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Irish FA orders investigation after players' plane brawl

Group F: Irish Football Association chiefs were last night investigating an alleged aircraft fight between two players.

Fri Sept 14 2007 - 01:00

Group F:Irish Football Association chiefs were last night investigating an alleged aircraft fight between two players.

Trouble flared on board a flight home from Reykjavik following Northern Ireland's Euro 2008 qualifier against Iceland. IFA chief executive Howard Wells, who returned separately from the squad, pledged to deal with the incident immediately.

He is expected to speak to several players, including Sheffield United winger Keith Gillespie and West Ham defender George McCartney.

The alleged brawl came after Northern Ireland's chances of qualifying for next year's finals were dealt a crushing blow. Gillespie scored a last-minute own goal to give Iceland a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.

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McCartney, meanwhile, has just returned to the squad following a two-year exile during former manager Lawrie Sanchez's reign.

Players were taking their seats on the 0740 Icelandair flight to London Heathrow when the alleged fight broke out.

Punches were thrown before other squad members quickly intervened to calm the situation, according to witnesses. Cabin crew reported the incident to Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington before the plane took off.

One of those on board the flight said: "I was walking down to my seat and I saw a commotion in the middle of the plane. There were players involved and punches thrown, but it was over almost as quickly as it started.

"A flurry of other players waded in and calmed everything down.

"Nigel Worthington was further up the plane, and senior cabin crew went down and had a word with the players involved."

Wells, who was with other officials on a separate flight, insisted: "We will deal with issues that have to be confronted." As he returned to Belfast he said: "Until we know what's happened it would be unfair to prejudice anything."

In a statement the IFA said: "An incident occurred between team members of the senior Northern Ireland squad which the president (Raymond Kennedy) and chief executive are aware of. Both the president and the chief executive will investigate the situation and take appropriate action."