The Australian Open organisers are planning to review their liberal policy on the courtside intake of alcohol following the arrests of three drunk people.
MELBOURNE: The Australian Open organisers are planning to review their liberal policy on the courtside intake of alcohol following the arrests of three drunk people who are said to have confronted the cops in the stands late Tuesday.
John Cooke, Victoria Police superintendent, Wednesday said that the three arrested men have been charged with assaulting police and using indecent language. He added that the police are framing charges against 10 others after reviewing CCTV footage of the incident.
Brushing aside claims that the reputation of the opening Grand Slam of the year was at stake because of these ugly incidents, which he thinks is a handiwork of a small group of spectators, tournament director Craig Tiley said the rules regarding the serving of alcohol courtside could be up for review after this year.
"We will look at all our policies regarding alcohol serving courtside after this year's event," Tiley was quoted as saying by The Age.
Currently, patrons have the liberty to drink full-strength beer, wine and spirits.
Tiley fully supported action of the police during last night's ugly confrontation that took place in the stands of the outdoor Margaret Court Arena, halting the match between Konstantinos Economidis of Greece and Chile's Fernando Gonzales for about eight minutes.
The police were later forced to use capsicum spray across the court to control the incident, which affected the players and led to seven spectators requiring medical treatment.
"We have full confidence in the actions taken by the police during yesterday's incident," he said.
The police also received a complaint of an alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-girl Monday by a drunken man.
The Australian Open has been marked by controversies since last year when an ugly brawl took place between the Serbian and Croatian supporters in the Garden area outside the Rod Laver arena.
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