An incident in a division six masters match between Green Island and Mosgiel in Mosgiel last month led to Mosgiel player Gary Barclay ending up in hospital for a few days, suffering a fracture of his C2 vertebra. He declined comment when contacted by the Otago Daily Times on Monday.
Senior Constable Jacqui Ballam, of Mosgiel, confirmed yesterday police had received a complaint about an incident which occurred during a match last month.
She said the investigation was in its early stages.
As it was a match with players involved and spectators on the sideline, there would be many people to talk to and they had yet to start talking to anyone about the incident, she said.
She said it was impossible to say how long the investigation would take as it all depended on the availability of witnesses. She declined to say who made the complaint to police.
The player was the subject of a FootballSouth judicial hearing and was banned for two years after being found guilty of misconduct by the judicial committee.
The Green Island club has appealed that penalty to New Zealand Football and will hear later this week on the process of the appeal.
The suspended player had already decided he would not play again, before the hearing, the Green Island club confirmed earlier this week.
The club felt the two-year ban was too harsh and wanted to get clarity over what the actual suspension covered.
