Brawl breaks out at kids’ footie game

Just one blow on the referee’s whistle caused all hell to break out at Sunday afternoon’s game between youth clubs from SC Geislingen and FC Eislingen in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg.

Indignant shouts from the coaches’ bench soon spread throughout the spectators, where a heated debate broke out. Before long, the crowd had descended into a full-scale brawl involving 15 adult onlookers, who began attacking each other with their fists and bottles.

Only when the police arrived on the scene could they be persuaded to stop. Two people were hurt in the ruckus, said the regional Nürtinger Zeitung, one 47-year-old so badly he had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance.

But the real losers were the kids themselves, whom the paper said were “visibly distraught” after event organizers decided to cancel the tournament altogether.

DPA/The Local/jlb