Goa police book fan who jumped fence for selfie with Joao Felix, prized picture deleted

Margao: A football fan from Kerala who jumped the fence and ran onto the field for a selfie with Al-Nassr star Joao Felix had to spend the night at the Fatorda police station, after being booked for “entering restricted area, and endangering the lives of two international players”.

Those who witnessed the incident at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Wednesday, said the prized selfie with the Portugal forward was deleted from his phone.Police sources said the 27-year-old was booked under Section 125 and 233(b) of BNS. “We have registered a case and issued a notice,” SP South Goa, Tikam Singh Verma, told TOI on Thursday. “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.”The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), governing body for football on the continent, does not take spectator misconduct and pitch invasions lightly. The host club, FC Goa, is likely to be handed a fine of $10,000 (approx Rs 8.8 lakh) by the disciplinary and ethics committee. Last month, the club was fined a similar amount after fans used a smoke gun in the stands.

Wearing a yellow Al-Nassr jersey with Ronaldo at the back, the excited fan jumped over the south fence and ran towards Felix, who was warming up in the second half, alongside other stars like Liverpool legend Sadio Mane and Kingsley Coman, who won 21 trophies during his 10-year spell with Bayern Munich.The fan went straight to Felix, hugged the Portugal forward, and then pulled out his phone for a selfie, which the star obliged.When taken away by the police at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, he told them he has been a fan of Ronaldo and the Portugal national team for close to 20 years.Besides Ronaldo, Felix is the only other Portuguese footballer at Al-Nassr.Coach Jorje Jesus fielded four foreign players in his starting line-up against FC Goa but left the stars on the bench. Felix and Mane took the field only in the 66th minute, much to the delight of the crowd, who chanted their names.Al-Nassr won 2-1 to record their third consecutive victory in the AFC Champions League Two, while Goa have lost all three games played so far.