Bhubaneswar, May 22 : On-field violence left a
player injured in a quarter-final match of the Santosh Trophy
National Football Championship between Tamil Nadu and Mizoram
at the Kalinga stadium here today.
In the 53rd minute of the match in which Tamil Nadu
beat Mizoram 4-3, the referee red-carded Mizo defender Lal
Chhawn Kima for intentional hand-balling to save a free-kick
off V R Murugappan of Tamil Nadu and awarded a penalty in
favour of the opposition.
However, the Mizos protested the decision and pulled
up the referee with abuse and virtually manhandling him. As
Tamil Nadu players came in support of the referee, Mizos
turned their ire on the opposition and were seen coming to
blows in the middle.
In the melee, one Mizo player Lalbiakulua sustained
bleeding injury on his nose after being allegedly thrashed by
a Tamil Nadu player.
As violence took the centre stage, the play remained
suspended for 10 minutes during which the injured player was
administered first-aid.
Besides Murugappan and Kima, three others - R Naveen
Kumar (Namil Nadu) and Lalrinfela and F Lalrinpuia (Mizoram) -
were red-carded for indulging in violence.