Sports Nostalgia: Dundee player sacked for Kirkcaldy ref attack

A Fife Flyers match against Dundee Stars ended with one of the opposition players sacked by the club and charged with assault after attacking the referee.

With just minutes to go and Fife Flyers marching towards a 13-0 win over Dundee Stars in a Scottish National League title decider, Dundee forward Ali Haddanou completely lost the plot.

Players, coaches and a crowd of 1,117 looked on in disbelief as Haddanou (24) appeared to cross-check match official Alan Craig to the ice, and then continue the attack as the helpless referee lay sprawled on the frozen surface.

The player was quickly marched to the dressing rooms, where he discarded his strip for the last time as his club promptly relieved him of his playing duties.

Fife coach Todd Dutiaume recalled the shameful episode that overshadowed a stunning victory that had taken Flyers to within two points of clinching the SNL title.

“A night which should be remembered for one heck of a performance by us has been marred by a moment of complete idiocy,” he said.

“There is a process in place to allow teams to lodge a formal complaint about a referee’s credibility but for a player to take matters into his own hands is simply unacceptable.

“Every single game someone will disagree with the ref, but you can never justify what took place on Saturday.

”This has overshadowed our best performance to date, and my guys deserve a lot better than that.”

It is not the first time Haddanou has caused controversy at Fife Ice Arena he was thrown out of a match last October for attacking Thomas Muir when the Fife defenceman’s back was turned.

“Five months ago I said that the guy did not deserve to be on ice skates for what he done to Thomas,” Dutiaume added.

“We knew then we had a problem player in our league but it’s taken this for him to be finally dealt with.”

SIHA spokesman Charlie Ward, a leading director at Dundee Stars, said: “One of my fellow directors was at the game and was horrified by what he saw so we took the decision there and then to let Ali go.

“It is quite clear that there will be a ban of some sort but it will be up to the hockey authorities to determine the length.

“We are all working hard to build the sport in this country and be positive as possible and this is the last thing we need.

“It has discredited the league and the club but we need to accept that it’s happened and move on. Thankfully this doesn’t happen very often, but when it does we need to stamp it out.”

Haddanou’s ice hockey career had actually begun in the Lang Toun when he was initially on the books of Kirkcaldy Ice Hockey Club (KIHC) as a junior.

KIHC chairperson Edith Page said: “He played for our under 14s and under 16s and we never had any problem with his discipline.

“However, I’ve been quite disappointed with how he’s played since he moved to Dundee and what he did on Saturday was disgusting.

“I hope we never see anything like it again.”