Player at centre of stick-swinging incident receives long suspension after pleading his case

He said it was never his intent to hit his opponent in the face with his stick. An unnamed player who severely injured 19-year-old Kid Andersson during a junior league game in Sweden over a week ago, breaking several bones in his jaw and leaving him in a bloody mess, has pleaded his case to the league's disciplinary committee, and has received a lengthy suspension.

Andersson admitted to spraying water on his opponent while taking a drink on the bench. The perpetrator told the disciplinary committee that he felt Andersson was preparing to do it again.

"I then swing the stick at him in order to knock the bottle away," the player said at his hearing.

"I then continue to play on unaware of the injury to the player. Hearing screams from the box, I turn around," he said, while explaining that he was then physically confronted by an opponent and apologised for his actions after the match.

The player has been suspended until December 31s of 2022 by the league's disciplinary committee. He has two weeks to appeal. While that's a long sentence, I can't help but wonder if it's enough. You can view pictures of Andersson's injuries below, which are very graphic. At last check, he remained in hospital on a liquid diet and won't be eating solid food for quite some time. The game in which this incident happened was immediately stopped while Andersson was transported to hospital by ambulance.

In addition to the suspension, the player who swung the stick is also under police investigation for aggravated assault. No word yet on whether any official charges will be laid.

"Everything happened so fast that I didn't have time to react. I didn't even know what had happened, I just saw that there was blood everywhere. Then I threw up and didn't feel well at all. I didn't know where to go," said Andersson in a previous interview.

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