A referee has described a brawl which took place during a futsal game, leaving one player with facial fractures and serious damage to one eye, as "essentially uncontrollable".
The goalkeeper for the Kolo futsal team, Kerim Hidic, 22, is on trial for an alleged assault against a player from the rival Big Ball team.
Today, the ACT Supreme Court heard the match, which took place in Canberra in December 2015, was a very aggressive game that was shut down before the end of the second half.
Referee Uros Rokvic described it as "essentially uncontrollable".
Mr Rokvic said he believed the fight started when two Kolo supporters ran down and attacked a Big Ball player who had been sent off after a foul.
Big Ball player Colin Elvin denied he had provoked the two spectators by staring at them.
"I was disgusted with their behaviour but I was not going to inflame the situation," he said.
He said the Kolo spectators had been making verbal threats to Big Ball players, including "we are going to kill you".
"It was a very scary situation," Mr Elvin said.
Today, the referee told the court that when the fight broke out there was a "ball of players wrestling each other", with the alleged victim trying to separate them.
"He rose above the scrum and then disappeared within it," the referee said.
The Big Ball player who gave evidence today said the fight broke up when it was realised someone had been badly hurt.
"They [saw the alleged victim] was hurt and they thought the cops were going to come and they ran ... let's go ... let's go," Mr Elvin said.
Hidic had 'bad conscience' over punch
In a police interview played to the court, Hidic said he felt bad about hitting the alleged victim, calling the match leading up to the fight a "dirty game".
"I just have a really bad conscience," he said.
"I feel really bad about what I did."
He said he acted in the moment when he saw the man grab his friend.
"I hit him on the eye, just above the eye," he told police.
"I just remember hitting."
The alleged victim maintains he was holding Hidic's friend in a bear hug in a bid to break up the fight.
