Ballarat Football League will investigate an off-field altercation involving a spectator and players at half-time of the senior preliminary football final on Saturday.
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The incident occurred on an asphalted area outside the playing arena fence as Darley players left the ground in the match against East Point.
Several Darley players were caught up in the fracas with the East Point supporter as officials and support staff from the BFL and each club,and security staff stepped in to separate the parties and calm the situation.
BFL officials immediately evicted the spectator at the centre of the incident from City Oval, escorting him to an exit.
Police arrived at the scene shortly later, leaving before the end of the match.
BFL operations manager Shane Anwyl confirmed with The Courier on Sunday that the investigation would formally begin on Monday.
He said the first task was to obtain vision of the incident to determine the exact circumstances.
Anwyl said parties involved would then be interviewed as part of an investigative process.
He said the BFL would not make any further comment at this stage.
Darley Football Netball Club has also requested the BFL investigate the incident, alleging in a post on its Facebook page that two of its players were assaulted.
“Rest assured our club will make all efforts to protect our players leaving the field of play.”
The off-field incident occurred after an on-field melee late in the second quarter between East Point and Darley players, and another on the ground between players after the half-time siren.
These took place on the southern side of the oval – the far side from where players leave the ground.
The match continued after half-time without incident, with East Point winning by 72 points to advance to a clash with Melton in the grand final. The loss ended Darley’s season.
This is the second time this season Darley has been part of an investigation by the BFL.
The BFL fined Darley $5000 for bringing the league into disrepute after club players, officials and supporters became involved in an on-ground melee after a senior match at Darley Park in round 10.
No other club was involved.
Four Darley supporters received a life ban from attending BFL matches.
The BFL also directed the Darley club to engage an AFL Goldfields football development manager to set up and run sessions on conflict resolution and code of conduct with senior committee members and senior, reserves and under-18.5 football coaching staff.
The BFL grand final will be played at Mars Stadium next Saturday.
The Henderson Medal launches the Ballarat Football Netball League grand final week tonight when the league’s shining lights gather for the annual best and fairest count. Football and netball best and fairests and other titles will be awarded across all senior grades at the Mercure Ballarat Hotel.
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