England fans held after brawl at NZ team hotel
Sri Lankan police arrested two England fans who were involved in a
brawl after heckling New Zealand's defeated cricketers in their hotel at
the World Twenty20 tournament, officials said Tuesday.
The two fans were taken into custody on Monday night after the
bust-up at the luxury Earl's Regency Hotel in the central hill resort of
Kandy where the New Zealand players were also staying, a local police
official said.
"The team was in the hotel lobby when some British fans heckled them
and it was turning into a nasty scene," the official who declined to be
named told AFP. "That is when their bodyguards called the local police
in."
He said charges were not pressed and the two men were freed early
Tuesday.
An official who witnessed the brawl but asked not to be named said he
saw one member of the security team assigned to protect the Black Caps
come to blows with several England fans.
The incident came hours after New Zealand's defeat to the West Indies
in the Super Eights match in nearby Pallekele. The holders England were
then beaten by Sri Lanka at the same venue later that evening.
Sri Lanka Cricket sources confirmed that New Zealand players as well
as some of their team officials were present when the brawl broke out.
AFP
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