Off-duty police officer accused of ‘king hitting’ rival in western Sydney soccer brawl

A top-level women’s soccer game erupted into a fully-fledged brawl with allegations one player was “king hit” by an off-duty police officer during the punch fest at Penrith earlier this month.

One player was hit in the back of the head and knocked unconscious.

EXCLUSIVE: A top-level women’s soccer game erupted into a brawl with allegations one player was “king hit” by an off-duty police officer during the punch-fest at Penrith.

Match reports submitted to Nepean Football Association allege at least 18 players were involved in the fracas this month, which spectators have described as “a disgrace”.

The violent behaviour, occurring just weeks before the start of the Women’s World Cup, came amid a series of controversial community sport incidents.

The Penrith fracas involved players from the first grade Emu Plains and Jamisontown Ruby League all-age women’s competition and started after a player from Emu Plains was fouled.

She was allegedly pushed by a Jamisontown player triggering what referee Allan Jones described in the incident report as an “all in” brawl.

Spectator Nathan Mairleitner described the incident as “disgraceful”.

The incident began after a player was fouled.

“Most became involved and engaged in the violent conduct. Pushing with extreme force, grabbing and swinging players around, pulling and pushing players to the ground,” he wrote.

One Jamisontown player, an off-duty police officer, is alleged to have run over to join the ruckus, hitting one player in the back of the head, and knocking her unconscious, with some spectators and players from the opposing team describing the incident as a “king hit.”

Another player on the Emu Plains team, also an off-duty police officer, allegedly subsequently restrained her.

Incident reports from the Jamisontown team refute these claims, and say the alleged off-duty officer, accused of hitting someone from behind, was merely trying to diffuse the situation.

Reports submitted by Jamisontown also allege one of the Emu Plains players had also “king hit” their team members.

Numerous spectators are understood to have run onto the field, allegedly Emu Plains supporters, with spectator Nathan Mairleitner, describing the incident as “disgraceful”.

Referee Tess Olofsson of Sweden shows a red card to Zambia's goalkeeper Catherine Musonda during the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women's World Cup Group. Picture: Saeed Khan

The Penrith local, who spent 13 years managing Penrith’s Junior Ruby League, has been a spokesman for safe sport and said the brawl was unlike anything he had seen.

“Any fight is not a good fight. But the biggest thing you can’t control is a spectator. When that spectator takes the field, whether it’s one or 100, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

“When they get involved it puts the whole safety and wellbeing competition in jeopardy for the future.”

The Sunday Telegraph contacted both clubs, however neither would comment due to an ongoing investigation.

This masthead understands that some players received sanctions.

Nepean Football Association said generally that the association experiences “very little violence”.

NSW Police said they were aware of the incident on July 2.

A police spokesperson said the incident is being handled by the football club, and that no reports have been made to police and no further police action is anticipated.

Japan's referee Yoshimi Yamashita during the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women's World Cup. Picture: Marty Melville

Football NSW said that the Nepean Football Association, as with all Football NSW Member Associations, was responsible for the implementation of disciplinary processes and proceedings across its local competitions.

“Football NSW is supportive of the NFA and its disciplinary processes. Football NSW, supported by its Member Associations, has a zero-tolerance approach to any forms of violence, harassment, or antisocial behaviour within our sport.

Any registered participants found to be in breach of applicable disciplinary rules and regulations will be sanctioned appropriately by the relevant governing body,” said a spokesperson.

It comes amid a growing rise of violence in community sports, including a shocking altercation between a referee and spectator in Sydney’s southwest earlier this year.

Tribunal decisions made public by Football NSW detail a number of troubling reports of previous incidents this year.

STAMPING OUT BAD BEHAVIOUR

In a bid to combat the growing violence, one association has taken the proactive step of warning players and parents to kerb their behaviour.

In an email to parents and players, Manly Warringah Football Association president Dave Mason, advised members to be on their best behaviour after a sudden increase in incidents.

“This week alone the MWFA Disciplinary Committee had 31 cases before it. Some of these incidents have even spilt over into the courts.

“Make no mistake, poor behaviour among players, spectators (parents), towards referees and each other will not be tolerated BUT it’s not just the referees that deserve respect – it is all of you!”, he said.

Since sending the alert, the association has noticed a decrease in incidents, with Mr Mason contributing the positive change to transparent messaging.

One association has taken the proactive step of warning players and parents to kerb their behaviour, protecting young players such as the Narrabeen Football U/10 team. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“We always feel that getting on the front foot is better than waiting until it’s too late. And since that note went out, we’ve actually seen a dramatic decrease in incidents that are happening,” he said.

“We had a couple of weeks in a row where we had a big increase in numbers of people that were before our judiciary… When we saw that increase, we send a note just to remind everybody to tone it down.”

“We just felt it was better for us to just to remind everybody that we’ve got a really nice safe environment over here and our competition, and we’re prepared to make sure it stays that way,” the president said.

Mum Kiri Tringham Thai’s daughter plays for Narrabeen.

She said it was great to know her daughter can play in a safe environment.

“They nipped it in the bud before it spreads and becomes a big issue,” she said.

Others, such as Central Coast Football Association and NSW Football have chosen to publicly release data and details on a number of their incidents and judiciary determinations to discourage further misconduct.

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