Goa hosted one of the more high-profile teams in world football, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr of the Saudi Pro League flew to the Indian state for an Asian Champions League 2 match.
While the Portuguese talisman didn’t travel with the team as he took a rest after a busy international break, there was still plenty of hype and interest around the Saudi team arriving to play FC Goa in Fatorda.
With the excitement surrounding the match, fans looked forward to the opportunity of seeing top level internationals in action. One of these was Joao Felix, Ronaldo’s teammate with the Portuguese national team, and a top talent who has represented teams like FC Barcelona, Chelsea, and Atletico Madrid.
In fact, the excitement was so much so that a fan in the stands vaulted over the security fencing, and rushed up to Felix warming up in the restricted area for a selfie alongside the Portuguese star. While Felix obliged the fan with the picture, security soon arrived to usher him off the field.
Fan apprehended, held in custody
The culprit was apprehended and held at a police station overnight, with an FIR being filed against him. He was also forced to delete the selfie of his phone, but didn’t receive further punishment. Superintendent of Police for South Goa, Tikam Singh Verma, spoke to Times of India and explained that he was only in custody for the sake of formalities.
“We have registered a case and issued a notice,” Verma had explained “We filed the FIR but arrest was not needed in this case. We took him into custody after he ran on the field. He was at the police station till the time a case was registered and formalities completed.”
Nevertheless, the security breach is likely not to go down to easily with the AFC organisers for this tournament, with player safety a big concern. It is possible that the club will be forced to pay a fine of up to Rs. 8.8 lakhs as punishment for the failure to maintain a strong security perimeter around the visiting team.
Ultimately in the match itself, Goa gave a strong account of themselves despite being the underdogs even against the much-changed Al Nassr team. While players such as Kingsley Coman, Joao Felix, and Sadio Mane did travel for the match, they started from the bench. The Saudi team took a 2-0 lead, but Brison Fernandes pulled one back for Goa with a well-taken goal right before half. The score would stand at 2-1 right through the second half, a fight to be proud of for the Gaurs but the points going to Al Nassr.