In an unprecedented decision, a father and son have been permanently banned from playing OzTag due to their involvement in a violent altercation during the NSW state championships.
Bill Harrigan, a former NRL referee and the event’s tournament director in Coffs Harbour, expressed his dismay over the incident, emphasizing his intolerance for such behavior. Harrigan confirmed that the father and son duo, who played a significant role in the fracas, will face lifetime expulsion from the sport.
“We had a few parents who were involved, and that kind of conduct is simply unacceptable,” Harrigan stated in an interview with Today this morning.
The chaos unfolded after a match between the under-17 teams from Port Macquarie and Wollongong last Saturday. As the young players concluded their game and began to shake hands, tensions flared, leading to a heated exchange of insults. The situation quickly escalated as adult spectators rushed onto the field, turning the scene into a full-blown melee.
Footage of the incident, captured and shared by 2GB’s Mark Levy, vividly shows the moment when the supposed sportsmanship turned into a startling display of aggression, highlighting the need for stricter enforcement of conduct rules in youth sports.
Insults were exchanged, triggering the intervention of adult spectators who stormed onto the middle of the field as chaos erupted.
Part of the footage shows a man in a white shirt running in and hitting a player from the side before he is thrown to the ground.
Harrigan thinks an insult between the teenage players may have sparked the brawl, but says officials from Australian OzTag are still investigating.
“We’ll sift through all the video that we’ve received, the reports that we’ve got from the officials … It could be more life bans,” he said.
Harrigan said those involved in the violence ignored signs warning spectators to respect players and referees and remain on the sidelines.
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