Around 30,000 young football players and 2,000 teams from 35 countries gathered in Oslo once again this week for the annual Norway Cup football tournament. It only took one Spanish man who supported a team from Spain to grab headlines by assaulting and seriously injuring a referee.

The violence occurred on Monday, just after the tournament had opened on the Ekeberg plateau last weekend. The man in his 20s was still in police custody Friday, after police had appealed two release orders from lower courts. They argue that he seriously injured the referee, who had to be rushed to hospital in ambulance, and even prompted a boycott of sorts: Two other teams didn’t want to play against the Spanish team, despite the negative tournament consequences that could have.

Norway Cup officials decided against sanctioning the Spanish team, since its violent supporter was neither a player nor on its staff, only reportedly related to one of its players. They called it “a terribly difficult situation … all violence is unacceptable and we understand the incident created uncertainty.” The referee who was assaulted later reported from hospital that he was recovering and grateful for all the sympathy he received.

NewsinEnglish.no staff