The eighth-round match of the First Category championship, played at the Ottavio Corda municipal stadium in Isili, ended with a huge question mark. A scuffle between players on the pitch and on the bench forced the referee to stop the game with eight minutes remaining in the regulation ninety minutes. When the referee then called the teams back onto the pitch, the away team refused to come onto the pitch.

The disagreement

It all started with a foul in midfield against the Isili striker while the home team, in second place in the standings, was leading 3-0. "While our player was down," said Isili president Mario Luigi Casu, "he was fouled again by another Carloforte player during a set piece. His teammates rushed onto the pitch from the bench to defend their Isili player."

The guests

Carloforte team president Giuseppe Buzzo gave a different version of events. "Shortly before the end, a Verde Isola player committed a foul that was perhaps a bit too serious in midfield, and the entire Isili bench rushed over to ours, kicking and punching the Carloforte players. Some ran away, others stayed behind to defend themselves."

The referee

Following the brawl, the referee showed a red card to an Isili player on the bench. "The referee saw what happened," said president Mario Luigi Casu, "and he will take the necessary action."

Meanwhile, while these things were happening, the visitors called an ambulance and the police. But according to the referee's intentions, the match should and could have been concluded regularly. Despite the insistence of the home team, the visiting team did not back down. Everything will now be decided by the sports judge, based on the referee's documentation of the events that occurred during the match.

(Unioneonline)