A pitch invader has been given a beating by a player he tried to attack during a soccer match involving Australian Brett Holman's Dutch club AZ Alkmaar. John Baldock has today's sport headlines.
The Dutch Cup match between AZ and Ajax Amsterdam was suspended on Wednesday night after AZ goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado was remarkably sent off for kicking the fan.
AZ coach Gertjan Verbeek ordered his team, including Holman who was on the field at the time, to walk off in protest at the decision to send off Alvarado, whom the 19-year-old Ajax fan had attempted to attack.
The Ajax fan, whom police said had been drinking, ran on to the field in the 36th minute and approached Alvarado from behind.
But the Costa Rican keeper saw the supporter in time and tripped him.
Then Alvarado, enraged by the unexpected and unprovoked attack, kicked the supporter twice where he lay before security guards dragged the intruder off the pitch. Referee Bas Nijhuis then gave Esteban a red card for violence, infuriating Verbeek who told his side to walk off in protest.
"I understand that Esteban was defending himself, but he walked to him (the supporter) and kicked him multiple times," Nijhuis said, defending the decision to send the goalkeeper off. "He could also have walked away."
Ajax was leading the round-of-16 match 1-0 after a goal by Gregory van der Wiel. Attempts to convince Alkmaar to continue were fruitless.
Alkmaar's players "didn't feel safe anymore in this situation", said club director Toon Gerbrands.
Ajax apologised for the security lapse and said the supporter would receive a lifetime ban from games.
Dutch football association director Bert van Oostveen said his organisation was considering the incident, but was uncertain whether the game would be replayed
. "Maybe I would have done the same thing, maybe not," said Ajax coach Frank de Boer, the former Dutch national team defender, of Alvarado's reaction. "But emotionally I do understand it."
