10 arrested over violence in Galolhu stadium

Police have made 10 arrests over violence during a second division quarter-final match between Victory Sports Club and Kuda Henveiru United at Galolhu football stadium on last Wednesday.

In a message to the media on Tuesday night, Police said a group of spectators had stormed the stadium during the match and ensued violence against players of Victory Sports Club and officials.

Although they noted 10 arrests have been made in connection to the case, the Police did not disclose their identities.

Criminal Court has previously remanded four suspects arrested in connection to the case. The first three suspects arrested in this regard were remanded in custody for 15 days. A fourth suspect was remanded in custody for five days on Monday.

The arrestees included Ibrahim Alif Rauf, an individual with an extensive criminal record.

The violence broke out during the late minutes of the quarter-final between Kuda Henveiru and Victory Sports Club, as Victory led the match 3-1.

This was prompted by Victory Sports Club’s foreign player Anatolii Vlasichev’s foul against Kuda Henveiru’s Mohamed Hazim Riffath. Vlasichev purposely hit Hazim over the foul which caused an uproar which was further escalated by the referee’s decision to give Vlasichev a yellow card instead of a red.

Supporters of Kuda Henveiru stormed the field and confronted players and officials of Victory Sports Club. They had also attacked Victory’s coach Hussain Sobah as Police attempted to control the crowd.