A former Fijian Sevens rugby player has been convicted of assaulting a police officer after a vicious rolling brawl through the streets of Wan Chai early yesterday.
People who witnessed the fighting between at least 50 players in various team colours, nightclub security staff and other revellers told the South China Morning Post it ended only after police used shields, batons and pepper spray to subdue the players.
Paula Maisiri, 32, who was playing for the Playmore Phantoms in the annual GFI Hong Kong Football Club Tens tournament, pleaded guilty in Eastern Court to assaulting an officer outside the Dusk til Dawn bar at about 5am.
Maisiri, of Palmerston North, New Zealand, a professional rugby player, was fined HK$500.
People in Wan Chai early yesterday said Maisiri was one of the key figures in the melee, which lasted for an hour before eventually being brought under control by officers outside Dusk til Dawn, on Jaffe Road.
Police are still investigating the incident and have called on witnesses to come forward.
The brawl was sparked by an earlier incident in Carnegie's bar in which, according to police, one man attacked a player with a glass for no apparent reason. The victim was taken to hospital.
