Have you seen this masked man?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Capital Football have launched an investigation into the masked pitch invader who ran onto the field during a premier league fixture on Saturday.
The referee from Cooma's 3-1 win over Woden-Weston will lodge a report with ACT soccer's governing body on Monday.
A man wearing a Mexican wrestling mask - similar to one that was made famous by WWE star Rey Mysterio - ran onto the field during the game and brandished a red card at referee Alex McConachie.
McConachie's also the chairman of Capital Football's referees standing advisory committee.
It's believed the pitch invader, a former referee, was protesting against how referees have been treated during the past year.
Cooma players ripped his mask off before he fled the field - blowing his whistle.
Referees threatened a boycott on the eve of last season's finals series because they felt Capital Football hadn't acted on referee abuse.
Capital Football launched a review and implemented a plan designed to stamp out the abuse in January.
They're treating the matter seriously because of that history.
Once McConachie lodges his report on Monday they'll carry out their investigation to determine whether any sanctions are necessary.
"We're aware of the incident and we're investigating it," a Capital Football spokesperson told The Canberra Times on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Tuggeranong United coach Mitch Stevens still can't fathom how his team lost 2-1 to Canberra Olympic at Kambah on Sunday.
Olympic had two players sent off after going a goal down, but still came away with all three points.
Belconnen United beat Canberra FC 3-2, while Gungahlin accounted for Monaro 3-0 in the other games.
Stevens said his team did almost everything right, but in the end had "shot themselves in the foot".
They opened the scoring in the first half through a Jono Turek thunderbolt from outside the penalty box.
But 10-man Olympic equalised through a Nik Popovich penalty, before Kofi Danning scored the winner.
Stevens couldn't understand why they didn't get a penalty of their own for the incident that led to the second red.
"We somehow managed to go out and miss chance after chance, then we conceded a penalty, then they had another red card," he said.
"I just can't fathom how we managed to lose the game. It hasn't computed yet. We played really bloody well."
Olympic coach Frank Cacchia said two of his players "lost their head at crucial times", which led to their marching orders.
"It took a lot of guts and character to come back from one-man down and 1-0 down at half-time to score twice in the second half to win the game," he said.
"Even in the second half to hold on when we lost the second player, I don't think anyone could begrudge us the win."
AT A GLANCE
Gungahlin 3 bt Monaro 0; Canberra Olympic 2 (Nik Popovich, Kofi Danning) bt Tuggeranong United 1 (Jono Turek); Belconnen United 3 (Michael Taurasi, Phil Borgeaud, Sam Whithear) bt Canberra FC 2 (Daniel Subasic, Matt Grbesa)