– It was a violent aggression – VG

It was very dramatic when Arna-Bjørnar’s girls’ 16 team came to the field at the Gothia Cup. In the match before their semi-final, a violent brawl broke out.

Just before Arna-Bjørnar was to play his semi-final against a Swedish team, another match was completed on the pitch they were to play on. When one team won on penalty kicks, the crazy scenes ensued. The losing team began attacking the other team.

– It was violent aggression. There is one player in particular who is subjected to 7-8 pieces from the other team, with punches and kicks to the head, says father and photographer at Arna-Bjørnar, Jan Ove Årsæther.

The session was not short-lived. Årsæther estimates that the attack lasted around 20 minutes.

– Many adults from the Norwegian and Swedish camps tried to intervene, and at one point they calmed down the situation, but then suddenly the whole team starts rushing after the team, several hundred meters away from the stadium, says Årsæther.

According to Göteborgs-Posten, several of the parents were in shock, and several of them are said to have cried. Årsæther is shocked by the leadership of one team.

– It was clearly one team that was the aggressive party. While the children attack one player, the leader of the losing team just stands and watches. Those who were exposed to the violence asked us to take pictures and document it all, says Årsæther.

– What is shocking is that the children are not stopped by adults coming in and trying to stop them, Årsæther continues.

Jan Fredrik Stenersen is the team manager for Arna-Bjørnar’s girls’ 16 team. He says that they have had a joint meeting to talk about the situation.

– Our first thought was that we had to protect the girls. Then I spot one of the players who was clearly one of the main targets of the opponents. He had been beaten and kicked, and was of course terribly sorry.

– Did you get to talk to him?

– Not so much. I told him that I was going to shield him from his team leaders, and then he pointed to his father, and got to him, Stenersen replies.

– For 15 years I have been part of children’s football. I have never been involved in anything like this, continues Stenersen.

The police eventually arrived at the arena. They got the teams separated. What kind of consequences it will have for the team is still unknown.