Firecrackers, bricks thrown onto pitch

Soon after Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) defeated hosts Perak in a Malaysian Super League match, Perak supporters turned violent, throwing objects including firecrackers onto the field.

They also threw objects at JDT supporters inside the Perak Stadium in Ipoh on Tuesday night, The Star reported.

Eight people, all men and aged between 16 and 25, were arrested on Wednesday. They are being investigated for rioting, said Ipoh district police chief Assistant Commissioner Sum Chang Keong.

ACP Sum did not dismiss the possibility of more arrests to be made, "but it all depends on the developments in the case", he said.

Two journalists, two policemen and several fans were injured, New Straits Times (NST) reported.

The policemen suffered injuries to their faces after being hit by stones.

NST photographer Supian Ahmad, one of two journalists injured, said he saw a brick being hurled towards him, but could not avoid it.

He said: "Everything happened so fast. One minute, I was taking photographs of the match and the fracas, and the next, I felt something hit me on the knee, causing excruciating pain."

Hit by firecracker

Sinar Harian reporter Razif Rosli said he was taking photographs of the scene when he saw a firecracker being thrown at him.

He told NST: "I managed to evade the firecracker, which exploded near my legs. At first, I thought nothing of it, but not long after that, I saw blood oozing from my legs."

There was further commotion outside the stadium and water cannons and tear gas were used to disperse the crowd.

Meanwhile, as the JDT team was leaving the stadium, hundreds of Perak supporters surrounded it and pelted it with stones, cracking windows.

JDT player S. Subramaniam described the incident as traumatising: "Luckily, nobody on our bus was injured. From the stadium we were escorted to our hotel by the police."

The Perak Football Association expressed regret over the incident. Its president Zainal Fadzi Paharuddin described the incident as the worst to date.

This article was published on April 18 in The New Paper.

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He said he will leave it to the police to investigate.