AFL player in strife over an incident outside of a nightclub mid-week.
Carlton Blues defender Simon White’s immediate playing future is under a cloud after being questioned by police regarding an alleged assault of a fan at midnight on Wednesday.
Victoria Police spoke with White relating to an incident where the key defender told club officials he was defending himself against a group of men.
White’s version of events see him being verbally harassed by the men at the Palace Theater before the situation escalated, before university student Michael Soccio was punched in the face.
Soccio claims White threw the punch in what was an unprovoked attack and is said to be looking to press charges.
The Carlton fan Soccio said the incident came “out of the blue”
“Simon White was in my face aggravated and he punched me in the mouth,” he said.
Police confirmed they had CCTV footage of the alleged assault and that they were making further inquiries.
Victoria Police spokeswoman Julianne Newman said the Melbourne Criminal Investigation Unit interviewed a 25-year-old Brunswick man on Wednesday night following an alleged assault in the CBD early that morning.
“An alleged incident took place between a group of five men and two other men,” she said.
“A 23-year-old Pascoe Vale man alleges he was punched in the face during the incident.”
The Blues released a statement saying they were aware of the claims made against White.
“The club and Simon have been co-operating with police,” he said.
“As the matter is being investigated we are not in a position to go into any more detail.’”
Soccio’s dad Carl, a Melbourne solicitor, said his son had been struck by a “coward’s punch’’.
“If these guys think that because they kick a little ball wacking people they’ve got something coming,” he said.
“If that punch had been different it could have destroyed my family’s life.’’
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