Updated 6.50pm with MFA comment

Police had to intervene in a children's football match on Sunday after two parents watching the game ended up “throwing stones at each other”.

The parents reportedly began arguing on the sidelines but eventually ended up on the football pitch, TVM reported. Police had to restore order before the nursery game could continue.

The match at Corradino football ground between under-14 players of Valletta FC and San Ġwann FC took an ugly turn at around the half-hour mark, when the referee sent off two Valletta players.

That decision infuriated a parent watching the game, who then told the referee that he would be waiting for him after the game. Another parent then entered the fray, and within moments the two men were reportedly at each other’s throats.

An eyewitness told Times of Malta that the incident had frightened some spectators but that the game ended without incident once calm was restored. 

"Unfortunately we see this sort of thing happening around once a year in children's football," said the man who works for one of the clubs involved.  

A police spokesperson confirmed that they were investigating an incident involving two parents at the game.

The police were called to Corradino at around 1pm following reports of a disturbance there.

“When police officers arrived on site, they were informed that one person was on their way to get their injuries certified,” a police spokesperson said. “The officers were told that parents had allegedly thrown stones at each other.”

The police received another call sometime later, but by the time the officers arrived on site all was quiet and the game had ended.

According to TVM, the referee had to be escorted off the field by Rapid Intervention Unit police officers. A police spokesperson was unable to confirm that.  

A source within Valletta FC said the club would be taking "internal disciplinary steps" against one of the parents involved, as their child plays for the club. 

When contacted, a San Ġwann FC representative declined to comment. 

"The MFA has its own structures and it can investigate should it wish to," the spokesperson said. 

MFA pledges 'disciplinary steps'

Later on Monday, the Malta Football Association issued a statement in which it deplored the behaviour and pledged to take "all the disciplinary steps at sporting level" once facts had been established by the police. 

It noted that the incident in question happened outside the match venue and said it had full trust in the police's investigation into the incident. 

Some parents were "only concerned with the result of the match rather than the long-term development of children," the association said as it urged all those involved in the game to set an example "rather than undermine the authority of coaches and match officials."