Violence on the Pitch

[Gullscorer]

The goalkeeper Alvarado was sent off by the ref in his club's game against Ajax for repeatedly kicking a spectator who ran onto the pitch to attack him. Then the game had to be abandoned because his manager takes the whole team off. Idiotic thing to do, and his club should be penalised. Surely it's the ref's job to decide whether to take teams off? The ref was right to send Alvarado off, what the goalkeeper did went way beyond self-defence and he was rightly sent off under the rules of the game.. Yet some people still complained. Crazy!

Anybody think the ref was wrong?

[stevegull]

I disagreed with the decision to send him off. It was clearly self defence, although i do concede he perhaps went a little far with the extra few kicks. However, would the fan have stopped kicking the goalkeeper if he had been on the ground? The fan was happy to attempt to run from behind the keeper to try and kick him, so if i was the keeper i also would have beaten the cr*p out fo the pitch invader.

For those that haven't seen it...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16300956.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dave]

Thanks for putting the link Stevegull, have to say i completely dissagree gullscorer, i presume it is a criminal offence to enter the pitch in Holland as it is here, the fan also kicked the goalkeeper first, you could say that was an assualt in it's self.

That keeper has the right to defend himself like any one else at any given time, if the keeper had kicked him once, would the fan have got up and tried to kick him again.

Well done to the keeper , football the world over does not need idoits like that, and a massive well done to the manager for have the balls to act that way, and stand by not only his player , but his team and club, the ref should have used some common sense.

[AustrianAndyGull]

Good on the goalie. If it were me he'd run on to the pitch to attack he'd be picking his teeth up with a broken arm! I think that if we say that any intruders onto the field of play should have no legal protection and can be given a right creaming by both sets of players, a bit like if a burglar enters your home with you in it you should be entitled to batter him within an inch of his life then it would be a step in the right direction. The footage is not something you want to see on a football pitch but it beats camped up american wrestling hands down!!

[Scott Brehaut]

The keepers reaction was way over the top....there were stewards coming onto the pitch to remove the spectator and the keeper kicked him several times whilst the guy was on the floor....if that had happened on the street the guy would have been arrested for assault, so why should it be different on a football pitch?!

[AustrianAndyGull]

The keepers reaction was way over the top....there were stewards coming onto the pitch to remove the spectator and the keeper kicked him several times whilst the guy was on the floor....if that had happened on the street the guy would have been arrested for assault, so why should it be different on a football pitch?!

arrested but then let off with a smacked bottom whilst the guy he battered spends 6 months in intensive care and has his life devastated, i know what you mean Scott. This happened to one of my closest friends, he now is on medication full time and has a tough time. Oh and the perpetrators? Yep they got off. I'm not an advocate of taking the law into your own hands but if i was attacked on the pitch then i would quite happily be banned from playing again to give the lad a good hammering.

[PlainmoorRoar]

errr by 'several times' you mean twice!

You can see that he thinks hes under attack from other people when he looks at the stewards

The ref is wrong, what if the goalkeeper hadnt turned round to see the guy coming?

[Southampton Gull]

Fair play to the keeper. Had the same thing happen to me playing near Portsmouth once, the ref abandoned the game. The ref got this one wrong in my eyes.

[Dave]

Cant agree with you on this one Scott, the steward was a country mile behind the fan, and as pointed out above it is a good job the keeper saw him coming other wise the outcome could have been different, instead of being sent off the keeper could have been carried off.

There are just far to many doo-gooders around, the fan entered the pitch with the intention to hurt the keeper, in what i can only imagine was an unprovked attack(what possibly could the keeper have done to warrant that) in my view he has handed over his right's, to fair treatment and human rights.

Football the world does not need utter scum like this fan, who thankfully got a lot more than he bargined for, hopefully next time a supporter thinks about going onto the pitch to attack a player , he/she might think twice.

This fan deserves no protection from the law in Holland and hope he gets none, a football player has the same right's, as doctor's, nurses, shop workers, etc, to go about doing his job with out fear of being attacked.

Again i can nothing but praise the actions of the manager, that guy has nothing but my total respect for acting that way.

[Gullscorer]

Certainly the pitch invader should be done for assault and whatever other offences he committed. Let's hope his punishment is appropriate! The goalkeeper's reaction is understandable (I believe he's from South America?) but a line is crossed when self-defence becomes assault. It is for the law, not the goalie, to punish the offender, and everybody should abide by the law, and indeed the rules of the game. Otherwise, the lynch mob mentality prevails, and that is unacceptable in any civilised society.

That said, I do believe that rules and laws are made for the guidance of the wise and the obedience of fools...

[Dave]

Certainly the pitch invader should be done for assault and whatever other offences he committed. Let's hope his punishment is appropriate! The goalkeeper's reaction is understandable (I believe he's from South America?) but a line is crossed when self-defence becomes assault. It is for the law, not the goalie, to punish the offender, and everybody should abide by the law, and indeed the rules of the game. Otherwise, the lynch mob mentality prevails, and that is unacceptable in any civilised society.

That said, I do believe that rules and laws are made for the guidance of the wise and the obedience of fools...

I argee with your sentiment, however i should imagine most of us have had situation when out about in pubs and clubs where we have been started on or set opon, you not going to stand there thinking about what is self defence, what reation can i meet this with , thats is with in the law, if i hit out more once or twice have i crossed the line while the other person takes lumps out of you, come on. His reation was just a natural one.

[stefano]

There is an old saying that professional football keeps a hell of a lot of people out of prison

[Gullscorer]

I argee with your sentiment, however i should imagine most of us have had situation when out about in pubs and clubs where we have been started on or set opon, you not going to stand there thinking about what is self defence, what reation can i meet this with , thats is with in the law, if i hit out more once or twice have i crossed the line while the other person takes lumps out of you, come on. His reation was just a natural one.

I understand what you're saying, but in this case the other person was lying on the ground, with stewards only a few paces away.

[HRG]

I heard that the pitch invader was the new boyfriend of the goalkeeper's ex-girlfriend. So it would seem they had previous.

[AustrianAndyGull]

There is an old saying that professional football keeps a hell of a lot of people out of prison

Certainly true of Wayne Rooney. In all seriousness, what else would he be doing if he wasn't a footballer? Exactly.