One spectator and two police officers were hospitalized after some 30 flares were ignited and thrown at the home team’s supporters and onto the athletics track of Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi during a Round 22 match of V. League 1, Vietnam’s top-tier football league, on Wednesday night.

Hanoi FC routed Nam Dinh FC 6-1 at home in a game that had to be halted for five minutes in the second half, after one of the flares thrown to Stand A hit a female spectator.

The woman was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment before the game was resumed.

This is the first injury case recorded when flares were fired during a game in the 2019-20 season of the top league, which kicked off in February.

Flares were lit and thrown from Stand B, reserved for Nam Dinh FC fans, to Stand A, where supporters of the hosts were seated, and onto the athletics track throughout the progression of Wednesday’s match.

The injured woman was identified as Huyen Anh, a reporter of a Hanoi-based children’s newspaper.

At the Xanh Pon General Hospital in Ba Dinh District, the woman went a surgery to remove burnt skin before she was transferred to the burn department for further treatment.

Doctors will carry out a second surgery to suture the wound once her burn gets better.

Two police officers, one of whom had his arm broken, were also admitted to the hospital for treatment after they tried to handle the situation.

Vietnam Professional Football Co. (VPF), which has organized V. League 1 since 2011, has tasked the supervisor of referees in charge of the match with making a full report on the incident and submitting it to the Vietnam Football Federation for consideration of a penalty for those involved.

“We condemn the violent action of Nam Dinh FC’s supporters,” VPF chairman Tran Anh Tu told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper after the match.

Nam Dinh FC face a punishment as their supporters were held accountable for the chaotic scenes, while the management of Hanoi FC will also be subject to a heavy penalty for not complying with a security plan proposed by the executive board of the league, according to Tu.

Hanoi FC may be banned from playing at their home stadium Hang Day in the next matches.

From now to the end of the 26-round season, the club only have two home games - one against Viettel FC on September 15 and another against Quang Nam FC on October 6.

Hanoi FC are the title favorites, now topping the standings with 46 points after 22 rounds.

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