According to people who witnessed the incident, which took place at a St Pats and Mount Merrion match, a spectator was knocked to the ground and kicked in the head on the Rosemount Park sideline.
The game was abandoned as parents and officials struggled to diffuse the situation and Gardaí are investigating.
According to report, the incident was sparked when a father attempted to prevent his son, who was on the ground following a tackle, from being kicked by someone on the opposing U17 team.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Mount Merrion manager Barry Saul said:
“In my 15 years of managing teams in the schoolboy league, I’ve never seen anything like what I witnessed at Rosemount.
“There’ll often be isolated incidents were two players square up to one another or there’s a punch thrown but this was 16-year-olds and parents on the sideline assaulted.”
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