A mob of South Asian men reportedly stormed a soccer field at Newton Athletic Park on Saturday night and assaulted players on the opposing team, apparently triggered by a foul during a Vancouver Metro Soccer League game between a South Asian team from Surrey and a Latin American team from Vancouver.
“It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life,” said a spectator, who requested anonymity. “I couldn’t believe what happened. They start throwing punches at this guy; it was like a brawl. They stormed the field, basically.”
The spectator said six police cars, with officers from the Surrey Police Service and Surrey RCMP attending, were called to the park at 7395 128 Street.
Roughly 15 South Asian men ages 20 to 35 who were watching the game ran out onto pitch six, the spectator added, to join in on the “disgusting” and “disturbing” incident, “throwing punches.”
“You had these guys that were not even on the fricking team running on the field, throwing punches.”
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The spectator, who also claimed to have been hit by a thrown bottle, said the Latin American team was “scared s—tless, they weren’t even fighting back.”
Women, children and elderly people were also in the park.
According to a Vancouver Metro Soccer League schedule, the DLT Blazers were playing Vancouver Patagonia FC A starting at 6:15 p.m. Nov. 4 on turf number six.
Surrey RCMP Sgt. Tammy Lobb stated Monday, in an email to the Now-Leader, that “at approximately 8:00 p.m. on November 4, 2023, Surrey RCMP responded to a report of a disturbance at an Athletic Field in Newton. Once on scene, officers learned an assault had occurred. The investigation is ongoing. Surrey RCMP is speaking with all parties involved and is reviewing surveillance video to determine all circumstances that led up to the assault.
“No arrests have been made,” Lobb added. “I cannot provide details about the individuals involved. The investigation is in the preliminary stages and there (are) no additional details being provided.”
The Now-Leader reached out to the president of the league, Vancouver Patagonia’s coach and DLT Blazers’ manager but the VMSL has not replied to numerous requests for comment.