Hong Kong officials have demanded action after members of the men’s ice hockey team were assaulted in a shocking attack following their 5-1 Asian Winter Games win over Turkmenistan on Sunday.
In a statement, the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC), said it “strongly condemned” the incident, which happened at the end of the Group C clash at Harbin Ice Hockey Arena.
A bad-tempered affair, in which the teams served out an hour’s worth of penalties between them for offences including elbowing, tripping, slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct, spilled over at the post-game handshakes.
Turkmenistan trio Erkin Kakabayev, Arslan Geldimyradov and Begench Dovletmyradov attacked several Hong Kong players in an incident lasting a couple of minutes before order was restored.
While Hong Kong said none of their players were badly hurt, two, who were not named, did need to be taken to hospital to be assessed and officials condemned the “deliberate attack and injury [caused] by Turkmen athletes”.
In a statement, the SF&OC said the head of the Hong Kong delegation to the Games, Ho Kit-fung, had contacted the International Ice Hockey Federation and Olympic Council of Asia to “demand disciplinary action”.
